Replies to '07/17 Mommy Dearest'

I said this in a different topic, but it applies here too. Just because this woman shares DNA with these kids doesn't mean the relationship isn't harmful.

I like Dr Phil but he has too much of an attatchment on DNA. It's completely arbitrary. Maybe it's because I'm an atheist and I don't believe that there is a spiritual connection between people. This woman has nothing to offer these kids other then her DNA linkage. What value does that honestly have? NONE!

Unfortunately, he probably knew, like others who have dealt with addicts, it wouldn't have done much good at all, her mind was tooooo fried, though I did NOT agree with her seeing the children for even an hour.  The problem is, addicts are great actors, it is a skill they learn to develope early on, manipulators would be a better name I suppose. 

Also, with the way she was acting, he might've been avoiding a violent outburst (violence is NOT what put the Dr. Phil show on television ) she looked like she could've gone off at any moment, yes I would've liked to see his no nonsense approach, but I think like the viewers, he realized there was nothing he could say or do to make that woman see what she was doing to her family. 

I'm sorry, I sound blunt, I don't mean to, but that is my two cents 

Dr. Phil went for a happy medium that could possibly work for both parties. 

  

And Dr. Phil did his thing.  However, Dr. Phil is well-aware of his own saying: "you can't change what you don't acknowledge."  She wasn't willing to acknowledge what she was doing as a problem.  Dr. Phil doesn't "do his thing" just to attack people and exact revenge on people.  He "does his thing" to give them a wake-up call.  Maybe Dr. Phil realized that he just couldn't wake someone like that up, and he had to shift his focus on getting the daughter to cope with the situation? 

  

Sometimes the bigger victims are the people being hurt by the one with the self-destructive behavior, and they should be a bigger counseling focus.   

I too was wondering why Dr. Phil didn't get more stern.  Then I realized, even before HE SAID IT.  "I am not talking to her I am talking to the drug".  It would not have made a difference what he said or how loud he said it.  SHE was not actually there listening.  He was trying to talk more o the daughter not the mother.  And, did you notice that at the end of the show when he was giving the daughter some options about staying away from her mother, all the mom did was nod her head and say, "that's right, yup" and clap as if he were giving her advice on staying away from someone other than herself. The women was clueless as to what was even going on.  I do agree that the kids should be anywhere near their grandmother too.  They do not need to be exposed to it in any way. 

 

As for the other guest, I don't understand how NOONE picked up on anything.  The doctor's, the hospital, school, teachers, friends ANYONE.  I know that people can often miss signs of a problem, but come on.  And, even if she was "put away" perhaps it was better for her to be away from her mother where she could get the help and counceling she needed to deal with whatever was going on in her life rather than be under the same roof as her mom.  The whole time I was watching them, all I was wondering is how noone figured it out.  I mean, if you go to the doctor's with a suppossed "mental problem", shouldn't they be able to tell whether or not it is real or made up? 

1)Dr. Phil did not "tell it like it is" because he has worked w/ drug addicts enough to understand when they are as far gone as Marilyn was, there's no point in him talking to her as he would to a guest such as cheating husband for example. In other words, he knew he'd be wasting his breath because she sees nothing wrong with her behavior.Also, did you not see how she was clapping when Dr. Phil was talking about and against her to her daughter? She had no clue what was up or down but she did know how to defend her crack use. 

 

2)Another thing is I thought Dr. Phil said the daughter herself could visit her for an hour a day not the kids.