Physiologist Laura

Imagine a sustained, throaty gurgling, like something out of
Invasion of theBody Snatchers. From the sound, a woman's words, barely
audible, emerge: "it's time for warrrr." The words are those of
physiologist Laura Schlessinger, and for once I agree with her.

My radio program staff and I have been monitoring Schlessinger's
radio show for the past few months, and I'm both sickened and saddened by
what we've found. The gay community rightly pounded her over insensitive
remarks she made about homosexuality, and pressure from that community
helped kill her television show. But her attitude about gays is only a
small part of the Physiologist Laura Problem. If she's really talking to
an audience of 18 million admirers every day, we're a nation in deep
trouble, and here's why:

First, her advice is often divisive, potentially driving apart
spouse from spouse, lover from lover, even parent from child. One caller
asked whether it would be appropriate for him to charge his 23-year-old
son rent for living at home, even though the caller's wife was adamantly
opposed to the idea. Laura advised the caller to throw his son out "by
the end of the week"--an action that likely would have caused
extraordinary turmoil in the family. She told another caller that he
shouldn't allow any contact between his child and the child's grandmother
because the grandmother's partner (not the grandmother herself) might
have sexually abused a child years before. Grandma, it seems, was guilty
by association. The fact that Laura is estranged from both her mother and
her sister suggests that she's using the airwaves to act out her own
problems, rather than to help listeners and callers.

Second--and this is doubly ironic given both her checkered personal
history and her image as a mental health professional --she often conveys
the message that people can't change. In one poignant call, a young woman
said that she had married a prisoner who had "drastically changed" in
order to give him a "second chance." Laura's reply? "You're lying...You
don't know that he changed." To a woman concerned about her fiance's
behavior, Laura advised against counseling, because "there's no
counseling for character." As a young woman, Schlessinger herself dated
and "shacked up" with a married man, posed for nude pictures and
committed other indiscretions of a sort that she now condemns daily. She
has changed; can't others do so too? If people can't change, what's the
point of psychotherapy or, for that matter, of advice shows?

Third, she not only models intolerance and abusive behavior but
also advocates such behavior--even violence. She cuts people off--people
calling for help, people trusting her with their problems. She calls
people names: "he's evil," "you're a whore," "they're crappy people,"
"you're a doormat," "they're both sickos." In one recent call, a mom
expressed concern about a relative who was "touchy," and Schlessinger
insisted, twice, that she inform him that if he came within five feet of
anyone in her family, she'd "haul off and belt him across the mouth."
Alas, the caller replied, "I can do that."

Schlessinger's doctorate is in physiology, not psychology, but
calling herself "Dr." while dispensing psychological advice suggests
otherwise. In a survey we conducted recently in New York, of 50 people
who said they knew who Schlessinger was, 44% said she was either a
psychologist or a psychiatrist, and only 30% were sure she was neither.
She helps perpetuate these misconceptions. In one call we recorded,
Schlessinger failed to correct a caller who was specifically looking for
advice from a psychologist; she didn't lie, but she also didn't disclose.
In fact, she is licensed as a masters-level marriage and family therapist
in California, but her license has been "inactive" for two years,
according to the licensing board.

No legitimate mental health professional would ever give the kind
of hateful, divisive advice that Schlessinger doles out daily. Real
therapists try to heal wounds and bring people together, not instigate
conflict. You've changed before, Physiologist Laura. Can you do so
again?

Dr. Epstein is editor-in-chief of Psychology Today and host of the
magazine's daily radio program, accessible at www.psychologytoday.com.
He's also University Research Professor at United States International
University and Director Emeritus of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral
Studies. He has a Ph.D. in psychology from Harvard University.