- “Ever since Big Brother turned psychoanalysis into a’spectator sport’, the media has decided that every explosive celebrity story needs a mental health assessment to spice it up.”
— The Guardian, 2009
A few days ago, a reality show invited psychologists to assess the “mental health” of several celebrities on the show, which caused a great stir. Some official accounts wanted to “say’sorry’ on behalf of psychologists”, and others said “this would lead to imprisonment in the United States”. The editor who had just finished analyzing “Does Trump Have a Mental Illness?” from the perspectives of ethics and laws and regulations wanted to talk about the gossip of “celebrity psychologists” in Europe this time.
There are many types of psychologists, including the common “clinical psychologists”, “counseling psychologists”, “developmental psychologists”, “social psychologists”, as well as the less well-known “peace psychologists” and “media psychologists”.
Like other professions, psychologists also emphasize “specialization in one’s field”. Just as a cardiologist can’t treat dental problems, a scientist who studies social psychology can’t participate in the clinical treatment of mental illnesses.
Perhaps following this logic, in Europe, the birthplace of reality shows, some psychologists have begun to call themselves “celebrity psychologists”. As the name suggests, they specifically study the thoughts and behaviors of celebrities (not the stars among psychologists…).
Jo Hemmings: A Well-known “Celebrity Psychologist”
Jo Hemmings is a psychologist at the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies and is known for analyzing the behavior of contestants in the 11th season of the reality show Big Brother. She describes herself on her personal website as follows: “Jo Hemmings is a behavioral psychologist. Her areas of expertise include media and celebrity analysis, relationship and intimacy coaching, and TV and radio personality analysis. She was named the Relationship Expert of the Year in 2016 by the British Relationship Awards.”
Introduction to the Show Big Brother
Big Brother is a social experiment reality show. A group of strangers move into a house full of cameras and microphones as “roommates” and are not allowed to have any contact with the outside world. Their every move 24 hours a day, 7 days a week is recorded, edited and broadcast on TV. The show regularly eliminates contestants through various competition links (including competing for the house owner, food restrictions, etc.). The show originated in the Netherlands and has been introduced and broadcast in countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Brazil and India.
Jo Hemmings also said that she currently holds the second position in the UK and the seventeenth position in the world in the ranking of “the top 30 most outstanding psychologists”. However, upon closer inspection, it can be found that this ranking comes from a ranking posted on Twitter by a website called bestpsychologydegrees.com. The editor suppressed his doubts about this website called “Best Psychology Degrees” and checked the basis of this ranking.
It turns out that the main basis for this ranking is the number of followers of psychologists on Twitter. According to this logic, Jo Hemmings easily surpassed Dr. Paul Ekman, the psychology consultant of Inside Out and a well-known psychologist who ranks 30th, and Sherry Turkle, a professor at MIT and a psychologist who ranks 24th.
Another British psychologist, Honey Langcaster – James, who has appeared in Big Brother and Love’s Island, also claims to be an expert among “celebrity psychologists” on her personal homepage and says that she has conducted a lot of scientific research on the lifestyles and behaviors of celebrities. A search on Google Scholar shows that Langcaster – James has only published one paper in an academic journal and is the fifth author in terms of paper contribution.
Unlike psychologists in other fields, the so-called “celebrity psychologists” do not seem to be fond of academic research, nor do they have relevant professional associations, academic organizations or academic journals for scholars to communicate and progress with each other. Instead, they prefer to set up their own businesses, boast about themselves, gain followers on Twitter, appear on various shows and write “psychology books” such as The Dating Game and Become Your Own Relationship Coach.
The Irony of “Celebrity Psychologists”
More ironically, in addition to believing that they, as representatives of the psychological community, have carried out “psychological science popularization” for the public, “celebrity psychologists” also claim to provide “celebrity psychological counseling” services. Jo Hemmings wrote on her personal website, “If any celebrities, sports stars or reality show participants have troubles in personal or professional issues, Jo can provide immediate and professional psychological advice, body language analysis and suggestions.”
She also said in a speech that she has a deep understanding of the psychological feelings of celebrities living in the spotlight and can help her clients adjust themselves through psychological counseling.
Even if we assume the best, how will the celebrities whose inner struggles have been (possibly inaccurately) exposed by these “celebrity psychologists” in public view the title of “psychologist”? Even if they enter the counseling room, if the celebrity clients cannot establish a positive and stable therapeutic alliance with the counselors, how can we talk about healing the wounds?
The British Medical Journal (BMJ), one of the four major medical journals, once published a comment titled “The Rise of the Pop Psychologists”. The article mentioned that the British Psychological Society, the most authoritative organization of psychologists in the UK, has a list of “chartered psychologists” that need to be certified. The so-called “celebrity psychologists” including Jo Hemmings are not on this list.
In addition, even certified psychology experts do not have the right to publicly analyze and comment on the behavior of celebrities. The ethical code of the British Psychological Society states that “any association member who cooperates with the media or participates in program production should abide by professional standards. When there is a risk of a practitioner’s remarks causing any offense, pain or harm to an individual, they should not make public comments on the behavior of public figures.”
Both the public remarks of “celebrity psychologists” and the misinformation spread by the media inevitably bring “offense, pain and harm” to public figures.
Dr. James C. Kaufman, chairman of the Media Watch Committee of the American Psychological Association and the Media Psychology and Technology Association, said, “The media is a mirror”, which reflects the whole society’s understanding and attitude towards mental illness and psychotherapy.
Although there are still such “celebrity psychologists”, more and more film and television programs in European and American countries have correctly portrayed the images of psychiatrists and psychotherapists. In China, this process has just begun.
For the public, mental illness and psychotherapy still have a sense of mystery. For the media, the term “psychologist” brings them much more gimmicks than professional knowledge and skills.
As counselors, we should correctly use this mirror – use it to observe the current development of psychological counseling, use it to understand the spiritual needs of clients, and also use it to examine and reflect on ourselves. In addition, public science popularization is also our responsibility. Only by properly choosing the ways and channels of presentation can we let everyone get closer to the real psychological counseling.
On the path of counselors’ growth, we will make mistakes, but we will also grow. May your original intention remain unchanged.
Note
- Martin Robbins (2009), Michael Jackson and the rise of the celebrity psychologist. The Guardian
- McCartney, M. (2012). The rise of the pop psychologists. BMJ: British Medical Journal (Online), 344.
- bestpsychologydegrees.com – 30 Most Prominent Psychologists on Twitter
