Little Boy Lost on Dr. Phil Show

Tuesday - January 13, 2009 (Check your local listing for times)

Episode description from drphil.com:

"What would you do if your little boy wanted to be a little girl? Dr. Phil continues the heated topic of gender confused kids. After the last show, viewers had a lot to say about the subject, and the message boards lit up with their impassioned opinions. Now, Dr. Phil speaks with Toni, a mother who says she can’t stop grieving the loss of her son who, at 11, began to transition into a female. Toni feels like her son has died, and she’s having a hard time adjusting to having a daughter. Joining the discussion is family researcher Glenn Stanton and psychologist Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, who say it’s the parents’ responsibility to guide their children into their gender-born identities. On the opposite side are psychiatrist Dr. Dan Siegel and psychotherapist Dr. Michele Angello, who say children are born this way, and parents should support their children in their decision to transition to the opposite sex. What do you think is the best way to treat a child with gender identity confusion? Don’t miss the heated debate as Dr. Phil continues to explore this fervid and hotly contested topic".

Dr. Phil McGraw continues to provide a platform to religious idealogues masquerading as experts in working with gender non-conforming children and youth. This is the second program he's done in less than 6 months that prejudicially describes these amazing and courageous children as "gender confused". Dr. Phil McGraw clearly has his own agenda, and it goes beyond the quest for high ratings.

View The Previous Show "Transgender Children"



Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist and founder of the Thomas Aquinas Psychological Clinic in Encino, CA. His specialty is treating homosexual men who are dissatisfied with their sexual orientation. Dr. Nicolosi is the author of Reparative Therapy of Male Homosexuality and Healing Homosexuality: Case Studies. He serves as Executive Director and Research Coordinator of the National Association of Research and therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), a scientific non-profit organization designed to educate the general public on the questions surrounding the causes and treatment of same-sex attraction.

His therapeutic approach has been discredited and condemned by both the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association.

Reparative therapy (also used interchangeably with the terms conversion therapy and sexual brokenness) is a practice the American Psychiatric Association says can “lead to depression, anxiety and self destructive behavior, and may reinforce self hatred.”

In 2006, the American Psychological Association issued a statement that expressed concern that ex-gay or “conversion therapy” was potentially damaging and might create an intolerant and discriminatory political and social climate. According to the statement: “For over three decades the consensus of the mental health community has been that homosexuality is not an illness and therefore not in need of a cure. The APA’s concern about the position’s espoused by NARTH (The National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality) and so-called conversion therapy is that they are not supported by the science. There is simply no sufficiently scientifically sound evidence that sexual orientation can be changed. Our further concern is that the positions espoused by NARTH and Focus on the Family create an environment in which prejudice and discrimination can flourish.”

Glenn T. Stanton is the research fellow for global family formation at Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs. He is also directing a major research project on international family formation trends at the Institute of Marriage and Family in Ottawa. He debates and lectures extensively on the issues of gender, sexuality, marriage and parenting at universities and churches around the country. He recently served the Bush administration as a consultant on increasing fatherhood involvement in the Head Start program.

Daniel J Siegel, M.D. received his medical degree from Harvard University and completed his postgraduate medical education at UCLA with training in pediatrics and child, adolescent and adult psychiatry. He served as a National Institute of Mental Health Research Fellow at UCLA, studying family interactions with an emphasis on how attachment experiences influence emotions, behavior, autobiographical memory and narrative.

Dr. Michele Angello received her doctorate in human sexuality and her master's degree in psychological services. She is a certified clinical sexologist, and a member of the board of directors for both the Main Line Youth Alliance and the Renaissance Transgender Association. Dr. Angello is also a member of: the American College of Sexology; American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists; the Society for the Scientific Study of Sex; American Psychological Association; and the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association.

Please contact the producers of the Dr. Phil show and let them know that presenting scientifically unsupported opinions by anti-gay religious idealogues like Joseph Nicolosi and Glenn Stanton does very real harm to these children and their families. It reinforces the ignorance and intolerance that leads to teasing, bullying, harassment and violence against the children and youth who are already far too vulnerable and misunderstood.