Jamy Ian Swiss - In Pursuit of Psychics | For Good Reason

Famed magician Jamy Ian Swiss sits down with D.J. Grothe to talk about psychics. As an advisor to the James Randi Educational Foundation, Swiss helped put self-proclaimed psychics to the test on ABC's "Primetime Nightline". He discusses the phenomenon of celebrity psychics and why their claims should be challenged. But are all psychics knowing charlatans? Swiss says no, resulting from cognitive dissonance, but he explains how even the self-deluded have the capacity to do harm to an unknowing public. And he details the connection between "storefront psychics," organized crime, and "gypsy" culture.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Jamy Ian Swiss
• Skepticism
• Skeptic
• DJ Grothe
• JREF
• paranormal
• supernatural
• psychic
• medium
• Sylvia Browne
• James Van Praagh
• John Edward
• charlatan

[MagicofAramis]

Please tell me this will be a regular series uploaded periodically to this account! Do it! Tell me!

[niklasedg]

I wanna hug that randi!

[justjulie37]

I too was also disappointed in Dr. Oz and Anderson Cooper. I liked them both and I thought they had more brains than that. I have to say I lost a bit of respect for both of them !

[pandarsson]

@dookiecheez Fair enough. However, most psychiatrists are not qualified for talk therapy. They have the same training as a pediatrician or a general practitioner or any other medical specialty. And they are generally as qualified to give talk therapy as the rest of those. The main difference is that they don't order as many physical tests (except in things like treating bipolar disorder with lithium, when they have to test blood serum levels), because there are none for mental disorders.

[dookiecheez]

@pandarsson

It's all they do, except for this other thing. :O

Psychiatrists still do psychoanalysis and talk therapy. Which encompasses quite a bit. I don't pretend to know what the 'average' psychiatrist does, I only know what the psychiatrists I know do, and in general what they've actually been trained to do. I also suspect the schooling involved differs from country to country.

[pandarsson]

@dookiecheez Unless you're referring to psychoanalysis, which most psychiatrists don't do these days. Which is good, because it's been superseded by the much more informed psychotherapy. Most psychiatrists don't even bother learning it or getting accredited. Again, it's a good thing.

[pandarsson]

@dookiecheez At this point, yes it is. That's all they do.

[dookiecheez]

@pandarsson

Psychiatry is not mere medication management...

[pandarsson]

@dookiecheez Also, a psychologist doesn't need as long of a residency because it's harder for them to kill someone accidentally.

I say this as someone who sees both.

[pandarsson]

@dookiecheez Considering that psychiatry is mere "medication management" and psychotherapy is an in-depth talk-based process with the goal of developing coping skills, I'm glad they're more than a stone's throw apart.

If you're referring to training, psychiatrists generally get the same training as any other MD. There is little time spent specifically studying the mental health field. The residency of a psychologist may be half the time, but their entire doctorate is focused on that field.

[zecnobot]

rational and mediocre is the new god