Reality Test
Psychologists talk RealiTV!
Two licensed psychologists look at what we can learn about culture, societal oppression, social privilege, and ourselves from reality television. Grounded in their sociopolitical positions as relational, anti-racist, feminists, Dr.s Kay & Ray address the power dynamics; social (in)justice; intersecting oppressions, marginalizations, and privileges; and sociohistorical context present in numerous, popular reality television shows, while also celebrating the hope and empowerment that can be found.
At the end of some of our first episodes (3, 4, & 8), and now as separate episodes, “Mental Health Check-Up” segments explore brief mental health interventions, self-help tips, or other concepts from psychology for us all to further noodle on!
We hope to inspire further discussion about psychological and sociocultural aspects of our favorite reality tv shows, offering rough draft thoughts and ideas for us all to continue thinking about. After all, reality television ultimately provides an engaging format for learning about human behavior, mental health, and sociopolitical systems—let’s learn together!
DISCLAIMER: In the context of this podcast, we are not acting as therapists, neither for you nor for the reality castmates we discuss. We are, instead, bringing in our whole human selves, supplemented by mental health and psychology knowledge. We both adhere to social constructionism, such that we believe all knowledge is co-constructed in the context of relationships and we all have our own reality, informed by our own biased memories and subjectivities.
Despite realiTV making us all believe we know the castmates, we clearly do not, and we cannot ethically diagnose them or speak with certainty about their dynamics without conducting formal psychological assessments. Thus, our opinions will be merely (easily erroneous) opinions, informed by our biased perspectives, and while we may discuss diagnoses, we will avoid assigning them to castmates. We've spent years developing our professional roles as psychotherapists, professors, supervisors, and consultants, but we are new to podcasting--as you'll notice! Thank you in advance for your patience and feedback :) This will be an imperfect, but growth-fostering process, and we appreciate your engagement with it and with us! Thanks, y’all.
Reality Test
MHCU 7: The Women of Summer House & The Central Relational Paradox
Have you ever wished you could put your walls down completely and love wholeheartedly, but feared you’d get your heart broken? Maybe going slowly and cautiously into a relationship, like Gabby & Ciara in Summer House? Have you ever felt like you were better off single, because you’ve been burned one too many times? Or maybe you wonder if you’ve stayed in a loveless relationship because you don’t want to open yourself back up to heartbreak or loneliness, were you to reenter the dating pool?
In this episode, the 7th in our Mental Health Check-Up (MHCU) series, Dr. Kay discusses the Central Relational Paradox, a conflict we all experience between our desires to love and our fears of being vulnerable.
Dr. Kay explores the psychotherapy model that this concept comes from, Relational Cultural Therapy, providing definitions, examples, and recommendations. The examples are all from Summer House, as it wraps up its latest season.
In honor of Ariana hosting the new US Love Island season as it starts back up, Dr. Kay explores avenues for navigating love in today’s cultural atmosphere, one marked by cynicism.
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Central Relational Paradox References:
Eisenberger, N., Lieberman, M., & Williams, K. (2003). Does rejection hurt: An fMRI study of social exclusion. Science, 302, 290–292.
Freud, S. (1961). Letter to Binswanger. In E. L. Freud (Ed.), Letters of Sigmund Freud (p.386). Hogarth Press.
Hill Collins, P. (1990). Black feminist thought: knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. Unwin Hyman.
hooks, b. (2000). All about love: new visions. William Morrow,
Jordan, J. V. (2010). Relational–cultural therapy. American Psychological Association
Meyer, I. (1995). Minority Stress and Mental Health in Gay Men. Journal of health and social behavior. 36. 38-56. 10.2307/2137286.
Miller, J. B. (1976). Toward a new psychology of women. Beacon.
Siegel, D.J. (2012). Pocket guide to interpersonal neurobiology: An integrative handbook of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Siegel, D.J. (2012). The developing mind, second edition: How relationships and the brain interact to shape who we are. New York: Guilford Press.
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If you are experiencing/surviving domestic violence, please contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233 or text BEGIN to 88788.
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Reality testing is when we check an emotion or thought we’re having against objective reality.
So, here in Reality Test, we’re going to be testing the thoughts, emotions, interactions, and producer antics of reality television against what we know, as licensed psychologists, about objective reality.
Come Reality Test with us!
Hosts: Dr. Kay & Dr. Ray
Thank you to our sound extraordinaire, Connor!
Instagram: @drkaypods @drraypods
TikTok: @dr.realitv
Facebook Page: Reality Test Pod
YouTube Channel: @RealityTestPod
Email: realitycheckpodding@gmail.com
