Comments on: Quack Word #3: ‘Doctor’

By: watchdog

watchdog — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 18:18:38 +0000

Well, I have to hand it to the Quackometer. Many negative comments have been posted about Lynne Boutross and her doctorate degree that she obtained from the American Institute of Holistic Theology over the course of one year. She has been able to remove all of the comments from the internet with the exception of the ones from the Quackometer. Well done to keep the public informed about folks who insist on using the name Doctor in their marketing tactics. Nice to see that her website has been sanitized and the word Doctor no longer appears. Apparently, the message has been conveyed. She was charging $200/hr. when she was marketing herself as “Doctor” Lynne. I would not be surprised if those fees remain the same, but at least, as a spiritual teacher, people have a chance to ask some questions in an effort to determine what they get for the monies they spend seeing this woman. Consider that most licensed psychologists and therapists don’t charge these high fees. Consider the difficult path that licensed psychologists and therapists have to travel in order to obtain their licenses. Virtually anyone can hold themselves out to be a spiritual teacher. Are they quacks? Well, we can’t answer that one, but we can say that licensed psychologists and therapists are not.

By: Brett

Brett — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 16:56:07 +0000

She sells people “Angel Therapy” where she acts as a medium to talk to angels… Does the legwork really need to be done on this? I mean, it’s kind of obvious don’t you think? I was curious as to how many people honestly could even take this seriously so I checked her website for “angel consultants” for my state TN… We have a few… one does pet consultations as well… I just can’t believe people are seriously this gullible.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 20:26:07 +0000

So, what are you peddling “Dr.”? Very interesting that you still had no response to the last question posted regarding your doctorate base and expertise. No matter, that is not the point. The point is, it is amazing how people use their titles to peddle products and articles. Products that cause more severe symptoms than the ones that they are initially “prescribed” for. And, Articles that keep them poor,drugged and living in ignorance .

And shall we praise and honor the biggest University of all? “Big Business’! Who tells us which qualifications we should most certainly believe to be real!? Lets remember as to who has made such titles necessary in order to control and create a faux nature that they can market, patent and sell (fat greedy bastards, oh is that a title I can use?)- when nature gives it to us whole and free. So Be careful with your response as to what we should be focused on, because I think its clear who the snake salesmen are these days!

By: watchdog

watchdog — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 22:41:31 +0000

Wonderfully written article. Another example that fits within the parameters of your writing is Dr. Lynne Boutross. She holds herself out as a spiritual teacher born with gift of clairvoyance and also refers to herself as a transformational consultant. She obtained a “Ph. D” in metaphysics from the American Institute of Holistic Theology in March of 1998 after obtaining a Masters Degree in the same subject from the same school in September of 1997. She also claims to hold a doctorate in homeopathy among other things. A closer examination of the American Institute of Holistic Theology reveals that it is a secondary school recognized by the State of Alabama whose degrees are offered primarily online. If you do some further research on “Dr. Lynne”, you will find that she is internationally acclaimed and nationally recognized although we are not privy to the entity or entities that have recognized her in this manner. Her website smacks of psychotherapeutic principals although her disclaimer (cleverly written by an attorney in very fine print) attempts to contract away any and all responsibility for any advice or other services that she may provide. She holds no licenses from any state entity or authority and blatently tells you that in her “disclaimer”. She charges an hourly fee of $200 for her “expertise”, and insists that she has the capability of providing her clients with the “clarity” that they seek related to any issue. This is a classic example of purchasing a diploma that requires minimal work and using the title of “doctor” as a marketing tool designed to attract the unwary, the insecure, and inattentive. While I do not judge the validity of clairvoyance, psychic awareness, and intuitive gifts, I do seriously question the need of an individual like Boutross to refer to herself as a “doctor” based upon a Ph.D acquired in 6 months after obtaining a Masters Degree. She was investigated by the State of Washington for engaging in a counseling practice which, under the laws of that State, required a license. As a result of that investigation she moved from the State of Washington less that five months after her arrival. She is now located in Southern California, an area teeming with similar quackery happily plying her trade there. She does not take credit cards and her work is not covered by medical insurance. She uses her disclaimer as a method for shielding responsibility for her conduct. Her readings, spiritual mediumship, and other interesting gimmicks put her in the same class as Sylvia Browne, Caroline Myss, Doreen Virtue and Sonia Choquette. Just another in a very long list of “practitioners” trolling for your hard earned dollars. Why would anyone want to spend $200 per hour for advice and guidance upon which the provider claims absolutely no responsibility for its accuracy or its transparency?

By: redviking

redviking — Sun, 30 May 2010 03:04:50 +0000

While I agree with the original notion that we need to be wary of people who flaunt their credentials…I also have to marvel at the Elitist postings from Alfa et al (PhD holders) above. Without intention of merely raising their ire, I would like to know what exactly is it that they feel qualifies someone to use the title (or not at their prerogative) according to them, other than just having a PhD or MD. There was one particular comment that stood out in a previous post about physiotherapists. Just FYI physiotherapy is a Masters Designation. In order to then go on and acquire a DPT one must first finish a B.A and a Masters before getting the DPT. How does this not qualify them to use the designation Dr if they so choose. In order to achieve this level one must take equal if not more schooling than many MD’s.

By: Al Vexa

Al Vexa — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 18:00:52 +0000

Having been a university professor (Ph.D.) I was accustomed to being referred to as “Doctor.” That came to an abrupt stop when I went to law school and became “Mister”, a title that continues as I practice law (Juris Doctor),

Now I live in South America where lawyers are “Doctor” A, Abogado.
A visiting US dentist remarked that lawyers call themselves doctor.

In good humor,

Dr. Al Vexa, BS, MA, PhD, JD, BFD

By: mathletewp

mathletewp — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 12:57:42 +0000

I am in total agreement with your observation on people who call themselves Dr. My list includes psychologists, people with an EdD (a title created at Teachers College, optometrists, and chiropractors (I AM sure that chiropractors shouldn’t be labeling themselves as doctors). I would like to know when the use of the title Dr. became acceptable. It seems to me as valid as the use of the word “professional” in conjunction with everything from doctors and attorneys to “mattress professionals”.

By: Alfa

Alfa — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 17:26:00 +0000

Titles and qualifications don’t always match up. Here in the USA, I am shocked when a dentist with a DDS calls himself doctor, then introduces himself to me (a professsor with a PhD), “Hi, John, I am Dr. Smith!” This, to me, is poor etiquette and obviously a lesson not learned in dentistry school. Chiropractors usually get a DC degree and invariably have cards that state, “Dr. Joe Jones, DC,” which may be redundant, but I am not even sure if chiropractors should be able to call themselves doctors. The same goes with podiatriasts (who get a DPM degree), and physiotherapists (called pysical therapists in the States, who get DPT degrees). Should we address these people as Doctor Franklin, or Dr. Jackson, or Dr Hamilton, etc. ? I think not.

I also find it offensive when MDs address nurses by their first names, when the nurses always have to address the MDs as Dr. X. Why doesn’t the physician call him or her, Nurse Y ? Among physicians and surgeons and the ranks of such (recent MDs, interns, fellows, attending), I see an odd way of addressing one another. That is, the most senior MD gets to be called Doctor, and all others are addressed by first names. Yet, when the lower ranks of the MDs speak to me, they always present themselves as Dr. X and call me by my first name.

Why aren’t MDs taught how to address patients and family members properly? If we were speaking French, Spanish, or Italian, there obviously would be levels of formality within the grammar itself that wouldn’t allow someone to address you with a familiar form.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 02:01:00 +0000

Councils waste £300,000 on Emotional Literacy Courses run by Elizabeth Morris School of emotional Literacy
An emotional literacy qualification that hundreds of teachers and school staff have studied for is being rejected by British universities because its only accreditation is from a website based on a small South Pacific island.The courses were run in the UK by the School of Emotional Literacy, based in Kirkcaldy, Fife.
>>>
>>> At least 35 teachers have grouped together to complain about the course, offered in Britain by the School of Emotional Literacy, saying that it is “not worth the paper it is printed on”.
>>>
>>> Local authorities have spent more than £300,000 on the school’s courses, reflecting the increase in interest in emotional literacy, which teaches staff to communicate feelings better and understand those of their pupils.
>>>
>>> The school’s principal Elizabeth Morris said she was surprised to learn of the problems from The TES and has since dropped the title of “Dr”, which she had been awarded by the same internet university, the University of Action Learning.
>>>
>>> Ms Morris said: “I can absolutely assure you that if I’d have had any idea about this, I wouldn’t have said the things I’ve said or been calling myself a doctor.”
>>>
>>> Carole Davies, the headteacher of Lydden Primary in Kent, is among those who had been led to believe their qualification would be accredited. “It was just not valuable at all. Thousands and thousands of words for no practical use and no educational status,” Ms Davies said.
>>>
>>> However, some students said that they had found the course useful and had not expected to use it towards other qualifications such as masters degrees.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Teachers' wasted study on popular emotional literacy course
>>>
>>> News | Published in The TES on 10 October, 2008 | By: Jonathan Milne
>>>
>>>
>>> School staff have been rejected by universities after local authorities spent £300,000 on courses that turned out not to be accredited, writes Jonathan Milne
>>>
>>> Hundreds of teachers and other school staff have studied for a qualification in emotional literacy that has been described as “not worth the paper it is printed on” because it has been rejected by British universities.
>>>
>>> The School of Emotional Literacy, based in Britain, offered the certificates and diplomas with accreditation from the University of Action Learning (UAL), an internet university based in the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu.
>>>
>>> Elizabeth Morris, the school’s principal, called herself “Dr” on the strength of a doctorate awarded by the website and has been quoted in the press as an emotional literacy expert. She was surprised to be informed of the university’s location by The TES, and has now dropped the title and expressed concern that her students could have relied on such accreditation.
>>>
>>> Schools and local authorities have spent up to £300,000 sending staff on Ms Morris’s part-time post-graduate courses.
>>>
>>> Their popularity reflects the boom in the education sector’s interest in emotional literacy, which teaches staff to better communicate and identify their feelings and those of their pupils.
>>>
>>> The school has offered training courses to school staff in Bristol, Birmingham, Dudley, Cumbria, Thurrock, throughout Kent, and in Belfast, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
>>>
>>> But when those students tried to use the qualifications for credits towards further study, the universities they approached rejected the certificates as worthless without another university’s accreditation.
>>>
>>> Simon Ellis, a senior lecturer in the department of professional development at Canterbury Christ Church University, had to turn down an application from a student who thought her certificate would count towards a masters degree.
>>>
>>> “I would need to have some kind of indication of the accrediting body for that certificate before we could judge it to represent eligibility for joining one of our courses or use it for credits towards another course,” he told The TES.
>>>
>>> One student said she had been rebuffed by London Metropolitan University and the Open University. Another said she was turned away by Bristol University.
>>>
>>> Annie Hamlaoui, a former school guidance counsellor who studied and worked with the school, has co-ordinated a group of more than 35 unhappy students.
>>>
>>> She, too, has tried to use the certificate for further study.
>>>
>>> “I feel very disappointed and let down because it is now obvious that, from an academic point of view, this certificate is not worth the paper it is written on,” she said. “It will not help me in any way to gain access to higher education courses to help further my career.”
>>>
>>> Whether the students would have fared better with UAL accreditation is unknown: none was willing to pay £300 for an accreditation stamp from a website based in a government office in Melanesia. One said she had been too “embarrassed” to go back to the local authority that funded her certificate course to ask for another £300.
>>>
>>> She had not used the certificate for further studies because “nobody would take it seriously”.
>>>
>>> “To me, it was a shambles, a big money-making scheme,” she said.
>>>
>>> But other students were happy with the certificates and diplomas, saying the training was of a good quality, regardless of the lack of accreditation.
>>>
>>> The Thanet Excellence Cluster, a partnership of schools in east Kent, has sent about 20 teachers and other school staff on the courses, at a cost of about Pounds 20,000.
>>>
>>> Jenny Moorhouse, the cluster’s project director, said her candidates had never expected that their certificates would count towards subsequent university studies.
>>>
>>> “The main motivation of people doing it was that they actually wanted to develop an understanding of emotional intelligence,” she said. “From our point of view, I don’t think the issue of whether it automatically carried the number of points with it became a particular issue.”
>>>
>>> Ms Morris has now ended the agreement with UAL, but did not do so until some time after the Distance Education and Training Council revoked its authority to award degrees in February 2005.
>>>
>>> Ms Morris told The TES she had not realised that UAL had lost its accreditation, nor that it was run out of Vanuatu, when she was offering the courses to students and completing her own doctorate.
>>>
>>> She has since told people that she and her course have won accreditation from Middlesex University. But inquiries to Middlesex revealed that Ms Morris and the school have no such accreditation. The accreditation was for an entirely separate training company in Gloucestershire that may hire Ms Morris to teach a course.
>>>
>>> Ms Morris admitted to “sloppiness” in how she had described the Middlesex accreditation, and agreed that courses offered through her school had no accreditation.
>>>
>>> “I’m quite upset about this,” she said. “I need to go and find out more about it because I have felt absolutely comfortable about saying ‘I’ve got this doctorate and I deserve this doctorate.’ But now I need to check out more.
>>>
>>> “I’ve got no wish to misrepresent myself, and I never have done. I can absolutely assure you that if I’d had any idea about this, I wouldn’t have said the things I’ve said or been calling myself a doctor.”
>>>
>>> SOME FEEL DUPED, BUT OTHERS IMPRESSED
>>>
>>> Carole Davies, head of Lydden Primary, near Dover in Kent, travelled to Ramsgate to do both the School of Emotional Literacy’s certificate and diploma courses, though she chose to not complete the latter. She understood that the qualifications would be automatically accredited.
>>>
>>> Creative Partnerships, the Government’s creative learning programme, paid for the course and for supply cover at her school.
>>>
>>> “It was just not valuable at all. Thousands and thousands of words for no practical use and no educational status,” Mrs Davies said.
>>>
>>> “I would hesitate before putting this certificate on my CV or referencing the School of Emotional Literacy. I feel a bit stupid about it.”
>>>
>>> Kathy, an early years consultant in south-west England who completed her certificate course last year, said she had the understanding that the certificate was university accredited because her classes were held in a building owned by Bristol University.
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>>> “I thought having that certificate on my CV would give me credibility as someone who can advise on early years emotional literacy,” she said. “I don’t now believe it has any credence whatsoever.”
>>>
>>> But some students were less concerned about the lack of accreditation. Jennie Carter, head of The Churchill School in Folkestone, Kent, said she knew nothing about who the accreditation was from but knew it would cost an extra £300.
>>>
>>> She paid for her diploma out of the school’s in-service training budget, and had been very happy with the training. “I wanted to know more about emotional literacy because it underpins teaching,” she said. “It paid off, and results in my school went up. Those results mean more to me than any kind of certificate or accreditation.”
>>>
>>>
>>> Schools and councils waste £300,000 on useless 'emotional literacy' course from faraway island in the sun
>>>
>>> By Sarah Harris
>>> Last updated at 12:39 PM on 11th October 2008
>>>
>>> * Comments (15)
>>> * Add to My Stories
>>>
>>> Schools and councils have wasted £300,000 allowing staff to study for a worthless qualification in 'emotional literacy' from The School of Emotional Literacy.
>>>
>>> The course was accredited only by an internet university based on the tiny South Pacific island state of Vanuatu.
>>>
>>> And because the university appears to amount to no more than a website and a single office, the course has been stripped of educational status.
>>>
>>> Hundreds of teachers and council staff had studied for the certificates and diplomas on courses endorsed by Vanuatu's University of Action Learning.
>>>
>>> The courses were run in the UK by the School of Emotional Literacy, based in Kirkcaldy, Fife.
>>>
>>> The postgraduate students hoped to use the qualifications for credits toward further study. But British universities have rejected the diplomas as worthless because of the link with Vanuatu.
>>>
>>> Emotional literacy is supposed to help staff to communicate their feelings better and understand the feelings of their pupils.
>>>
>>> Carole Davies, headmistress of Lydden Primary School near Dover, was among those who took the course.
>>>
>>> 'It was just not valuable at all,' she told the Times Educational Supplement. ' Thousands and thousands of words for no practical use and no educational status.'
>>>
>>> Annie Hamlaoui, a former school counsellor, also tried to use the certificate for further study.
>>>
>>> She said: 'I feel very disappointed and let down because it is now obvious that, from an academic point of view, this certificate is not worth the paper it is written on.'
>>>
>>> Elizabeth Morris, principal of the School of Emotional Literacy, said she had not known where the University of Action Learning was based and has dropped her title of 'Dr', which was based on a doctorate awarded by it.
>>>
>>> She said: 'I can absolutely assure you that if I'd have had any idea about this, I wouldn't have said the things I've said or been calling myself a doctor.'
>>>
>>> Although the University of Action Learning is recognised by the Vanuatu government, its accreditation with Britain's Distance Education and Training Council was revoked in 2005.
>>>

By: Le Canard Noir

Le Canard Noir — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 19:19:00 +0000

I think you may be arguing against something different to what I have said. My point is not that we should somehow respect only people with ‘real’ qualifications – rather, we should be wary of those who flaunt them.