Fox Information Professional With On the web Degree Blames "Homosexual Impulses" For Santa Barbara Shootings

In the wake of the mass shootings by a disturbed guy in Santa Barbara, California final week, Fox News featured feedback from Robi Ludwig, a self-described psychotherapist, who blamed the shooting on the “homosexual impulses” of the shooter. Her remarks induced an fast firestorm, and a couple of days later, real estate company Coldwell Banker, for whom she consulted, announced “we really feel it greatest to element techniques with her as our way of life genuine estate correspondent.”

As Salon.com’s Sarah Gray pointed out, it is unethical to diagnose a patient whom you have never met. This didn’t seem to be to stop Ludwig, who also claimed that the shooter might have been in the early phases of schizophrenia. Ludwig later attempted to take back her comments on her Facebook page, claiming she was misunderstood.

Does it matter if Ludwig, who uses the title “Doctor” in all her media appearances, is a true medical professional? It’s presumably why we are supposed to consider her critically when she diagnoses a mass murderer on television.

The title of medical doctor also issues to the 1000′s of men and women who have invested years of research and research to earn a Ph.D. or an M.D. Robi Ludwig, it turns out, has neither.

Facebook Professional (Photograph credit: mkhmarketing)

Ludwig previously hosted a reality Tv show on TLC in which she presented marriage advice. Her listing at Psychology Today shows “School: University of Pennsylvania” and lists her graduation 12 months as 1990. Sounds legitimate, proper? U. Penn is an Ivy League college a doctorate from there is surely impressive.

Her web site reveals a various story.  Her “doctor” title, which she makes use of in each mention of herself and the identify of the website itself (drrobiludwig.com), is primarily based on a Psy.D. degree from Southern California University for Expert Research, an on the web-only, for-revenue correspondence college, which altered its identify in 2007 to California Southern University.

Note to readers: an online degree is not a doctorate. Any on-line, for-profit university that claims otherwise, and this naturally consists of Cal Southern, is just attempting to fool men and women.

I’ve acknowledged hundreds of scientists and scholars who’ve place in the sweat equity required for a Ph.D.: years of program function, mastery of a specialized region of review, and additional many years undertaking original analysis and writing a Ph.D. dissertation. The Cal Southern Psy.D. requires nothing at all a lot more than program function – no dissertation necessary – and the courses are all on-line. This falls grievously brief of a genuine doctorate. Taking a bunch of on the web programs at a third-fee online school does not earn one the correct to be referred to as “doctor.”

I checked the American Psychological Association’s site to see if the Psy.D. system at California Southern is accredited. It is not. (Quite couple of Psy.D. applications, which are much significantly less rigorous than Ph.D. applications, are accredited. Most clinical psychologists have Ph.D.s.)

In other words, “Dr.” Ludwig has a mail-purchase degree from an unaccredited program. Her undergraduate degree is from Cedar Crest College, a modest women’s college in Pennsylvania. So why does her Psychology Today profile listing the University of Pennsylvania as her only school? Apparently she does have a master’s in social work from U. Penn, but her undergrad and Psy.D. degrees are from less prestigious institutions. Her Psychology Nowadays profile also lists a license quantity, with out saying what the license is for. Apparently it’s her license as a social worker, not as a clinical psychologist.

Being referred to as a physician is obviously critical to Ludwig. But it wasn’t crucial ample for her to commit the years of study needed to get a Ph.D.

Let’s return to Ludwig’s Psychology Nowadays profile. Does she claim to be a psychologist there? No: despite the fact that she employs the title “Dr.”, she is listed as “Clinical Social Work/Therapist.” Psychology Today explains that

“Clinical social workers commonly hold a master’s degree in social work (or the equivalent) and have completed two many years of supervised practice to receive a clinical license. They may possibly use a selection of therapeutic tactics, which includes psychodynamic therapy or cognitive-behavioral treatment.”

So Ludwig is a licensed social worker who has an unaccredited Psy.D. from an on the internet university. Not to criticize social staff, who supply useful services to society, but they are not doctors.

Fox Information possibly does not care that Ludwig is not a true physician or a licensed psychologist. I’m guessing that they don’t care significantly about what her “Dr.” title means. But that is just a guess.

Possessing a Ph.D. is no assure of competence. A lot of people with Ph.D.s make stupid feedback on television, specifically when they are spouting off about topics outdoors their knowledge. But the Ph.D. degree does imply one thing, which is why so many people operate so challenging to earn them. But an on-line Psy.D. degree from California Southern University isn’t even remotely comparable to a Ph.D. If Ludwig desires to earn the title Medical professional, she has a lengthy way to go.

Fox Information Professional With On the web Degree Blames "Homosexual Impulses" For Santa Barbara Shootings