Family Therapy - General Discussion

[Cabarb]

I have never liked her in any show I have seen her in, but this show is really make me have a lot of sympathy for Tiffany. Her mother truly is vile and I cannot imagine life growing up with her.

[Elizabeth9]

The handwriting guy was the same one who appeared on I Love NY2. Don't know if this means he's on VH1's staff or he is really a handwriting expert.

Sister Patterson did not preach on FoL, she just smoked cigarettes, called NY fat, and yelled at Flav. On season 2, she told NY she was dying of a rare disease during her visit to the house.

SP quote: "I am made of sin." ILNY2

SP is basically insane. I fee like moving isn't enough-Tiffany needs a restraining order!

[Rebecca]

I think the Teen Mom sisters find out they're half sisters and maybe the mom doesn't know who the one's father is? I always assumed they were half sisters but maybe I just assumed because Ive never thought they looked much alike. I don't remember it ever being addressed in any way on TM3 but I guess it probably never was since they don't know anything about their dad(s) even now. Their mom is a tad like Michelle..not that bad, obviously but she definitely had issues on TM3. The sisters are ok without her but the mom makes then all insufferable.

I feel like an ass quoting myself but I guess I was mostly right..my point is that if I so easily concluded that, how could the sisters themselves not have? They HAD to have thought about that possibility. But maybe they just didn't want to acknowledge the idea. They don't look much alike at all. And I know genetics are a weird thing but siblings that close in age tend to look even more alike than other siblings. Something is still missing from their story... It sounds like "daddy," as they called him, just up and dipped out of the picture when they were kids and why hasn't been explained to them or us. And they apparently didn't even ask about it? I feel like Brittany and Brianna have way more in common with Tiffany than they realize. Their mom suuuucks.

It's not protecting your adult daughter to lie to her; that lie was all for the mom's benefit, in my opinion. I don't know how either sister could trust their mother after that. I still think it's totally possible the mom lied about Brittany's dad being dead, maybe she doesn't know who he is or he's a bad dude.

I totally understand why April's behavior has to be addressed. There is a thing as being too kind, too selfless and too involved, even with excellent intentions. April also seems to put her own needs aside and it's like an addiction for her - she focuses on everyone else and there is nothing left for herself and she likes it that way. I really like her and it sucked seeing her so upset and I'm sure she beat herself up but I think it was a good realization for her and I hope she grows from it. Bam said himself he's known she's the ultimate enabler.

Edited April 22, 2016 by Rebecca

[kat165]

Rebecca, I agree with you about April. It was really hard to watch her so upset.

But what was said to her was so valid. I've been "watching" April for a long time

and feel a great fondness for her. I'm glad this hard truth came out. I too hope

she grows from this. She's a lovely person & owes it to herself.

 

It was great to see more of April this ep as I'm only watching for her & Bam.

And I really dislike these other people although I did feel badly for those sisters.

The photo analysis was very interesting.

[Cramps]

April also implied that she feels some gratitude to Bam which plays into her doing so much for him. Does he support most of his family?

Because April is obviously a good person who loves her son, I think she will seriously try to change herself, which in turn will be much healthier for her. What she would probably consider her behaving selfishly, would just be healthier boundaries.

[DNR]

How bizarre that Dr. Jenn will come down hard on April of being "too nice" and "enabling" when April is mostly just being loving and kind, but not call out "Sister Patterson" for being the evil, destructive, narcissistic monster that she is. Still waiting for Dr. J to say something about that.

[kat165]

Cramps, I love your post. April has always struck me that way too. Bam's

been very generous with his family & friends, one of the things that I

like about him and which has kept my interest all these years.

 

He's always managed to share the wealth. His mom and dad are always

paid for their guest appearances on any show he has. I'm pretty sure he

bought their house for them, a house that is a huge step up from the one

they spent his early years in. He seems to have employed every family

member and friend at one time or another.

 

I was hoping, since the girls' mother was brought in, that we'd get to see

Bam's dad, Phil, but I shudder to think what Dr. Jen would have to say to

him. Phil is also, probably, a big enabler but he's unbelievably sweet &

easy going. I adore Phil.

[Cramps]

Thanks, Kat!

I never watched Bam's show, but April's love for Bam seems so strong, that I think she will make herself become tougher with him, if she believes it will help him--even if it's really hard for her. She's obviously a genuinely good person.

Putting aside all Sister Patterson's seeming mental illness, the one thing I do "get" about her, is that she obviously is afraid that Dr. Jen and therapy will change her relationship with (aka make her lose control over) her daughter. This makes her even harder for them all to deal with.

[halkatla]

I´m watching episode 3 now. I think when it comes to Michael and Dina, we have to look at the way all their kids have talked about their childhoods and relationship with their parents. They might not be 100% okay with Dina, but they certainly take her side against Michael and confirm that he was abusive and very difficult. They were not too young to know what really happened to them, they had their experiences and their voices should be respected. It´s so funny how SP (an apt acronym for that psycho) seems to be enthralled with Michael. Tiffany did good when she confronted him, Dina might be ridiculous and dramatic, but she doesn´t deserve those constant attact from them.

Edited April 24, 2016 by halkatla

[kat165]

Cramps, and thank you! I love what you posted. My friends think
I'm nuts for still being a huge Bam fan to this day as they've
all outgrown his antics. And I kind of have too, but he and his
family and some of his friends have really touched me over the
years.

 

April & Phil (his parents) put up with a lot of his unbelieveable
crap for so many years, they deserve everything perk he's given/gotten
them. April has always seemed so kind & geniune to me. And Phil is
just a good guy. They both support both their kids & I've always
admired that about them. You can also tell that Bam cares for them too.

 

Btw, most of my fondness for Bam, family & friends comes from the
Viva La Bam show, the CKY vids, the earlier radio show eps and
not from Jackass.

[Gigi43]

April also implied that she feels some gratitude to Bam which plays into her doing so much for him. Does he support most of his family?

Because April is obviously a good person who loves her son, I think she will seriously try to change herself, which in turn will be much healthier for her. What she would probably consider her behaving selfishly, would just be healthier boundaries.

 

I believe April was a hair dresser and Phil worked in a bakery or something, regular working class people, then Bam hit it big in skateboarding and not only got his own MTV show but made them a big part of the show, which I'm sure meant a separate paycheck for them as well as fame. Bam also featured his father's brother on the show (until a scandal happened) and had a lot of childhood friends involved in the beginnings of the radio show and they were a huge part of the MTV show Viva La Bam. I don't think April and Phil have moved out of their area of PA, they never upgraded to a lavish lifestyle, but Bam made it so they don't have to work and are comfortable.

 

I find it so strange Bam's marriages (and if he's currently married) has not come up at all yet. April has enabled and did need to hear that, but this was hard to watch. It just felt like they were going hard on her because, well, she wouldn't run away refusing to deal or make a scene the way SP or Dina would if they had to hear truths. The smoothie thing just seemed too much, is she not allowed to anything nice? Jesse Margera always seemed like a chill, nice guy and judging by how Bam used to make fun of him 'for changing diapers' I took that to mean he's an actual involved father/husband, so April's parenting did work for one of the kids.

 

Knowing Tiffany miscarries makes watching her mother all the more uncomfortable. I really felt it wrong to see her mom saying "there's no baby" make it to air. I don't know what the timeline is in terms of when this was filmed and when the episodes were edited but, if these producers edited this knowing she miscarried and are angling for that kind of affect to 'play up' SP, they are sick. I only ever saw clips of "New York" on The Soup years ago and her short scene in a Nip/Tuck episode where she "played herself" giving tips on how to be on reality tv, so I really don't know anything about her but from what this show is showing she seems like an okay person at least now. SP just seems awful, sorry to say but I think Tiffany's best course of action is to part ways with her as much as she can. She's toxic and never going to change so she's just going to keep making Tiffany miserable and she's certainly not going to cut Tiffany off because it seems like she likes being in front of the cameras a whole lot.

Edited April 26, 2016 by Gigi43

[Cramps]

Dr Jenn has really grown on me. Despite her obvious interest in being a television star, judging from this and Couples Therapy, she does actually seem to care about her patients. And seems to be able to help some of them. 

[kat165]

Does anyone know how many eps this show gets? I have another show coming up soon at the same time and this show isn't worth watching instead of the other show. It takes forever for an ep to come up on our On Demand
channel - they're still 3 eps behind.

[Gigi43]

I feel like this show is taking place in some backwards land, because Michael Lohan said exactly what I was thinking about SP and Brianna's baby, aside from it not being the time/place to inject any such parenting tips, taking the kid around to meet people she's been hanging around is just not "letting your kid talk to strangers", it's introductions!

 

Where do Brittany and Brianna live? I thought I heard them say something about Brooklyn but I could have been wrong. Brittany suddenly finds out about her father... and then her aunt came. Where does the Aunt live that she was able to "suddenly" come right over with pictures? Brittany also seemed to go back and forth between saying she "never expected it", to knowing to question certain pictures and feeling the need to ask the question in the first place. I'm smelling staging there.

 

This episode was really reaching on the Bam front. Bam didn't get a show "to do whatever he wanted but he chose to play pranks", isn't the story he got noticed from MTV off the CKY stunt videos and I've heard Viva was in a part compensation because Bam felt a lot of his guys didn't get proper credit for things they contributed to Jackass, so they got Viva, which was encouraged to stay with the stunts/pranks and involve skating since that's what he was known for. I don't know, the way they wanted to act like it was some big deep mental payback just didn't ring true. Also, that story he told about Phil sounded familiar, and I know he's mentioned on the radio Phil used to love to prank him and Jesse as kids so this isn't breaking news, either. I remember when I first started watching Viva thinking MTV wanted him to be a new Tom Green, who also would do things to his parents, and I'm still not convinced MTV didn't love/encourage that aspect of the Margera's.

[Rebecca]

I'm so glad April came to the realization this episode after seeing Bam's potential headstone. I find it interesting that it may be Phil's (super misguided) attempts at humor with his young son that contributed to all this. At first I was a little disbelieving in all that but it does make sense and given Bam and April's reactions I think it was genuine and those experiences stuck with Bam. I have always wondered why he was so big on "pranking" his parents, especially Phil. But now he's what? 37? Time to move past that. I wish we had Phil's input and feelings about it. Also, I think there was more to the story, some things obviously looked edited, like they cut out some details.

I just can't stand the sisters' mom...it was all "you CAN'T be mad at me, Brittany" and "I did it for you" when I think she thought it would just be easier to deceive them. And I still think she's hiding more.

Edited April 29, 2016 by Rebecca

[kat165]

I hadn't heard the incineration alley story so I was a bit surprised. Sounds more like a Don Vito move than a
Phil move. He always comes off as a gentler person. On the other hand, I can believe it. It didn't seem faked to me, April's reaction or sudden realization. Bam was very quiet during that whole conversation.

Since Jackass and the CKY vids were mostly a lot of pranks and "stupid" stuff, I wasn't surprised that Viva was pretty much the same thing, but with Bam's friends featured more. I think the pranks got more elaborate after they started filming them in high school. That MTV was willing to pay them all to continue seems like enough incentive to me and not necessarily a let's get back at Phil for the pranks he pulled on us when we were kids. I didn't sense a lot of MTV interference with the show until the last few seasons which basically all seemed scripted and you could tell that Bam and the gang were all getting tired of it.

Any word on how many more eps left of this?

The sisters and their mom have the most annoying voices. Very whiney.

[beesknees]

The TM2's daughter (Nova) was too damned old to be having a pacifier in her mouth.  Did I see that correctly?  A pacifier?  

[Ladystardust]

On 4/29/2016 at 10:32 AM, Gigi43 said:

Where do Brittany and Brianna live? I thought I heard them say something about Brooklyn but I could have been wrong. Brittany suddenly finds out about her father... and then her aunt came. Where does the Aunt live that she was able to "suddenly" come right over with pictures? Brittany also seemed to go back and forth between saying she "never expected it", to knowing to question certain pictures and feeling the need to ask the question in the first place. I'm smelling staging there.

On Teen Mom 3, they all lived in Orlando. I'm not sure if they moved or maybe they were originally from Brooklyn? I was confused too. 

[Rebecca]

Teen Mom 3 was barely watchable and utterly unmemorable but I do think I remember something about them moving from Brooklyn to Florida years before. I get the impression the mom is probably "from Brooklyn," not really the girls. 

This show is obviously not full up with today's super celebrities but does anyone think Briana and Brittney are an especially nebulous choice as celebrities? The others all have fans for the most part or people who are tuning in for their train wreck factor (hi, Lohans!) to explain their appearance, these two never were even famous and their show tanked 1 season in. How did they even get an invite? 

[Rebecca]

That's just it, they're known train wrecks/"personalities" except those 2. They're like W list.

Edited May 1, 2016 by Rebecca

[kat165]

Thank you, Terminalprep! An end is in sight. :)

[Rlb8031]

On 5/1/2016 at 1:24 AM, Rebecca said:

Teen Mom 3 was barely watchable and utterly unmemorable but I do think I remember something about them moving from Brooklyn to Florida years before. I get the impression the mom is probably "from Brooklyn," not really the girls. 

This show is obviously not full up with today's super celebrities but does anyone think Briana and Brittney are an especially nebulous choice as celebrities? The others all have fans for the most part or people who are tuning in for their train wreck factor (hi, Lohans!) to explain their appearance, these two never were even famous and their show tanked 1 season in. How did they even get an invite? 

They all have previous MTV/VH1 ties so they know the deal Bam & April (Viva La Bam), Tiffany & SP (FoL & I Love NY), Briana & Brittney (TM3). Only non-MTV folks are Michael and Dina (and frankly as many damn reality shows as they have between them one or both may have been on the networks - wait- didn't Michael do Couples Therapy???) and Dame Dash who is a legitimate B-list celebrity.

[Cramps]

Didn't Michael do one of Dr. Drew's Celeb Rehab shows on VH1? Same producers. (I vaguely remember him being annoying on that.)

[Rlb8031]

@Cramps, you may be right. I just remember him and his crazy girlfriend going at it over which one had a worse habit. Celebrity Rehab, Couples Therapy - clearly I'm allowing my brain to rot with horrible reality pop culture

[sereion]

Does anyone watch Steve Harvey's show? Dr. Jen and some of the cast members were guests yesterday; and Sister Patterson showed her evil behind. Tiffany (aka New York) reveal that she had a miscarriage and how Sister Patterson was not supportive, during that time. Her responsive was so dismissive and cold, even Steve was fed up with her to the point where he had put her in her place. Michael and Dina were on there as well, and they seem relatively civil towards each other.

[toodywoody]

What did Steve say to put her in her place, please share.

[toodywoody]

Sister Not Sledge is just freaky. She was outside during Bams session and still denies the baby after the doctor says there is one. Then is laughing at Tiffany's session. Lady is seriously a nut job.

Then Dina, just found her behavior odd at the session. I'm not saying he didn't beat her, but when was very calm and it was just off. I know Michael is a headcase but she is too. 

[kat165]

Did Sister Patterson get to break anything? Or did I miss it? She's frightening. The best thing TIffany can do for herself is cut that woman out of her life.

Bam's dad is on next wk. I love Phil. Looks like I'm going to be needing a lot of tissues. If he starts crying I'm on the floor.

[Gigi43]

I'm getting sick of most of these people. But, dammit, Phil will be on next week so I will absolutely be watching.

[suzeecat]

Quote

Did Sister Patterson get to break anything? Or did I miss it? She's frightening. The best thing TIffany can do for herself is cut that woman out of her life.

I've noticed that they haven't been showing much of SP participating in the exercises.  I figure either that she refuses to, or is so obviously faking it that they have chosen to edit her portion out.  The fact that SP insists that "there's no baby" and Tiffany subsequently miscarries scares me to pieces!!!  I hope that if Tiffany really wants children that she stay far, far away from her mother while pregnant.  I wouldn't put anything past that evil thing.

Yeah, Brianna & Brittany are really, really low on the celebrity food chain, but I'm enjoying their participation and story line.

But seriously, I don't know anything about those Dash boys, I swear I've never heard of them before this show. 

[kat165]

Thanks, Suzee.

[cherry slushie]

On 5/5/2016 at 4:27 PM, kat165 said:

Did Sister Patterson get to break anything? Or did I miss it? She's frightening. The best thing TIffany can do for herself is cut that woman out of her life.

Bam's dad is on next wk. I love Phil. Looks like I'm going to be needing a lot of tissues. If he starts crying I'm on the floor.

And he cried, and so did I. :(

Edited May 12, 2016 by cherry slushie

[TheVoicesToldMeTo]

My two cynical cents....

Sister Patterson has been so over the top that I just can't believe VH1 would have cast her (remember, they've worked with her before on the I<3NY shows) like this.  There's a difference between casting a "Villain" and casting someone who continually sabotages production and threatens and undermines the Professional team for whom the entire show's merit is based.  I suspect she thought she had signed up for one thing, then got on set, and discovered she'd signed up for something entirely different, and at that point she refused to "play along" with all of the scripted B.S. they do on these shows.  She probably wasn't getting paid as much as she would have liked, so finding out it was a dry house, with crappy twin beds set her off.  She's really been pushing this religious shaman thing, so maybe the producers had told her she could be part of the therapy team doing some cleansing or praying sessions and then backtracked once cameras rolled.

It's entirely possible that Tiffany never was pregnant, or that she already miscarried before the show, and her pregnancy reveal was already decided to be part of her storyline.  The timeline of this seems really off to me.  If she was really 5 weeks along, she would have already missed at least one period so why was she chugging booze when she entered the house?  She said her due date was April, so to be 5 weeks along (Doc's count from first day of last period) was this show filmed in August? I really would not put it past the networks or the narcissists they cast on these shows to pull something like that.  I also suspect that the reason Patterson has been so quiet is because the producers probably pulled her into a room on day 3 and were like STFU or no paycheck. 

On the Bam/Phil session:  What was that incinerator road thing?  It was apparently very traumatizing to Bam, however that sounds like the kind of thing that Phil probably did over and over so wouldn't Bam have caught on after a while? 

Edited May 12, 2016 by TheVoicesToldMeTo

[FairyDusted]

I really felt that SisterCrazyPants was TRYING to miscarry Tiffany. I would never ever want to be in a room or zip code with that cold bitch.  

[cherry slushie]

Maybe it's just me, but I don't think I know many people whose parent(s) didn't playfully scare them at least once because that's what they thought they wanted, like paying to go through haunted houses at carnivals or theme parks because sometimes it's fun to be scared (without any real threat). I can't imagine that Phil would have continued had Bam and his brother been screaming tearfully or begging him to stop. I have no doubt that it was harmless fun because Phil thought they enjoyed it.

[sereion]

On May 5, 2016 at 10:55 PM, toodywoody said:

What did Steve say to put her in her place, please share.

Sister Patterson claimed she was perfect and tried to quote the Bible, but Steve called her on it by stating that her behavior does not exemplify perfect, and that no one is perfect. 

When she tried to takeover, and still denied New York's pregnancy, he basically told her that it was his show and that she was crazy. He went so far in telling her that her brand of crazy makes good comedy material, and their segment was the worst ever because of her.

She was so horrible, she ended up being the running joke for the remainder of his show--even a four year girl prayed for her.

[toodywoody]

Omg, that laugh. Stfu and quit being loud and obnoxious. All attention on her. Can't believe she acted like that with her own brother. What an asshole.

[toodywoody]

That's funny

[kat165]

Thank god this is over.

[TheVoicesToldMeTo]

The finale was so predictably ridiculous.

Having a baby shower for someone who is supposedly 5 weeks pregnant?  And then if she miscarries (which she supposedly did) she's got all of this baby crap sitting around to remind her?  Not to mention the crib looked like it was at the low-end of what they sell at Walmart.

And Sister Patterson suddenly having a come-to-Jesus moment "Tiffany REALLY IS pregnant!!!"  I almost eye-rolled myself off the couch.

And WTF was Dr Jenn doing asking Patterson's brother if anything happened to Patterson when she was young.  I'm sure something did, however wouldn't that be for Sister Patterson to disclose herself?  How does Jenn still have her license?

Now if Lifetime can just air the Mother/Daughter experiment finale, I can get some closure on my Spring Train-Wreck Reality TV season.

Edited May 19, 2016 by TheVoicesToldMeTo

[deltaburkefan]

On 4/25/2016 at 4:12 AM, Gigi43 said:

 

I believe April was a hair dresser and Phil worked in a bakery or something, regular working class people, then Bam hit it big in skateboarding and not only got his own MTV show but made them a big part of the show, which I'm sure meant a separate paycheck for them as well as fame. Bam also featured his father's brother on the show (until a scandal happened) and had a lot of childhood friends involved in the beginnings of the radio show and they were a huge part of the MTV show Viva La Bam. I don't think April and Phil have moved out of their area of PA, they never upgraded to a lavish lifestyle, but Bam made it so they don't have to work and are comfortable.

 

Bam also still lives in the same part of PA. I'm from the same area, and it's actually the wealthiest county in the state and really, really nice. He bought a house that is in a more rural area than the township he grew up in, but he still is in the general West Chester area. He owned a club in town for a while that was cool (and I saw him there at the bar), but I guess with all his issues it led him to sell it.

[MaggieG]

That laugh....shudder. I will hear that in my nightmares. Thankfully this mess is over

[beesknees]

That SP person was manic and crazy.  That laugh!  Uggggh, that's gonna be in my nightmares indeed.  I am angry at the producers of this show because I do think Tiffany's mother has some serious mental issues and should not have appeared on this show.  Just no.

[Darknight]

On Saturday, April 30, 2016 at 3:07 AM, beesknees said:

The TM2's daughter (Nova) was too damned old to be having a pacifier in her mouth.  Did I see that correctly?  A pacifier?  

Omg me too. She's too big for that. 

[Darknight]

Sister Patterson is crazy as fuck. But funny too. 

Dina is such a fucking liar. At least Michael admitted what he's done. We all know damn well she did drugs too. And a lot of other stuff. Damn Lindsay loans parents are crazy as fuck. I don't blame her for bring crazy. Her parents used her up. 

The dash brothers aren't they broke? 

Tiffany imo was never pregnant. I would've believed it if they did a full screenshot of the ultrasound. 

Briana and Brittney. Wow. What mother keeps a secret like that. At first the reasons didn't make sense. But anything for reality tv. 

 

So these people are magically healed in two weeks. Reality tv.

On Thursday, May 19, 2016 at 11:27 AM, TheVoicesToldMeTo said:

The finale was so predictably ridiculous.

Having a baby shower for someone who is supposedly 5 weeks pregnant?  And then if she miscarries (which she supposedly did) she's got all of this baby crap sitting around to remind her?  Not to mention the crib looked like it was at the low-end of what they sell at Walmart.

And Sister Patterson suddenly having a come-to-Jesus moment "Tiffany REALLY IS pregnant!!!"  I almost eye-rolled myself off the couch.

And WTF was Dr Jenn doing asking Patterson's brother if anything happened to Patterson when she was young.  I'm sure something did, however wouldn't that be for Sister Patterson to disclose herself?  How does Jenn still have her license?

Now if Lifetime can just air the Mother/Daughter experiment finale, I can get some closure on my Spring Train-Wreck Reality TV season.

Reality tv. Can't believe dr. Jenn is a real dr. No real therapist unless they're desperate would do a show like this. Or any tv show. 

[Darknight]

On Sunday, May 01, 2016 at 1:24 AM, Rebecca said:

Teen Mom 3 was barely watchable and utterly unmemorable but I do think I remember something about them moving from Brooklyn to Florida years before. I get the impression the mom is probably "from Brooklyn," not really the girls. 

This show is obviously not full up with today's super celebrities but does anyone think Briana and Brittney are an especially nebulous choice as celebrities? The others all have fans for the most part or people who are tuning in for their train wreck factor (hi, Lohans!) to explain their appearance, these two never were even famous and their show tanked 1 season in. How did they even get an invite? 

Drama? I think producers knew about her dad story. Makes good tv. 

[Jx223]

.

Edited June 20, 2016 by Jx223

[kat165]

While I'm still missing Bam I do not miss this show. What a relief when it was finally over!

[Emma Smith]

Family therapist is a type of psychotherapy that helps to improve communication and resolve conflicts between family members. Therapists provides your family and partner a safe space to explore each others issues in order to strengthen relationship through compassionate listening or addressing underlying agendas. http://www.olgabloch.com/