Dr K And The Dangers of Twitch Therapy

[@SlushTV]

All interviews are available under the Playlist tab on my channel Please consider donating to the Depression & Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) DONATE: secure.everyaction.com/xBpsJJ7nt0a1iD9FC0EH3Q2

[@Xanto2k]

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[@GreenBlueWalkthrough]

Slush, have you personally experienced the Mental health system... I know you don't really respond to comments but you have to be honest if you're going to tell people what's right or wrong... Personally, I was misdiagnosed and it took away my early adulthood and 6 years off my life. So you should be frank with us about yes or no that's all we need from you. It's dishonest otherwise... a good video though other than that. And yes I did see the beginning and the acknowledgment of the issues the mental health cominity has.

[@desolatemoon7377]

I feel like this video will raise awareness to this danger.

[@jonahrattray2195]

This video is reaching too far and the majority of the points are fucking stupid this is just kind of weird

[@drewsuismclovin]

Coming from someone who had bipolar, you have no clue about what you're talking about when making assumptions about Reckful and Dr. K's influence on him. Doesn't make the first half of the video bad, but this is why people should trust experts instead of KZbinrs whenever assumptions or opinions are involved.

[@TheMotU92]

This could have been a good video, but oh boy did you ruin it for yourself. The trailer, the editing of this video...even the line in the intro "I reached out to him a week before" with the dramatic "there was no response" after it give the whole video an unnecessarily suggestive tone, no matter how often you insist on what your real intentions are. Starting the whole thing off with that framing, you can't expect people to then only take in the objective criticism. Plus, the whole thing about reincarnation seems so shoe-horned in as a "mistake" and that's ridiculous. That part can be thrown out as well. Now the other things, especially the two experts' takes would've made a good video on their own (even though I personally don't really share their concerns). Dr. K (and I'm sure large parts of his community) seems very susceptible to criticism, so that would have sufficed. But you made it unnecessarily polarizing. And making it polarizing to "sTaRt A cOnVeRsAtIoN" isn't a good argument here, either.

[@Hemlocker]

He should have just put Dr. K on a Zoom call with those two psychologists and uploaded it un-edited. This video is over-produced.

[@JijiJohnJacky]

Completely agree with everything here.

[@ZapatosVibes]

Agreed, this has all the signs of a hit piece and clickbait written all over it, despite there being some valid points in there, especially the expert's takes.

[@mechanomics2649]

@@ZapatosVibes No it doesn't. People really seem to like conflating criticism with blame.

[@droppedoutbeatz]

As a mental health professional I've only recently discovered Dr. K. I think his more general videos surrounding education are great and agree he's one of the better individuals in the community. Because I'm a mental health professional, I don't really watch too many youtube videos about my profession... but man, I had no idea Dr. K was doing therapy sessions like this. Illuminating and a necessary conversation.

[@demijorgon1955]

Something can be therapeutic and not be “therapy.” What Dr. K is providing in these talks is coaching. There are plenty of organizations that provide life coaching, akin to what Dr. K does, but with none of the credentials and mental health knowledge that he brings. If you notice, he often recommends that people talk to a therapist to further explore personal trauma after the topic comes up. While they do touch on the subject, this is not the main topic of conversation, and if it becomes such than it is referred out. Let’s not cancel something that provides support to people that live their lives on broadcast, and at the same time de-stigmatizes seeking support for mental health issues. Also, implying that Dr.K’s conversation resulted in Reckful completing suicide, indirectly or otherwise, is disgusting. This entire video is brutal down to the creepy music choice, clips taken out of full context, and glaring misconceptions from someone that is uneducated in mental health issues.

[@stevesteves945]

Dr. K was quite clearly Reckful's psychotherapist, and he was violating so many psychological/psychiatric ethical standards by conducting therapy in this manner. If the participant feels like they are being therapised and constantly refers to it as therapy, then it's therapy. If Dr. K introduces himself as a medical and mental health professional and uses techniques that he specifically learnt during his education and clinical experience to provide help, then it's therapy. Just because Dr. K provides a disclaimer by saying "oh btw this isn't therapy", it doesn't make it not therapy. It even appears that that as a licensed professional and Reckful's personal therapist, Dr. K might have rejected his diagnosis of bipolar disorder in favour of a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder.

[@joegonzales4749]

Clearly you never went to a therapy session if you think dr k is providing coaching.

[@stevesteves945]

@@joegonzales4749 If it looks and seems like therapy, then it's therapy.

[@DeedooElNinoPolla]

@@stevesteves945 that's an awfully terrible take

[@stevesteves945]

@@DeedooElNinoPolla Care to elaborate?

[@cristiandj2088]

This video doesn't mention that Reckful had had an existential crisis way before this. And Reckful was the one who started the conversation of simulation theory and all type of existential crisis conversations. So to put the blame on Dr. K for introducing him to reincarnation is kinda fucked up of you. Reckful was a very well read guy and I'm sure he knew about reincarnation before this.

[@Energyswordsunday]

Exactly. Painting the narrative in this video was actually disgusting.

[@LudiStack]

Slush should be ashamed of him self for doing this. It’s nothing but fucked up.

[@TheInfernoJesus]

Slush didn't put blame on Dr K. He just said it was a mistake

[@mareksicinski3726]

‘Existential’ lol no

[@mareksicinski3726]

He was aware it’s a common trope, it’s about legitimising it and suicide with it as a release

[@davidpatterson3906]

I am a therapist in the field of addiction. It’s important to note, that in this profession, sometimes…you just lose one. It doesn’t make it your fault. It doesn’t mean you didn’t do a good enough job. If anything, you ideally gave them a safe space to contemplate their life and happenings in their final days that they would not have had otherwise. Sometimes you lose a client. Especially in my field. You do your best, but sometimes it’s just not up to you. We don’t blame doctors when their patients die. Don’t blame therapists when their clients commit suicide or overdose. I’m sure this man is having a hard enough time losing this man without you blaming him and not even having the courage to admit that it’s what you are doing.

[@lupoallupato3305]

You do what you can but not everybody can be saved, i hope im one of them and just die

[@DrtyWhiteBoy]

"We don't blame doctors when their patients die." - An actual therapist

[@sonnyankau9239]

clown take. Dr K preaches psychobabble nonsense A LOT of the time, and at a certain point you have to question whether his interactions with Reckful were harmful or not. Reckful looked at it as therapy, even thought Dr K repeatedly claimed that's not what it is due to liability reasons. ever thinkt hat you are the reason you "lose one" sometimes? maybe you are a shitty therapist and should change professions.

[@grayglimpse]

@@sonnyankau9239 can you explain to me what him psycho babbling means or give me an example of it.

[@sonnyankau9239]

@@grayglimpse Psychobabbling is when someone throws around psychology terms with little meaning. Dr K does it often when trying to explain his train of thought or ideas to his viewers without actually conveying psychological concepts. Go watch any of his videos about Eastern medicine, he often psychobabbles in those videos in particular.

[@ZapatosVibes]

Slush : Criticizes Dr. K for putting a disclaimer and acting in another way. Also Slush : puts a disclaimer saying he's not blaming Dr. K and does a 45 mins long hitpiece implying Dr. K shares the blame

[@joey_youtube]

It's really not a hitpiece. It's just criticism and spreading awareness.

[@Mayurbhedru]

@@joey_youtube it is hit peice. You can already concluded from thumbnail. What he is suggesting from thumbnail is existance of something sinister. Thing is dr k is in clear that why he is asking leading question. This is hit piece evern if everything he says is genuine.

[@mechanomics2649]

@@jt-mx4on Criticism and blame aren't the same thing. I have no idea how so many people don't understand this.

[@mechanomics2649]

@@Mayurbhedru It isn't a hit piece. It's looking at the situation and seeing what mistakes might have been made and what might have gone wrong. This is pretty blatantly obvious.

[@Leo-nc5hs]

It’s so obviously a hit piece without actually calling it one.

[@cmpurple222]

I agree with the notion that we should be able to discuss/criticize content creators even if their impact is net positive, but honestly, using Reckful as the main example in a video like this, seems like skewing the data in my opinion. It's clear that some of the people shown in this video have very strong feelings towards Reckful and obviously his suicide is a very personal tragedy to them so their opinion on watching videos with very personal stories and trauma from him is going to feel difficult to watch and may potentially negate their ability to take anything positive from those videos. I think we have to keep in mind that all these influencers who come on the stream have consented to coming on to talk, and in my opinion Dr. K does a pretty good job of making sure no one shares things that they may later regret. I don't disagree with the sentiment that the potential of these conversations can go in dangerous directions but it seems that everyone on their team is doing their best to make sure the risks are minimized. I think using the one public figure that Dr. K had on that reaped the severe consequences of his own mental health struggles, that were going on long before he ever came on stream, seems like an inaccurate and, maybe unconsciously on your part, manipulative to the viewer. I think if this video was less about Reckful and more about generalized points about the potential dangerous side effects of blurring the lines between public conversations and public therapy it would be received in a completely different way, and probably more towards getting out the message you wanted. This can very easily be taken as a blame game, even though you put warnings on the screen that that isn't what you mean. This video also has the potential to send a dangerous message and that's that you can blame anyone for someone losing the battle to depression. Just my opinion, no hate intended.

[@quinnkimball9359]

Well said.

[@apurbadecade7318]

Pretty much sums up Everything.

[@highbread5439]

Seems like both of them have good intentions, but they are still humans, thus flawed. I really hope K responds, since there is actually valid criticism in this vid.

[@apurbadecade7318]

Also there's another thing you should take in to factor that the stream they talked about reincarnation was the first stream they did and it was more of a on the spot thing rather then planned one. And DrK specifically said who is Recfull after his chat let him know that Byron wanted talk with him. At that point all Drk seemd to know about Byron that he was a lol player way back. And having watched the stream multiple times now, It's safe to say DrK was explaining stuff about he does and mythology behind that rather then therapy.... They just meet half an hours ago. I'm pretty sure after he found out about Byrons tendencies he never really the bought up reincarnation unless he was told to do so......

[@mechanatomy]

100% agree. I think both you and slush make some really good points. While I was really glad to see that slush highlighted other licensed professionals informing us about their opinion on dr. k, I felt that SOME of slush's own personal speculations were somewhat uniformed on what constitutes standard therapy practice and what doesn't. For example, when he criticizes dr. k for saying "you can die after you finish making your game" slush spins it as potentially planting the seed for reckful to kill himself. Whereas, in reality, asking for someone to delay their plans on suicide (rather than telling them outright to just never kill themselves) has been standard practice in suicide prevention for years, & is routinely used not just by therapists/psychiatrists but also nurses, EMTs, personal coaches, people with mental health first aid etc. I still think slush is bringing attention to a conversation that definitely needs to be made about what lines should be drawn as therapy or not for dr. k. Personally I just found the argument in this video to be a bit clumsy. It appears that slush starts with the assumption that someone/something must've tipped reckful over the breaking point and he then worked back using inductive logic to imply that dr. k was this thing. This is on account of slush implying as much during the intro: 'I've been watching dr. k change the lives of thousands of people for the past 2 years, but I realized good intentions can have bad consequences after the death of reckful' (paraphrased). This is just my opinion ofc & I have only love for people like dr. k and slush trying to bring more attention to detail for discussions about mental health; either way I'm sure this vid we be a spark for good change in the community, which is a great thing in and of itself.

[@LongXi1988]

Despite being fairly disgusted by the trailer, I waited for the full video to drop before forming any opinion. It was pretty much what was to be expected from the teaser. You're heavily suggesting that Dr K played a big role in Reckful's demise, and I just find this gross. Seeing the interview of the people who were the closest to him is pretty hard too. You spend a good portion of the video suggesting that Dr K just sold reincarnation and the right to off yourself once you've accomplished your life's purpose, then backtrack. I still remember Reckful's last tweets (that you convenitently didn't put in the video) , and it didn't felt like there were the words of someone wanting to be born again after having completed his life goal, which by the way, wasn't the case at all. As for how open Reckful was, it was always the case. I used to watch him casually, and I knew way more than what I should have, years before any stream with Dr K. From how he felt about certain things, people, funny gross health issues, his sexual life, his suicidals thoughts... Which he was talking about a lot. How many time did he talk about killing himself, so casually, that he wouldn't care if he died the next day, and the list goes on. What if Dr K would have put a stop to their talks after the first stream, and Reckful would have killed himself later on? Would you have made a video on the subject that this guy could help and didn't? Especially during this pandemic, cutting him from social interactions and traveling, which he was relying on to numb the pain. This is an important topic, but It felt like a sensational hit piece from a youtuber that is aware of what brings the most views to his channel, and you got mine. I might be wrong, but i've seen too much of this shit on this website to think otherwise unfortunately. As for Dr K, It's been a while since I watched one of his stream or video, but I know that a lot of people saw themselves in some of the guests he had, and that helped them to go to therapy. This man cannot have thousands of patients. Just him making people go seek help is valuable enough in my eyes. Once again, very important topic, a few good points were made, but I personally just can't go over what you used to bring views to this.

[@Fredfazbear1983]

He never suggested that dr k did that, he was saying that he was not responsible with the way he was talking to reckful

[@mareksicinski3726]

He didn’t talk abt reincarnation

[@blackpaw3776]

Slush just made this video to fit his narrative that drk was indirectly responsible for Reckfuls suicide, whether he said the wrong thing or didn't do enough. I watched the interviews with Gary and jenna with jackie, and they all mention more issues that affected reckful and not just words from drk. But slush didn't include any of that in this video, he only focused on what drk said as if it was super detrimental to reckful's actions (but "he isn't blaming drk") . Why isn't he mentioning all the money Reckful lost while making his game? Or that he tried to gamble a lot of money to recuperate what he has lost the day before his death? his brother mentioned it in the interview, or jenna saying that he always got negative messages to off himself, even before meeting dr k? I know he wanted to focus on drk's words but this video is so inappropriate considering all the information he is leaving out on purpose. Not everyone is going to watch the interviews so this video is missing a lot of context just to fit this blaming narrative.

[@varygoode]

TL;DR This video feels disingenuous with its intentions despite making several well-thought points. While I understand your communicated intent is for this not to be a hit piece, many of your choices in editing do exactly the opposite. Between the ominous music, slow transitions, use of black & white, and several more, it's hard to believe you were eliciting emotions other than fear and disdain. Additionally, focusing on his sessions with the one individual who had the worst possible outcome doesn't seem conducive to someone actually exploring "the dangers of twitch therapy" as the title indicates. Just like your (still mostly valid) general criticisms of Dr. K, and those by the other professionals in the video, you too moved away from general ideas. Instead, you focused on the specifics of the one case that can really scare those unaware of everything Dr. K does on his streams. I'd love to see a follow-up video here, perhaps with Dr. K involved, discussing AT A GENERAL LEVEL the blurred lines and dangers you intended to with this piece.

[@mechanatomy]

^^^

[@JakobEslinger]

very well put

[@rickyp3329]

Doesn't really matter, he has brought some great points to light! Disingenuous to bring up the hit piece argument, Dr.K is way out of this depth scary tbh

[@swordyshield]

@@rickyp3329 Dr.k is not really way out of his depth though, he is an actual professional. Like what?

[@AnimatedDisc]

How am I supposed this video seriously when it's edited as a documentary uncovering a serial-killer. Your points are so easily overshadowed by the editing style.

[@laurencewhite4809]

No.

[@LittleHarryBrother1]

@AnimatedDisc I can see how the music may be interpreted as unfit, especially if one is a fan of Dr. K. But personally, I think this video is getting bashed quite unfairly. I came here right after watching the two first episodes with Dr. K and Reckful(who I, as a non-gamer, wasn’t aware of before today). I must admit, even though I think Dr. K seems to be fantastic in many regards, those videos still raised some red flags for me. In fact, this video was a very good reflection of my concerns with their sessions. As someone who has been in therapy myself and suffered a lot from mental health issues, including problems relating to my therapist/psychiatrist, I think the video maker raises many fair points.

[@Laroac]

@@LittleHarryBrother1 Watch some later episodes and see how he lwarned and adapted his style, you must not forgett that this is the first time ever for someone to do this, I feel it quite dishonest to only evaluate his most early videos while disregarding his newer ones, the question of ethics is valid but the judgement call is not, it is a new format yet to be evaluated, and from the positive impact it has had on millions you mustn't forgett that not doing it, not doing anything for the greater mental health would also be an ethical debatable choice.

[@LittleHarryBrother1]

@@Laroac All of your points may be true. I still don't think they invalidate the points raised in the documentary.

[@randymarsh9488]

Who is the serial killer?

[@SupahLIVE]

This video is honestly pretty irresponsible and preying on peoples emotions to say something about dr.k and reckful that just isn't reality. Pretty insensitive stuff tbh. Expected better from this channel.

[@tonerc.8191]

Reckful's family felt it was needed as well as mental health professionals so how so? Btw like this dude I also watch Dr K alot and like him but I've always questioned from day 1 how he is allowed to do this and also why he uses religion so much in his "advice" which he apparently isn't allowed to give because it "isn't therapy". If he was preaching about jesus to make therapeutic points people would point it out every time as a negative.

[@zao7556]

Nice arguments dumbass

[@SupahLIVE]

@@zao7556 Might wanna pump the breaks a bit little guy. Don't need to be insecure because you disagree. Not even like what I said is the minority position either.

[@verlan3293]

@@tonerc.8191 "How he is allowed to do this"? He asks people to be interviewed. He has an entire catalogue for them to do their research on to see what they're getting into, like any reasonable person does. They saw what they liked and agreed to the interview to do the same thing. His practice also is without insurance, meaning he is free bound to do whatever he wants rather than needs insurance approval about what he can and can't do in his therapy tactics. There are tonnes of religious health professionals and many even market themselves as such, or market themselves towards that demographic. On top of that there's nothing that would renege his certifications for streaming his content on social media, lol. You grossly overestimate how much he brings up religion. A large majority of it is simply Eastern philosophy from India which he pairs with western philosophy. Not really sure why you're erroneously trying to paint Dr. K as some covert religious fanatic trying to evangelise people. Also, you're yet wrong again because he technically is allowed to say what he wants. The only thing he explicitly states that he "isn't allowed" to give is medical advice i.e. official diagnoses or medical prescriptions. Saying something like "I think you may have autism and you may want to go get a diagnosis to see if that's the case [if this wasn't clear to you, this means "this is not a diagnosis, go get an official diagnosis from someone if you're interested"]" is not the same as "you have autism". He almost flat out refuses to suggest any particular medications for anyone and very carefully references it in a neutral way in his explanations to make a point.

[@MikeNovelli]

Cathartic is not always “therapy”

[@tjmays.4969]

Yea honestly i'm unsure what the working definition of therapy is . If I take my friend to the gym with me and we workout , is that unethical physical therapy ? Is talking to my friend about their bad day at work unethical therapy ? What's the difference between a psychiatrist talking to someone about their problems , and not-a-psychiatrist doing the same ? How can Dr. K simultaneously be a net positive , and unethical ? Does ethical mean something else in this context ?

[@GreenBlueWalkthrough]

Clinical does not always work... I know from decade-long expernce with them and finding one that's actually good... it's a balance and Mental health is still far from being a scince.

[@vulpesvulpes871]

@@tjmays.4969 it hoestly doesn't matter what the working definition of therapy is. What the main issue between you taking your friend to the gym and your friend going to a trainer at the gym is, is the fact, that your friend views this differently. you are not an authority figure, because you haven't undergone years and years of training, you are "just" a friend who does their best, but your friend isn't expecting too much out of you at the end of the day. But if your friend trains with a professional, he expects to get reaserach based answers, that are beneficial and not harmful in any way. when dr k doesn't distiguish whether his talks are as "friends" or as "therapist" people are gonna view him as a therapist and an authority figure, because that is what he tells the internet he is (i mean, he actually is, so no harm in this on it's own) but even though he says his talks aren't "therapy" he uses therapeutic tactics and strategies, which really undermines his "just a conversation" approach. And that can be really fucking dangerous for people who struggle with real issues and have a hard time distinuishing between the "conversation" vs "therapy"

[@highbread5439]

He was giving him advice and acted like a therapist though. AND Byron saw him as his therapist.

[@tjmays.4969]

@@vulpesvulpes871 ohhh i see that makes sense so like let's say im at the gym with my friend and we're just working out , and they go to do deadlifts or something with a high risk of injury and I try to explain that to them. They may brush me off they may listen whatever but if a personal trainer tells them not to do deadlifts because of the risk of injury , their title and position and credibility will make them more inclined to listen to them ?

[@TheProductofyourmind]

I feel like it's also important to realise how much Dr. K's approach has changed since those initial sessions highlighted in the video. Particularly the case of Reckful has impacted his style and the way he handles the people that come on a ton.

[@-S.L.]

That's interesting and reassuring to hear.

[@glass7923]

What changed, exactly?

[@TheProductofyourmind]

@@glass7923 this is subjective, of course, and a little hard for me to describe. I feel like he's become more patient and careful and more serious overall, maybe more aware of his impact (not just on the people he is streaming with but also those he is streaming for). It seems to me that he sets clearer boundaries between what he can and cannot provide, there is a clear line between the streams and anything that could be considered therapy. Even though he is a licensed medical professional, he does not aim to provide therapy on stream, but rather to model a - still very intense and fast-paced - example of coaching, and this has become much more clearly communicated since he had been working with Reckful. I recommend his two streams about dealing with suicide, and if you're curious about coaching, I recommend his recent stream where he roleplays as a client with an actual HG coach. To me those were very insightful :)

[@Kroban_d4c]

Yea but it costed a life, and in one of the latest sessions he kept putting pressure on a girl into giving the name and relation she had with her sexual abuser when she clearly was really, really uncomfortable with talking about it and even said like 4 times that she didnt want to give a name *on stream* . He was pushing her like if he were a periodist trying to get "the juicy bits of information" on an interview

[@josefanon8504]

@@Kroban_d4c how can people assume that dr k is responsible for his death, wtf. it might just as well have been prolongued by dr k.

[@arthurhudson2]

Dr k is an amazing person. He has helped me immeasurably. I believe in the good that he does.

[@horseradish843]

@Chase Calvin how can you even end up at such a stupid conclusion?

[@Vegan_Kebab_In_My_Hand]

@Chase Calvin ahh have fun with your little troll account

[@nickwoolley7368]

you can believe hes a net good and not close your ears to criticism. He's not infallible and thinking so is dangerous as fuck,

[@Entropy67]

@@rosemadsen2393 any doctor should tell you that you are paying them for a reason, and that they definitely do something.

[@Vegan_Kebab_In_My_Hand]

@ Obvious troll is obvious, but it's a pretty funny comment, ngl

[@JakobEslinger]

"im not trying to cancel dr. K" "we need to decide if these streams should continue". Sounds like that is your goal tho. I find this implication that dr. K has any responsibility over rackful's death kind of disgusting. You can do nothing but speculate on the effects and I find that extremely unhelpful. Mental health being as stigmatized as it is and access to metal help so difficult to get in the US, I think what Dr. K is doing is necessary and trying to sideline the only accessible resource the gaming community as a whole has had is targeting the wrong issue. I would suggest a follow up, but rather than a hit piece on the guy providing a free resource to people that is encouraging people to get help, why not turn your attention to the corrupts system of mental health. You could make a mountain more videos on that and It would be encouraging change that would actually help people.

[@xavierjdesigns]

1,000,000% this is the perfect comment. Thanks for posting this

[@Mepa-xb4gd]

You basically took two or three words that dr k said durning ~12 hours of streaming with reckful. And then proceeded to blame him for reckful's suicide, when literally he was doing this interviews in order to check on him and help. Also the reincarnation stuff does not feel correlated to the idea of a simulation at all, they are two separate things.

[@Lazlo-os1pu]

Are you going to take this back now that Dr K has had his medical license reprimanded for his interactions with Reckful?

[@Mepa-xb4gd]

@@Lazlo-os1pu Did you read the statement? License was reprimanded due to the board believing these were therapy sessions and therefore, not allowed to be public, they absolutely never mention the content of what is said.

[@Lazlo-os1pu]

@@Mepa-xb4gd Why would you even make that claim? There is a whole breakdown of Dr K’s and Reckful’s interactions within the statement. Do you think they just included that for no reason? Here’s a direct excerpt from pages 4-5 of the statement: “13. On or about January 11, 2020, the Respondent and Reckful connected for a third live-streamed interview that lasted over two hours. a. During this video, the Respondent and Reckful engage in a conversation about depression, Reckful's brother's suicide, and psychedelics. 14. On or about January 23, 2020, the Respondent and Reckful connected for a fourth live-streamed interview that lasted approximately one hour and fifteen minutes. a. During this video, the Respondent and Reckful engage in a conversation about borderline personality disorder. b. The Respondent stated that he would "try to love" Reckful for two years. 15. On or about January 29, 2020, the Respondent and Reckful connected for a fifth live-streamed interview that lasted approximately one hour and fifty minutes. a. During this video, the Respondent and Reckful engage in a conversation addressing their discussion from January 23, 2020. b. The Respondent and Reckful discussed the bounds of their relationship and whether the Respondent was Reckful's therapist or friend. c. The Respondent acknowledged that his "very bold claim" about loving Reckful for two years was "irresponsible." d. Later in this video, Reckful told the Respondent he remained conflicted about the status and definition of their relationship.”

[@AllDayLetsPlay]

There are so many contradictions in the points that are made against Dr. K. While I see the bigger issue, I think this is a really unhealthy Video. If you have 100 "Could've" "Should've" "Would've" in your Script maybe just dont realease it, since you obviously are basing everything on assumptions and are potentially endangering the well being of other people. Also the people you brought on did not really add any substential information and contradicted themselves and again, points you made before. Maybe the shallow watcher will agree with this but whoever actually thinks about it, will hopefully come to a similar conclusion.

[@raditsyz]

The dramatization of a man's passing has got to be the most scumbag stuff I've ever seen. You made some good points about the blurred line of therapy, but it does not make up for this obvious sensationalism and dramatization of a real person with real family. Drop the music, drop the editing, drop the persuasion and you would've had a great video with good perspective.

[@raditsyz]

@Brandon Shen My opinion on this has evolved in 6 months time of this comment. Mr. Girl did some good late coverage on Reckful and Dr. K that you might want to seek out. It was insightful. Dr. K made more mistakes than I thought. However, nothing has changed my mind about this being needlessly dramatized and honestly a bit tacky and gross.

[@DonnaIRL]

I didn’t see this as a notorious expose video at all and I hope Dr. K will respond. I think your criticisms are a great way to begin discussions on how we should communicate mental health issues in media accurately AND ethically. This is a subject I’ve been thinking about lately.

[@yugioh8810]

I'm honesty very happy to have seen this video, I like the approach in his criticism and I think also that Dr. K. maybe needs to address this issue openly. I like Dr. K. he helped me personally but I have always been careful, but hey you don't know what you don't know.

[@TheArtDump]

@@WrathofFenrir99 A bigger problem with that thought process is that people already look for any excuse to not seek therapy because most people that need it tend to not believe they do.

[@Branziman]

Reckful was deeply troubled. A few lines have been blurred I would say, but I am doubtful Reckful would have sought professional help he certainly had the money, but didn't. Dr. K was trying to do genuine good. Reckful pushed himself to the edge and made his decision to end his life. I don't think Dr. K talking about reincarnation pushed this. Reckful also spoke about sending walls of text to friends so it seems he was trying to use the people around him as a counsel which didn't seem to help ither. I think the good far outweighs the bad in a scenario like this. While it was a tragedy Reckful took his life, I think it had way more to do with Reckful then Dr. K trying to help. You put far more emphasis on Dr. K then how troubled Reckful really was.

[@diegoloxoro]

I agree. This video assumes reckfull is a 6 year old.

[@Branziman]

@@diegoloxoro Yeh man, not to say this video had no valid criticism it makes it like Reckful wasn't an adult capable of decisions. He only clearly tried to help and at the end of the day when someone truly decides to end their life unless someone is there with them they will likely do it. Often times they think of suicide often, but actually going through with it can be an impulsive whim. Especially considering how manic and depressed he would be at times. He may have seen Doctor K as his therapist, but he wasn't going to see a real one anyway. Even Dr. K told him he should. So idk this video is just misses some important things.

[@86Corvus]

Asumes he was mentally ill? This is why we have ethical standards. It doesnt matter how you want to dress the situation. Rules are rules for a reason.

[@akashmakkar7187]

Oh wow, good to know walls of text I've sent to everyone, because that's how I talk, will be misunderstood by chimps to gauge my mental health. What a fool! Go back to 1 millennia B.C. Stay there.

[@Sheebttv]

This video doesn't sit well with me because I feel mislead by the title: "Dr K And The Dangers of Twitch Therapy". It feels like I got: "Why Dr K Maybe but Probably Didn't, but Also Might Have Contributed to Reckful's Suicide, BUT It's Also Not That Simple". My main takeaway is the fact that this truly isn't that simple. And the more I think about it, the more I realize that looking at this instance under a microscope is more damaging than anything else. The big picture is just more important. Anyone who had spoken with Reckful to the extent that Dr. K did, almost definitely had some hand in Reckful's final decision, for better or for worse. It's very obvious that you will find examples in Dr. K's streams with him, especially since the talks revolved around his thoughts of depression and suicide. I don't think this is something to dwell on, and is hardly worth the conversation to be honest. There's just so much more that goes into that decision. I believe it's much more important to talk about how hard it is for some people to get the help that they need (In my experience, things like the prevention hotline or going to the ER genuinely just made it worse). And to talk about these ideas in an open manner to help other feels more understood. Talking about Twitch therapy in general is intriguing. But it's also something where we don't have a lot of hard evidence that tells us how it's affecting people. It seems like it has it's up's and down's. But so do a lot of other therapeutic practices. That's the kind of talk I wanted to hear, and I believe it's a much more productive conversation.

[@hippityhoppity5035]

Uh the title is spot on though

[@ademarneto4487]

Bro this is some "13 reasons why" level of madness

[@blackpaw3776]

for real!

[@joshstead6078]

11:11 I don't understand this part, it seems as though you're saying Dr. K isn't a trained Psychiatrist, which he is.

[@Helthurian]

Reckfuls case is difficult. COVID really destroyed his mental health and the positive momentum he seemed to have. I do think some of what Dr. K did was a bit irresponsible, but what was the alternative? Reckful clearly didn't trust traditional therapy, so it could be argued that his fate would have remained the same without Dr. K. Wish he was still with us, dude was a legend. RIP Reckful.

[@highbread5439]

I think that streaming more then one therapy lesson with someone suicidal is too much. Even if Byron did not mind it in the moment, long term it can have a negative effect on him. Maybe even streaming one lesson with someone suicidal is too much..

[@coolcolt2611]

There might have been some bad timing with you reaching out because theres a chance that it was while he was on vacation.

[@adamantz7682]

even on vacation people will check their emails and stuff. you never know when something important or an opportunity comes up.

[@abandonedaccount747]

he's also recovering from covid

[@coolcolt2611]

@@adamantz7682 this is true, but there are also some people that may completely disconnect from work related things. This really could've been a big missed opportunity for both parties due to unfortunate timing

[@MyXrayz]

What if one of his team members manages his social media? You clearly ignored that. Do not blame anyone before making SURE he actually got the information or message....there plenty of possibilities that Dr K never got to read your message.

[@Soldier842]

@@MyXrayz video said he reached out to Dr K, not to the healthygamergg team.

[@qwerty1233787]

You really didn't demonstrate why conducting therapy in non-professional settings is harmful. You just took that for granted and then went on to try to demonstrate why what Dr. K was doing was therapy.

[@nathanmitchell7961]

Its aliability. He cant do it legally, thats why he has a dislamier saying THIS IS NOT THERAPY

[@nathanmitchell7961]

@@solarydays That's exactly what i said

[@nathanmitchell7961]

@@solarydays Yea you've misread my comment. I said he can't do therapy online with these people legally.

[@qwerty1233787]

​@@nathanmitchell7961 that may be true, but I would expect a video essay about "the dangers of twitch therapy" to first and foremost give a compelling reason why twitch therapy is harmful, not just illegal.

[@nathanmitchell7961]

@@solarydays Because i wasn't talking to "everybody", i was talking to Theo responding to what he said. This is why you don't just impede on another conversation, you misread easier.

[@nathanmitchell7961]

This is clearly a touchy subject, but scary music? Really dude.

[@leeartlee915]

He mainly used Secret of Mana OST.

[@LanceSKLTR]

Okay, this is going to be a long one I have never heard of this channel. I just saw the preview of this vid and I was interested. I'm gonna be completely honest, this feels more like a hit piece on a respected figure than a critique. First of all, having Reckful's family as sources is horrible. They are obviously biased and all their points felt like nitpicking after the fact, ignoring all the goods from their talks. Things they mentioned like the harassment were really bland points since they are ignoring an important part of this equation: Reckful signed up for this. He obviously didn't like his experiences with conventional therapy, so Dr K's character and unique platform provided the motivation to talk, which he may have never had, and have killed himself sooner. Also, this video is ignoring another huge part of the situation. Dr K repeatedly pushed Reckful to seek therapy. Reckful didn't want it. He specifically said he didn't like it, so Dr K's only method of helping was helping himself until Reckful decided that attending actual therapy would be good for him. In addition to all these, I didn't like the narrative that "Dr K pushed the idea of suicide on him". The clips were heavily cut and the idea of reincarnation aren't even Dr K's original ideas, from what it seemed from these cut clips Reckful himself agreed before Dr K said anything The most disgusting part, though, that made me doubt the integrity of the video was the BPD and the assumption that "Dr K set unrealistic expectations". We don't know that at all, you just assumed so to make the situation seem way worse, especially since nothing similar was done on stream. Finally, I didn't like how you never mentioned how Dr K pushes people to go to actual therapy. He has said in many streams with people, and he tries after the stream, to make them contact actual psychologists to solve their issues. In conclusion, I am not sure if you aren't really aware of Dr K's content or procedures before and after the stream, but the video, with the introduction of the biased family and weird assumptions without any base really make this video feel not genuine at all, as if this is just a hit piece on a positive figure, appealing to the emotion of the viewer in order to make them agree with points that are questionable at best for personal profit.

[@souleymaneadellah1176]

Bro this is a hit piece with out of context clips and bs assumptions. I had respect for the guy but unfollowing him and subscribing to DrK who sounds way more reasonable

[@Fredfazbear1983]

@@souleymaneadellah1176 LMAO ok have fun suscribing to dr k, a guy who was on Jisu’s livestream after she lied about sky Williams

[@souleymaneadellah1176]

@@Fredfazbear1983 I dont know what that means. I just appreciate honest intellectual people and DrK seems like one

[@LanceSKLTR]

@@Fredfazbear1983 hey, surprise! Psychologists are supposed to be unbiased. Their goal is to help their patients mental health with what they are given, not do a full blown research on their lives and go in with a biased pov. Dr K never agreed or disagreed with anything she said out of their stream

[@Fredfazbear1983]

@@LanceSKLTR tell that to the 3 therapist that fired sky williams

[@bolaxadotio]

If I remember correctly, Dr.K said once that what he does is not therapy, but only human conversations that should be considered normal, and how fucked up the world is to think what he does is therapy.

[@leeartlee915]

I don’t care what he calls it, what I saw WAS therapy. I’ve been practicing therapy for years and I know what I saw.

[@PJ-oe6eu]

​@@leeartlee915What would you say the differences between a therapy session and just talking about your feelings with someone knowledgeable about the human pysche are? And to be clear, not at all trying to be augmentative or anything, just curious.

[@leeartlee915]

@@PJ-oe6eu I’ll admit they can share a lot in common. However, there are some key differences that were displayed here. Challenging cognitive distortions, psycho education, unearthing emotional disturbances, and therapeutic confrontations to name a few. There’s a reason those things are done in a controlled environment with regular check ins. When you start poking around in someone’s head, they can become unstable/worsen. In fact, it’s common that people feel worse before they start to feel better. That’s why so many people bail on therapy in the early stages.

[@avoidantbehavior]

@@PJ-oe6eupeople don’t just happen to have his level of insight. You find these conversations inside a therapy session

[@ImHeadshotSniper]

​@@leeartlee915do you think that it was a good idea for Dr. K to talk about reincarnation (a comfort blanket on death) with someone who was suicidal?

[@ThanhTriet600]

Would it be better if Dr. K instead gave a Christian response to Reckful and said God put him on Earth with a mission and Jesus loves him even if dies without having completed it? The message he was conveying was, "Don't kill yourself because you miss out on the good you can do to the world," not, "Do it after you finish the game." Keep in mind designing an online game is not a goal with an end point. He could have stuck around to continue working on it and making it better. The point was to make him latch onto a sense of purpose so he would want to live. I agree with you though on Dr. K questioning peoples' diagnoses or even suggesting new ones on stream, and I'm glad he doesn't do that anymore.

[@Lillelle]

Yeh definitely, also raised my eyebrows when he said that. Like.. seems to me like he’s trying a little to hard with the mistakes part🤨

[@druiddobby]

A video like this isn't worth 45 minutes of my time to confirm it, but using Reckful's suicide as content is just shameless. It's straight up disrespectful to him and the situation. May he rest in peace, despite this shit excuse for a video

[@tanavat555]

Dr. K: a Havard medical school graduate Slush: "Journalist"(?) with speculations(?)

[@askers_]

Journalist lmfao yeah right

[@skibee]

Any point you used against Dr. K could easily be used against any therapist who has had a patient that went on to take their life later. The same way you call Dr. K's sessions "psuedo-therapy" I can call this video "psuedo-blaming Dr. K for Reckful's passing". Also, your point about confidentiality is an extremely smooth brain take. Do you think someone would come on to a livestream to talk about their problems if they weren't fully aware of the repercussions of it? Reckful was on the internet for 7 years before he talked with Dr. K and he had talked about Guy on stream before Dr. K as well. If Reckful had been seeing a therapist in private, would anyone be putting the blame on that therapist as much as they are putting on Dr. K? I know this probably comes from a place of pain. You're sad that Reckful is gone. So am I. But it's not fair to blame other people for that. Reckful wanted to go, and the timing of the pandemic with his mental state was the reason.

[@ShahabSheikhzadeh]

It's amazing to me that you can be responsible for killing someone, build an empire, make millions, and win awards. And still have patients. Crazy.

[@cjcirca88]

i REALLY don't like you used the disclaimer about it DR. K not causing Byrons death.... but then spend 30+minites using ONLY wreckful and Dr. K INCLUDING the context of the clips you used was extremely disingenuous and outright gross.

[@Fredfazbear1983]

What’s wrong with that? All he did was show that dr k was unresponble

[@cjcirca88]

@@Fredfazbear1983 no... he didnt... he literally spends the next 30 to 40 .instead almost making it loke ot was dr k fault. Literally.

[@onam3000]

@@cjcirca88 Please rewatch the video, this time while paying attention, after that you are free to delete your comment.

[@cjcirca88]

@@onam3000 as I'm not the only one with this opinion, I suggest you rewatch, or just even watch the video.

[@Kerrathlol]

hi, i'm watching this, and i think it is exceptionally possible for something to be simultaneously "dangerous" and "worth doing". Dr. K is the first of his kind. It will go bad. He is not the first mental health professional to have someone die on him, and he will not be the last. But he is filling a vital role: addressing a lot of people who do not have (or, given his audience of gamers, choose not to attend) therapy. People will learn from his mistakes, and do better next time.

[@L_Martin]

If he wasn't doing this TO MAKE MONEY, and purely out of the kindness of his heart, that would be 1 thing, but the fact he has an aggressive business model and all of this is for the purposes of monetization...it's morally repellant.

[@InnerLightGuns]

The editing is not that prominent he repeatedly announced his respect and admiration of Dr. k the video is well made, interesting and fair. Reconsider your view.

[@InnerLightGuns]

@@L_Martin don't know where you get this notion - you probably assume any successful or popular influencer is only in it for the money because if you knew Dr. K and his content at all you would understand that he is far from that he claims to be in it for his sense of duty and his actions and statements prove it. go rant about someone actually deplorable please like Tate or Biden

[@leeartlee915]

I’m a mental health therapist and there is so much wrong with these public “not” therapy sessions. He’s playing with fire and, frankly, he’s letting his ego go unchecked.

[@wintergirll]

☝️

[@TheWoWGrind]

rest in peace, reckful. we all miss you.

[@bayazwow]

Made some good points, built up some bad narratives and implied some things that were hardcore reaching, and the music was really really bad. Overall I'm always a fan of things that make people think and discuss.

[@adnanomerhodzic3869]

there is a reason therapy is done in a closed enviroment. he wasnt reaching when even mental health professionals were providing critisms. you are a biased against this video which is the point the video was made in the first place. kinda ironic

[@grayglimpse]

@@adnanomerhodzic3869 Dr. K's open sessions/discussions are extremely helpful and positive to a large portion of people.

[@diegoloxoro]

@@adnanomerhodzic3869 a little presumptive now, aren't we?

[@adnanomerhodzic3869]

@@grayglimpse that's not what is being discussed

[@grayglimpse]

@@adnanomerhodzic3869 the only solution to the discussion is having him stop uploading these "therapy" type videos. I'm saying they are useful and they shouldn't be removed. Seems pertinent to me.

[@hulkhan8338]

I think the title of the video makes the viewer think it's an attack on Dr. K - he's a bad person, he didn't help but deteriorate Reckful's condition, etc - this is not the point of the video at all. TLDR: Fast forward to the hate mail on 39:10 - this pretty much sums up why Slush thinks doing a therapy session, regardless of whether or not the therapist says it's a therapy or not, on a live stream, can have negative side effects, that can have a very very big impact on a sensitive person opening up in front of thousands of people. To elaborate more - first off, Dr. K says what he does is not therapy to avoid any legal action, but what he does is indistinguishable from a real life session from the perspective of the person consulting him. And, regardless of how professional or good Dr. K is at his profession, there is an unavoidable difference between doing a sesion privately and publicly in front of thousands of people. While private, confidential sessions are the norm, doing it publicly has directly or indirectly has some extra consequences/motivation: 1) it grows Dr. K's brand, and 2) this is a phenomenal, innovative internet content. And all this may well lead to Dr. K 'playing to the crowds' if you will - making promises he can't make, exceeding boundaries that a standard therapist will never exceed, and going for quick-fix solutions rather than delving into i.e. Reckful's past, traumas, feelings more elaborately spread over 10s of sessions. See 30:30 for an example of this. Remember, Dr. K may be a good person, a good professional, and in an environment where even he can make these mistakes, other Twitch therapists certainly will. And maybe the most direct consequence is that it'll open up the person to hateful remarks on the internet - see 39:10. As a person who saw a therapist in the past - I have experienced that some therapists will say that they care about you and you are valuable and such, to make you feel better on the spot, but then when you need some additional support offline when you are so so down, maybe only a "just checking in, hope you are fine" sort of short message, they'll say they cannot cross boundaries. It is important to know that a person taking therapy is valuable to the therapist inside that therapy room only. Coming back to Reckful's case - as he wanted a friend and being listened to so badly (after having a turbulent past with friends), he immediately liked Dr. K as a person, and for sure thought of him as somebody who would respond to his every message. The danger is that Dr. K has his job and his brand to grow, and he may find no time to correspond with Reckful offline or this may be something Dr. K would not see as beneficial - as he would rather do this online in front of the crowds and grow his brand at the same time. Folks are saying he's nowadays much more careful about these things, I hope he is. I think Slush's video makes a very good point but it's understandable that the gamer community that needs psychological support so bad especially these days will rush to the conclusion Dr. K is being attacked and so try to defend him.

[@bobhope707]

100% spot on comment. I’m a fan of his content. This is a very nuanced subject (Dr K does himself no favors pretending it’s not, see his Dr Mike interview). I think another big part of the issue is liability and risk. Dr K takes absolutely no risk on and his guests take 100% of the risk if(when) Dr K makes a mistake. He probably makes them sign a battery of documents freeing him of any legal liability, so he has no mechanism for accountability if he worsens someone’s condition instead of improving it.

[@LeDotz]

in the end twitch comes down to entertainment, but still dr k is raising awareness at least. always seek professional help or private sessions.

[@Deris76]

Raising awareness isn't enough when it comes down to his guest's personal experiences. He can talk about broad subjects, but shouldn't dig into their problems or have active cases. Like, talking about depression with someone who's now stable again

[@GreenBlueWalkthrough]

Yeah, that broke me though because 100% of the doctors sucked at their job... did found a RA that's good though.

[@harshitmunot28]

@@Deris76 guests are asked for topics they don't want to be touched live before stream, whenever the topic gets a little iffy dr. k prompts the guest to either stop the topic or to talk about it on the surface level and every time the guest chose on their will if they want to talk about it or not. they themselves are also intelligent enough to understand what they are talking about is sensitive and they are exposing themselves to thousands of people. if the guest want to talk about depression in fornt of thousands of people and want to share something from their going treatment who are we to decide they shouldn't do that, ofcourse there are legal boundaries and they are always taken in account that's why he is still able to do this

[@mrgirlreturns]

Look through the comments and see how many of his viewers are saying that the streams helped their mental health, several even stating that it's better than actual therapy. Despite the disclaimer and his advocacy for mental health his viewers are acting as if they're receiving the equivalent of therapy, and don't require further help.

[@hylkelammert]

@@harshitmunot28 100% he asks every time he asks "are comfortable to talking about it"

[@swantwitter4000]

I mean.. Reckful left us 6 months or so after these "sessions"... He was lonely, according to himself he had no real life friends that he could reach out to that wanted to spend time with him and most of all he was in love with a girl who didn't want him. He tweeted her an hour or so before leaving us. I get the video and the intent behind it but it also feels a bit click baity.

[@FR4NOx]

Reckful’s death is a tragedy. Dr. K tried his best to help. I was expecting more examples than just Reckful to show that Twitch “therapy” is dangerous, but all this video had to offer was rehashing a man’s tragedy.

[@xavierjdesigns]

100%

[@ivanljujic4128]

This video is relevant again.

[@bigjzzle]

such a disrespectful video, good job

[@dnasar10]

What's disrespectful is Reckful killing himself and having the family go through the same pain again. Fuck that guy

[@L2PlayRunescape]

Imagine you are sitting in the room with a person who has a degree in psychiatry who is a therapist. But you are not their patient. You are just having a "conversation." It's just their voice and yours. They ask you probing questions about your life. The conversation plays like a therapy session would. A person with a psychiatry degree, using the methods they learned to try to assist you. Just because you say out loud "this is not therapy" doesn't mean it's not. I mean you may be able to sidestep legal traps by saying it's not therapy and not signing any contractual therapy agreements with the "client". But there are ethical rules on this for a reason. You bring out the issues in a person, leave them on their own without the tools to deal with it, have a live audience react to it, and discuss the person's problems when they are not around, with the chat. Then when the person comes back to ask for more you say "woah woah woah this is not therapy. We got other guests to accomodate we can't have you on every week." It's a recipe for disaster that could be considered abusive. Sure there are some situations where it may have benefited people, but it's messy, it's not playing by the rules. And the rules are there to protect people from serious things like what happened to reckful. Not saying it's anyone's fault but it's possible more harm was caused by this than good.

[@L_Martin]

It's absolutely insane this guy has not been stripped of his licence. The thing that also needs emphasising is, Dr K does this FOR PROFIT. He is actively commodifying it. He makes money off doing this, he cares a great deal about making money. It's blindingly unethical! A guy died. Wtf. How does he still have his licence?

[@MyekalBenham]

We all look for answers as to why someone we love decides to take their own life. The truth is there are no answers. There is just pain. I ask you this question. Do you think Byron would blame Dr.K for his actions? Stay safe everyone

[@ramontavaresdacruz2256]

It's not about Byron, he's was just used as an example on the subject 'cuz, well, he suicided. It's not even really about his suicide, if Byron was alive we'd still be able to ask: what downsides are there in Twitch "therapy"? For sure there are, we just haven't thought about it yet.

[@SnakeHelah]

There's far more toxic and downside-ridden streams out there on twitch than what Dr.K does. This is like asking "what downsides there are to vaccines?" Obviously, there's risks involved, just like with everything. Dr.K puts CLEAR disclaimers about this before every video.

[@drifter402]

@@SnakeHelah yea "toxic twitch streams" (whatever that means) aren't public therapy sessions

[@AsifIcarebear3]

What? Often times there are plenty of answers, and knowing them can help us prevent similar pain in the future. And whether a victim of suicide would blame a person that *MIGHT* have acted irresponsibly in a way that *COULD* have lead to your suicide is irrelevant to whether that professional should have acted, or continue to act, in this way.

[@mechanomics2649]

@@AsifIcarebear3 Absolutely. So many people in the comments somehow do not understand this despite it basically being spoon fet to them.

[@blackpaw3776]

This video has some good points but very biased. Interviewing his family and close friends doesn't make this video fair, and puts dr k in an awkward position. Dr K was the only person that gave reckful some hope in his life, and its unfair that you are using family and friends to criticize drk when they are still mourning Reckfuls passing.

[@Armlace]

Dr K was absolutely not that close to Reckful and what you are saying is extremely disrespectful to Reckful's friends and family. This reeks of parasocial.

[@blackpaw3776]

@@Armlace i never said he was close to reckful. I said he gave him hope for his future, which is very different. There's no disrespect to his family or close friends because being close to someone and feeling inspired by someone are two separate things.

[@tld12379]

I don't mean to be combative, but this entire video is based around speculation upon speculation. The entire arguement here is "well it might". The two therapists you featured in this video are the exact type to rigidly stick to established mental health dogma that does not help. Mental health is on a large rise with the current models of treatment, very few people improve and far MORE are harmed around the current chemical forward system. The streams sound like they were less than half of the conversations he had with reckful. Suffering from, studying, abd being around a lot of family with similar issues that reckful had, the thoughts of self harm will always find a justification. The possibility that your video will cause someone seeking help/guidance away from dr. K who is vitally important for those who can't afford therapy is a thousand times more detrimental than the small chance something Dr. K will cause a specific person harm. This video just comes off as a bit deterministic and arrogant. The impression is "I think he is wrong, I am correct, and I will act like I did a lot of research and am unbiased but still frame everything in the form of an expose video." The wording, pacing, and music are all framed the same run of the mill youtube exposure video. If it were truly unbiasd you would have someone opposing your views within, but that was not the case. Sorry if my English is not the best.

[@mechashadow]

I was actually gonna agree with this comment until the ending swung hard on the emotional bias.

[@tld12379]

@@mechashadow well not everything is perfect lol

[@mechashadow]

WritheInPainFromTacos “We were almost there, we’ll get them next time” Jokes aside, before that ending, you really made some very valid and strong points so major Props for that. But I get what you mean it could be balanced, sure I don’t think much in the world exists as unbiased. Just how we humans are. Like you say not perfect.

[@adisharma5330]

There are variety of things several qualified and unqualified people said to reckful on and off camera that could have contributed in his suicide but how a few out of context lines by the man who tried with all his intelligence and will to save him anymore unethical than if he said it off camera or any other psychiatrist he talked to said some shit.

[@Branziman]

Well put, exactly my thoughts as well.

[@mechanomics2649]

The video isn't about those other people. The video is about Dr.K. It doesn't seem like you watched the video all the way through either. It isn't like he's throwing out accusations without any support. The main issue is that Dr.K wasn't careful enough generally speaking.

[@adisharma5330]

@@mechanomics2649 That's exactly what he is doing throwing out accusations. When you have any deep conversation with someone, sensitive topics like reincarnation can get mentioned. He is exploiting these open conversations between two individuals who understood each other much better then he understands any of them then he throughs in a bunch of maybe(s) and could have(s) making a long chain of absurd assumptions like reckful went into this deep thinking on the one line dr k said and just ignored all 29000 other ones.

[@adisharma5330]

@@mechanomics2649 My original point was that "dr k should have said this or shouldn't have said this" is judging dr k's skills as a mental health professional and completely unrelated to the debate that whether dr k should stream it or not. He is essentially a dumb ass screaming from the stands telling Lebron that he shouldn't have thrown the ball there.

[@solidpython4964]

Huge mixed bag of very salient criticism of the blurred lines between Dr. K, the viewers, and the “patient” and what their roles are, but also combined with a large helping of hindsight bias, of all the people on Dr. K’s show it’s easiest to find “problematic” interactions between him and Dr K after knowing what ended up happening. The confidentiality part is also nonsensical, these people agree to come on in the first place, everyone is doing it with the understanding that it’s live on twitch. And honestly the part dissecting clips of Dr K and Reckfuls streams and finding quotes to pick and connect together is honestly extremely frustrating to see, it’s the easiest and most sensationalist thing to point out which actually bears no meaning in any conversation, no matter how much you butter it with disclaimers. Anyone can throw darts at a board when you’re looking at events after seeing the conclusion. This video would be 1000x better if you actually picked literally anyone else who came on, especially anyone who came on multiple times, because there’s still a lot of reasonable criticism to be given towards the lack of proper role and boundary enforcement sometimes. I’ll also say Dr K’s improved on that front since his sessions with Reckful but we wouldn’t know by watching the video. Regardless this is a topic that should be brought up, so glad you made the video at least. Just seems like you’re also operating under blurred lines and don’t realize it, or think disclaimers wave them away.

[@yoshiexv2]

I think your intention to raise awareness of the potential risk of blurring the lines is great. But just like dr.k could not control the hate messages reckful received, despite your disclaimer that you don’t intend to get him cancelled, you uploading an anecdotal video could lead to it. Have you considered other ways to address this issue?

[@sizzlingwall716]

Why would he this gets the most clout.

[@sizzlingwall716]

@arr sea do you need help I think you had a stroke.

[@LinieKran11]

I have to say, I wanted to click off this video multiple times after the first 10 minutes. Not only are the assumptions being made very misleading for anyone educating themselves about mental health, the 2 professionals, that were brought on, do really make me believe, that therapy is in the wrong hands (at least with the statements, that are included in this video, and assuming they do publicly defend their opinions about education)

[@diegoloxoro]

This comment should be pinned.

[@GroundbreakGames]

While I found the video to be mostly agreeable to me personally, I agree that these two women are making the idiotic assumption that everyone has access to mental health, when in reality, I would say that almost nobody who actually needs it has any access to it. Some help is better than none. Even if what Dr K was doing was straight up therapy.. so what... Why should we all forgo therapy simply because we cannot afford it, and statistically speaking, less people can afford it every day, and it isn't getting any better any time soon.

[@laurencewhite4809]

You bring up vital points. Saying it’s not therapy does not change the fact that it IS therapy, especially when you talk to someone over a long period time. And the fact that Dr. K seems to “speed run” his conversations, on a platform where he has all the time in the world, can only be because it’s not entertaining to go trough the normal process of really getting to know someone. And when you start to mix therapy (which this is) and entertainment, you’re crossing a really dangerous and immoral line.

[@MishaLUL]

cant believe its been over a year since his passing

[@Zekrom569]

Seems like he blurred the lines pretty much between therapy and coaching to the point that the licensing board reprimanded him that the way he positions himself in the social media landscape is dangerous. I think the issue is mostly his Twitch streams that seem to be blurring the line between discussion and therapy, the KZbin content is pretty much fine, and i think it is about the difference between KZbins and Twitchs guidelines and i think that's why he keeps the pseudotherapy sessions in Twitch while general advice in KZbin, because KZbin is more strict around mental health content in relation to Twitch. I think introducing the idea of reincarnation, the idea that you are reborn after death allowing to start a life from scratch to a person that has shared with you that they are struggling with suicidal thoughts is dangerous. Although not the the cause, probably contributed to Reckful thinking lightly about death.

[@HyperbolicLab]

This for sure felt like a reaching, perhaps even irresponsible hit piece. I'll preface this by saying Dr. K has helped me immensenly in a variety of manners, and I do come here with that bias. That being said, I think a couple things really stand out to me about the way you handled some of these topics. I'll get pretty ranty here, but bear with me. First, your initial argument. You say Dr. K blurs the lines between therapy and interviews/educational content. While I can agree on that, I think the ones who set the boundaries of the conversation and who are burdened by that decision are the guests, not him. He makes it clear beforehand on every video that what he's doing isn't therapy and encourages people to seek professional help, and that is the extent to which one can expect a professional to give advice based on their knowledge and experiences, without implicating themselves in a legal manner. If his clear disclaimer does not make up for the tone of the video itself, I think you claiming this isn't a hit piece or a blanket detraction of Dr. K is also poorly handled. Except I give Dr. K more credit than I give you, after all what else can you expect of a human being who has acquired knowledge, is using that to help as many people as possible, and regularly discloses his credentials and personal experience? The point of it all is that the more classically-minded therapists and doctors, like the ones you interviewed, aren't handling the workload, aren't showing people what therapy is like and how it can benefit you, aren't humanizing streamers, and are so concerned with the history of what it means to do therapy that they seem to ignore what it can be and how it can be positively utilized in a globalized, modern world. You want to talk about being liable for what you say, then find whatever happened to all the doctors who saw Reckful throughout his life and either failed to do anything or actively made things worse. Dr. K puts himself out there almost as much as his guests, and everyone involved there is aware of what that means before the conversation is filmed, and in some cases that is discussed during the taped part of the conversation as well. Whether each guest is able to create that distinction properly is not the responsibility of Dr. K anymore. He's done everything that was required of him to reach the point in which he can have those talks publicly, for the benefit of everyone watching. If there is an expectation of catharsis, or healing, or trauma revelation, that is on the viewers, or on the guests. Dr. K doesn't force a conversation that the other party involved is unaware of. So in general, when you talk about liability or responsibility, I see that therapists who conduct their sessions privately can get away with doing terrible things for a long time, based on protections meant for the patients, while Dr. K has thousands of people policing his actions frame by frame, and still does what he does. It's not that he's avoiding responsibility, is it? None of the guests are obligated to speak with him in the first place, or treat him like a therapist. When he brings up reincarnation or dharma, he makes it clear that those are his personal beliefs as well. Going beyond "that weird taste that leaves in your mouth", too, there's studies showing that talking about suicide or suicidal ideation and death doesn't actually increase suicidality (this is on several suicide prevention sites even), and you "feeling" like saying "you can die when you fulfill your mission" was inappropriate has no bearing on whether it's a valid or proven technique in suicide prevention. Suicidal people aren't asking for permission, they're not operating on logic, they're not just unaware that "man, life is worth living", neurotypical people can't fathom the depths which suicidal people sink to. And bringing it back to what Dr. K says, like that one doctor in your video even pointed out, Dr. K's confrontation of Reckful's diagnosis is an actual technique therapists utilize. If you want to make the point that he shouldn't do those things on stream, that's one thing (that goes against his whole mission, but it can be argued). If you want to say that it's bad, then you should argue that. But you can't argue that it's bad because he shouldn't do it on stream, because the reason he shouldn't do it on stream is, according to you, to avoid liability, not because it harms the guest. It's possible to recognize that he shouldn't do it on stream for legal reasons, but also that it's helpful to the viewers and guests, and it appears to me that you totally skipped that angle. Second, your "evidence". Reckful talks about simulations, about the movie Inception, looks out his balcony, and that is somehow indicative of Dr. K's belief in reincarnation influencing him to commit suicide? You should probably defend against creatures with Flying, because that is some impressive Reach there. Or the fact that Dr. K talks about how Reckful can die after fulfilling his mission of helping other kids with what he himself went through, and you imply that doing an open alpha of a game made Reckful so fulfilled that he took Dr. K on his word and killed himself? Can you even say that is fulfillment? When Etika killed himself, did he not talk about how he wanted to see the endings of his favorite shows, and went through with it in spite of that? The way you place that much of a burden on Dr. K just comes across as if you're looking for a scapegoat for Reckful's suicide. There would've been a billion things going through Reckful's mind at any one moment pushing him towards death, but the reassuring comment that he had an impossible mission to accomplish in this life being any more important than any of the other ones is crazy. If you try to argue that, then who's to say it wasn't a video detailing his life struggles that did it? Or, y'know, the actual struggles he was going through at the time, very publicly, could've been the tipping point? I take issue also with the way you said what Dr. K did were "mistakes". Not attempts, not techniques from someone with much more training than you, not personal anecdotes or forming a connection, not banter, but "mistakes". Who're you to say that? Maybe I missed this, but did any of the professionals actually even say he did anything wrong? There's a discussion on whether it was appropriate to do it publicly, but you're the one attributing it the status of actual wrongdoing, perhaps even malpractice. To me, it looks like your opinion on whether he should've said some things weighs more heavily than whether it was actually beneficial or actually legal. You talked to Reckful's friends and family, and one of their responses was that "Reckful had a long high, which made the low hit harder", but do you think a steadily declining mental health was better than the assistance Dr. K provided, even if that result was temporary? You got reactions to people pretty close to the action, but seem to ignore Reckful himself, who was by no means shy about the positive impact Dr. K had on him and his life for such a long time. The message I took from you here was "some things Dr. K does are pretty much therapy and that makes me feel uncomfortable, and also he said things to Reckful which I, an uninformed third party, found questionable", without adressing the main points of "is what he does negative? if so, why?", "should he change the way he does things and if so, how?", "how can we prevent this situation from happening in the future?". You brought nothing to this discussion other than "uhh, the lines are blurred and that's... not how therapists usually do it". Well duh.

[@thabangmalaza1557]

Amazing👏

[@mind-blowinggames7528]

Huge benefit of Dr.K interviews for audience is that it shows shadow side of fantasies - "I would be happy if I had X" (famous, rich, in relationships, genius etc.), but then you see price you must pay for it (trolls, invasion of privacy etc.). Hopefully audience understands that instead of outer change, they need much more inner (instead of famous, being K being alone or enjoy much more time with family, friends).

[@MrRuniteOre]

Dr. K almost killed me just like reckful.. Its been over a year since his videos made me have therapjy sessions with him in my head from a psychotic episode and the trauma still haunts me.. You're supporting someone who is clearly only concerned with his own fame and the amount of donations/mony he can make from fans because dr.k isnt concerned with the mental health community at all.. And one day its going to come back on him!

[@HyperbolicLab]

@@MrRuniteOre Yo... it's not him that's an issue in this situation. Get professional help.

[@QBeak]

There are some good points in this video, but "mistakes" segment was done overly dramatic and irresponsible. I have graduated my university with a degree in consultative psychology and we often talked about difficulties that a therapist faces when he's working with a suicidal person. Some therapists refuse to work with this issue, cause therapy is a fluid process that is difficult to navigate, and bearing responsibility for another persons life is a heavy burden when it's so easy to make small mistakes, that are often inevitable. And even a real therapy without those mistakes can still fail. This had nothing to do with the issue that was discussed. There, otherwise a good and productive discussion was ruined.

[@thoticcusprime9309]

and what will you use this degree for ?

[@QBeak]

​@@thoticcusprime9309 at first I need to find financial stability for myself. In my country with this degree and level of qualification you can't earn almost anything, so I'll settle in the HR field for now. Once I have money I'll probably study for a higher degree, so I can apply for something useful both for me and the society.

[@vanessabataille]

People are afraid and uncomfortable in front of people that are not doing well... that's the real problem.

[@E92Harold]

I've loved all ur cool documentary videos on streamers etc. But I think this was a mistake tbh, you gave the entire video a weird vibe that DrK is a villain of sorts

[@ax10m19]

I'm a huge healthy gamer fan and have been personally helped by Dr K's videos. I agree that healthy gamer is a net positive, but at the same time, this conversation needs to be had. I can envision a day when mental health advocacy and social media could be a vital double blow in fighting some of the mass mental illness we are facing today. But before then the lines between mental health advocacy and treatment need to be solidified.

[@gLitCheRR44]

social media fighting mental illness? looooooooooooool

[@charlenek2502]

you cant just slap a disclaimer and call it ethics. he should know better.

[@charlenek2502]

And you can say what you wanna say about what you are doing and call it XYZ but thats not being responsible to what people perceive or take it as. And knowing very well he has such a big following and charismatic persona, and an understanding of the PSYCHOLOGY of humans, he should check himself more stringently. also, i have no issue with the pure content he puts out but the live stream interviews definitely are problematic in themselves. when the nature of the subject is so sensitive and high stakes and you have an audience, expectations of creating engaging and entertaining content, and youtube views to contend with, surely you may present things that are prone to error or inaccuracy on both the part of the guest and interviewer.

[@jaredzhou4809]

If there's a starving homeless guy on the street and you give him your hamburger so he doesn't die of starvation, does that make you responsible for him if he somehow chokes on the hamburger and dies or if he sells it to fund his meth addiction? The only caveat to this analogy is the "reincarnation" tidbit that Dr.K said which could have been dangerous, but I think it's dismissing the wider point that what Dr. K did was akin to giving a starving man on the streets food to eat so he can live another day. Reckful needed his help and many others in our society do as well. We need therapists/psychiatrists to give accessible information for people who otherwise can't afford it or are too uncomfortable to receive it in person. Maybe we can set better guidelines on who is able to deliver this information, because we need a Dr. K and not a evil psychiatry version of Dr. Oz, but to cancel people willing to help others over liability concerns is not good.

[@dogbabyproductions]

excited for the video but this thumbnail kinda sucks bro

[@rollando2000]

Wow I so disagree it's simple and powerful. It's great

[@Daxterous]

Unfortunately many people will see this as a hit piece, and not as a discussion worth having. Great video Slush.

[@GlinkBetweenWorlds]

KZbin is flooded with lackluster hit pieces and editorials, this is not one of them. Instead of pushing an agenda or jumping to conclusions you are posing questions to the viewer that most people haven’t considered, and you make a good case as to why they should be discussed.

[@_________-__________-_______]

Your acting like a human can never make any mistakes.

[@brianpso]

As someone who has battled with this shit since high school I can completely understand your concerns with how some of Dr. K's words could enable someone to make the wrong decision. Believe me, I've tried many times in the past (even this year during a complete mental breakdown triggered by me partially reliving the same kind of shit that happened to me back then) to find logical reasons to simply end my life, and honestly, if not for my friends (I've been able to hide this whole thing from everyone else from my family other than my little sister, but she has no idea the extent that this goes) showing me that no matter what my mind tells me, I still have value as a friend to them, idk if I would still be here. All that I needed was one reason, a single reason to make me feel like killing myself was a reasonable decision and I would've done it. I played around with it for years, putting myself into dangerous situations on purpose to see if instead of me ending myself, I could get death to come to me, so I could die without worrying that my family would feel bad for not being able to do something about it, even if it would've been my fault for not letting them know about it. All that to say that I agree with your point that comments like "you can't die before you do X" are REALLY FUCKING DANGEROUS! You don't just talk about reincarnation or feed any of these types of things to someone with suicidal tendencies, you're just helping their mind be at ease with the idea of killing themselves. And I know I can only talk about myself, but although we are all unique, people aren't that much different either. Thanks for having the courage to make this video man, I can't imagine how hard it must've been for you to even talk with all those people about such a heavy topic, knowing how mixed the reception would be. I hope this makes a difference, because although the intentions are obviously good, this type of therapy, because that's what it is, it's like those trading youtubers that say "not financial advice", while giving a ton of financial advice, there are lots of ethical questions being ignored.

[@swordyshield]

Gonna copy a quote from someone else in the video "For example, when he criticizes dr. k for saying "you can die after you finish making your game" slush spins it as potentially planting the seed for reckful to kill himself. Whereas, in reality, asking for someone to delay their plans on suicide (rather than telling them outright to just never kill themselves) has been standard practice in suicide prevention for years, & is routinely used not just by therapists/psychiatrists but also nurses, EMTs, personal coaches, people with mental health first aid etc.", also dr K did not really just bring up reincarnation like this video kind of portrayed it

[@brianpso]

@@swordyshield Asking someone to delay their decision is completely different from saying "when X happens, then you can kill yourself" which is basically what that statement meant in reckful's mind, again, talking from experience. It doesn't matter if that's not how Dr. K wanted it to be understood, when you're looking for reasons to do it, you'll cling to anything you can find, it's kinda like confirmation bias. If you've never been through this you'll never be able to understand how the mind of someone who's dealing with suicidal thoughts daily works.

[@junvaux]

i've known people who have worked suicide hotlines people who are at risk of suicide usuallt aren't detered from vague statements, this has been pretty common knowledge. when the individual doesn't feel like they have a support system to bring them back from the brink. the next best thing for a responder to do is to get the person to just live 1 more day, distract them with a goal so they dont go thru with the initial decision to end themselves right then and there. the decision to commit suicide is usually made within a split second. That's why they go with the "once this happens then u can do it" its a tactic to distract the person. It gives the individual some breathing room while not just flippantly saying "dont do it" those lines never work. Once the individual has breathing room, then they tend to go back on the decision.

[@Manueelaa]

I've been binge watching a bunch of Dr. K's videos and interviews for the past 1-2 weeks (I didn't know him beforehand) and at first I thought, "This is great, I'm learning so much," but after a while I realized that my motivation wasn't just to learn, but I was more interested in people talking about their personal lives and trauma, and the more I thought about it, the weirder I felt about it. Is this really my place to know all these things, is this really right? For one, there's this implicit expectation that the interviewed people should be open and vulnerable, which is a bit problematic. Sure, he says they can reject questions etc. but that's quite hard to do when you're asked probing questions by a "mental health professional" who many people respect and trust and who is supposed to know better than you what's ok. I also find the fact that the interviews are livestreamed to be concerning. When you get really emotional, are you really able to judge every single moment whether you really want thousands of people to hear what you're saying or to see how you're acting? I think that's impossible... I think it would be more appropriate to record the interviews privately, allow the interviewees to review them and edit them accordingly, and then upload them... or maybe not upload them at all.

[@AM2K2]

You're really reaching here

[@BigmanDogs]

Then you are accusing reckfuls friends and family of doing that too

[@amaurys93]

A lot of this completely sidesteps the near fact that most suicides occur within minutes to seconds of the initial decision. It is impossible to know exactly what was on Reckful’s mind, but it was able to drag out the best just long enough for what’s inside to take control.

[@SlushTV]

This wasn't about what motivated Reckful to commit suicide it was to highlight why Twitch therapy is ethically grey

[@hansdammers00]

@@SlushTV Why won't you respond to Cassidy_Mcgonigle's comment with 120+ likes? Shouldn't discussion about this be encouraged? It feels like you're only choosing comments that are easy to respond to and debunk and automatically liking ones that support your view.

[@TheXeeman]

@@SlushTV Bro you said in the video there is a possibility that what dr k said is linked to reckful's decisions. 25:06. In fact the whole section of that video is about "mistakes" Dr K made.

[@nathanmitchell7961]

@@SlushTV Just be honest Slush. The whole video was about motivations.

[@SlushTV]

Right, and there IS a possibility that they are connected EVEN THOUGH they most likely aren't. The argument I'm making isn't about whether or not they are connected, it's about the fact that by acting carelessly Dr K is creating an opportunity for that connection to become possible. Even if there's only a 1% chance of it happening, Dr K as a psychiatrist should not be creating possibilities like that all. In other words let me put it this way, if you were talking to a suicidal person would you tell them reincarnation is real? I will go read Cassidy's comment now

[@WylliamJudd]

I cannot comprehend why anyone would send an email like the one from Koro Boost. I find that shit more disturbing than murder.

[@tehparol]

if u wanna know smth sad, I messaged the guy who told reckful to kill himself and he responded back saying he doesn't care. streaming is dangerous to your mental health

[@artifrac7al]

41:50 "theres no such thing as mass therapy" Yes there can be, that's exactly dr k's goal. One on one therapy is fine but requires alot of attention and work per patient but mass therapy even if less effective, helps thousands at a time. Dr K has honnestly helped me so much and I managed to heal so much trauma and improve so much because of his content.

[@wodidos]

mass therapy has a very cult-y sound to it, don‘t it?

[@artifrac7al]

@@wodidos yea it does. Whats your point ?

[@ImNotYourPal]

I miss Reckful with all my heart. I cannot imagine how much his family and loved ones do. I hope you found peace buddy.

[@ItsYaBoySkinnyPenis69420]

yikes

[@SuperDuperSeb]

He’s rotting in hell btw

[@HeliosPlayGames]

Another problem with Dr. K is his affinity to pseudoscience. He really likes to put evidence based techniques or things derived from his clinical experience next to ayurveda. He also states on his site that he is using "integrative medicine" which means he mixes evidence based approach with quackery like ayurveda

[@TakaTinHey]

Those are sure red flags

[@bobstevenson3130]

>Has no medical training or background >Proceeds to wildly speculate about how Dr K’s sessions affected Reckful’s mental health

[@aduhaneh1057]

he did have people with medical background to talk about it. dr k has definitely been criticised by professionals and not just random youtuber.

[@biocargo1455]

@@aduhaneh1057 Yeah, that's something that criticism of this video often disregards; that medical professionals (as well as Reckful's family members, who would likely have a keener sense of how Reckful's behavioral patterns would be affected due to interactions with Dr. K or anyone else) were involved in the video-making process.

[@DontCallMeFlash]

One phrase I've heard from time to time is "There are no solutions, only tradeoffs." The risks of doing all of this out in the open could just be the tradeoff of trying to deal with the mental health crisis we're facing at scale. Is it worth the risk? Is how we do things more important than the results we get? I don't know. I do think the discussion should be ongoing, though.

[@demp11]

I think it is needed in this crisis because it excelerates the process of people noticing it is a problem and normalises psychotherapy on a big scale. He for Shure made me way more comfortable going to a psych which I did last month. I think it will help way more people then it harms and I think we should go for the greater good even if I'm not one of them.

[@AcidGubba]

This seems to highlight a common tendency: the filling of knowledge gaps with belief when understanding is absent. For example, this might be seen in discussions about scientific theories, where a lack of understanding could lead to the substitution of personal beliefs or assumptions in place of empirical evidence. This also calls to mind situations in the political realm, where people often fill in the gaps of their understanding with personal beliefs or biases, without seeking out factual information or engaging in meaningful dialogue. The approach of hypothesizing and arguing without a foundation in logic is problematic. Like building a house on sand, it’s unsteady and unreliable. Belief, when it’s not substantiated with tangible, verifiable truth, is like navigating a path in the dark. We might stumble along, but we’re likely to miss the clear road that careful inquiry and logic can illuminate. Therefore, it’s essential to strive for a well-informed understanding in all debates, particularly when they’re posed as being based on logic. Without this, we’re merely perpetuating belief systems that may or may not align with reality. I struggle with his practice of featuring individuals with significant issues on his channel for content. His actions can lead to dangerous situations, and he should be aware of this instead of pressuring people into appearing on streams. If his true intention was to assist them, he would approach the matter privately. However, his interests seem to be focused elsewhere.

[@judochlo]

The man is either socially emotionally retarded, or a sociopath. I noticed these odd behaviors, too

[@dario6758]

This video is way ahead of its time. It's a shame that a lot of people are accusing you of trying to cancel Dr. K when you clearly are just criticizing specific parts of his methodologies. Hopefully they chill and eventually see the actual point of this vid in the future at least. I think a best way to summarize this whole thing is that Dr. K is aggressively trying to push therapy to new limits, but he may have flown to close to the sun at times. Great video, as always.

[@klick2destruct]

1 week is not that long for getting a statement. Did Dr. K reach out to you since uploading this video?

[@SlushTV]

No

[@oscarmejia8306]

I’m a huge Dr.K fan. I think he changed my life for the better. That said, this vid made some valid criticisms 👍

[@niallblackburn8160]

My thoughts exactly. Thanks for your level headedness ☺️

[@Soosss]

i understand the concerns, but what is with the spooky editing and music?

[@zeioneko997]

I am a psychologist, and one of the things I noticed and hope is that Dr. K has a suicide plan with his guests. This is really just therapy, and honestly can be very dangerous, this kind of relationship has the potential to be very dangerous for the other person and Dr. K should be providing appropriate resources and planning with the individuals he talks with. It is good he is talking about mental health issues, it is vital, but help for individuals is individualized, what works for one might not be helpful for another, and I see how that can lead to danger for the viewers as well.

[@aidanrock8719]

"I am a psychologist" any psychologist's opinion who had played/does play Guild Wars 2, should be thrown directly out of the nearest window.

[@shauL__]

i understand the point of this video as the “danger” of broadcasted therapy is that it COULD push someone over the edge. i think to highlight the only broadcasted example ever as a danger is irresponsible. its like using an autopilot car crash as a “danger” of technology. highlighting both dr. k and reckful is like highlighting tesla and elon. although you may or may not be right, its the targeting that wont sit well with people. i think as a broader topic of online therapy the video would be better, but at a glance its a flip flop argument of dr k COULD have but MAYBE NOT, while also making MISTAKE XYZ that PERHAPS made reckful do such action. at the end of the day someone did what they believed was right and putting a name to that someone is picking a side.

[@scaratlas3347]

Agree tbh. The presentation feels like more of an attack

[@mareksicinski3726]

What What are you trying to say Everyone does

[@shauL__]

@@mareksicinski3726 everyone does what?

[@mareksicinski3726]

Wtf are u trying to say Yes dangers are about the ‘could’ and Tesla and Elon do deserve criticism Taking a side is right and should happen

[@mareksicinski3726]

​@@shauL__ it is sophomoric to talk about 'doing what they thought was best' And why is making public view comercial entertainment of someone's mental health because they are a celebrity 'good'. Some humble advice and anonymous consented examples would make sense, but the commercial success and 'clickability' might be less, given it is not treated as a regular conversation, he is treated as a 'doctor' (which is already a 'clinical' image a poor analogy with a physicisan in reality; clinical psychology has many paradigms in which one is not at all clearly more 'effective' than another even though they tend to claim to represent reality). And it was therapy, just maybe it *shouldn't* be therapy si the issue. Saying it is not therapy won't stop it being therapy- saying it is not therapy doesn't make acting as a therapist outside of bounds of how a therapsit should act fine, because the effect is the same, and the whole point of therapy is it is or shoudl be defined by its effect- and intent, which even if the might not admit it, is therapeutic ie. using what he knows of therapeutic mean sto achieve a therapeutic goal. This whole unciritcal pooplarity of him is really a bad thing and it shouldn't be something that you make a public show or invest with this kind of blind faith- questionable views aside, as if the patien-ttherapist relationship weren't person-to-person anyway and as if it's success hinged on the correct diagnosis (something that like Rogers back then talked about as not being helpful).

[@maxwelle.715]

@Slush So if Dr. K does the exact same thing but arbitrarily calls it, "therapy" this whole 45 min vid is INSTANTLY undermined. The entire point is that there's too much red tape around therapy and people like DR K. who actually have a wealth of expertise are usually more restricted from helping or because they LITERALLY HAVE CERTIFICATION that indicates their expertise which ironically means they can't give it freely to people in a world where people are freely giving bad advice to each other. THIS IS BACKWARDS and this is why coaching and his streams are so fkin useful towards actually helping people and getting them more comfortable with therapy. I've literally done BetterHelp which is an online therapy service with a fucking chat based therapy session with real therapists and they might do the shittiest job ever and only care to respond briefly once a day while doing some BS like driving BUT HEY - those guys are providing REAL HELP because it's TECHNICALLY THERAPY, right?

[@CanYouHandleTheTruth_]

Why all the interviews are not available anymore?! I wasn’t finish with the Jenna&Jackie Interview, I wanted to watch the one with another psychologist, luckily I got the direct links to the Gary interviews…can’t find an answer!

[@SlushTV]

Check the playlist tab under my channel for all of the interviews

[@CanYouHandleTheTruth_]

@@SlushTV thx Bro

[@LittleHarryBrother1]

This is obviously a very sensitive topic, involving two persons who are, and where, very loved. Speaking about this issue will unavoidably evoke strong emotions. Understandable as this is, I wish supporters of Dr. K would be able to set aside their feelings of loyalty for a moment and consider the points more charitably. Because they are in fact very reasonable. They reflected more or less the exact same concerns I had myself after watching the first two sessions of Dr. K and Reckful’s sessions(which ultimately lead my to this video). It honestly baffles me how people here in the comment section try to argue that Dr. K didn’t provide therapy to Reckful. It is just so blatantly obvious, regardless if you been in therapy personally or not. It makes me question if the people arguing against this are truly being honest with themselves. Regarding the accusations of the filmmaker blaming Dr. K, people making these claims should again pause for a moment. It is never implied that Dr. K shoulders the direct responsibility for Reckful’s passing. Only that it may have played a part in nudging him in that direction. This second claim is still very unsettling, but of much less magnitude than that of the first one. Dr. K’s sessions with Reckful may in fact have played a role in the worsening of his condition. This is not a unreasonable claim and I think the filmmaker makes a clear case as for why. It is a well established fact within the field of psychiatry, that certain therapies runs the risks of worsening a patients condition. This is why therapies such as psychoanalysis nearly always is reserved for people who meet a certain threshold of stability, and proper monitoring is vital. This clearly wasn’t possible under the surrounding circumstances. Let’s also not forget that this video isn’t only about the case of Reckful, but the wider implications of people watching and participating the kind of work Dr. K engages in. Could the choice of music and thumbnail have been considered with more sensitivity? Maybe. Of all the criticism I have read so far regarding this video, this is the only one approaching a decent level of fairness. And frankly, that is quite telling. To the maker, although unlikely you will read this; thank you for making the video.

[@adisharma5330]

Few days before Reckful's passing a food delivery guy said Goodbye to him before leaving so that could have caused him to think that the world is saying goodbye to him and surely played a role in his suicide. There's another video topic for you. Your welcome. There are some very valid reasons to criticize the delivery guy, nobody's perfect and I don't expect the delivery guy to be flawless either but i do worry what happens if we pretend that he is. It might seem like he is only making small mistakes but its possible that those mistakes might result in people getting the wrong ideas, its possible that those ideas will lead to someone making wrong decisions and its possible that its already happened......(sad music)

[@coldfury1858]

Well no. Reckful had a deep connection with dr k, unlike your hypothetical delivery guy.

[@adisharma5330]

@@coldfury1858 Its an analogy i have use to highlight the absurdity of his accusation. To suit his illogical narrative he has blatantly spread misinformation about suicide. A suicidal person is constantly fighting with with this feeling but sometimes due to drugs or in an emotionally charged situation this feeling takes over. People dont rationally think it out and decide on the basis of whether a person no matter how close to them believe in reincarnation or not.

[@jonassvik1580]

Spoiler, this is a defence of Dr. K - and an encouragement for people who are able to help should follow in his footsteps. Also if you're not as skilled or able to help as much as he is. Help is help, and we need all the hands we can get. Even if Dr. K was directly responsible we need more people like him. For every single mistake made there is a plethora of peopled helped - hopefully most of them not just a temporary alleviation. Dr. K himself has multiple times said that the current mental health system is simply too slow and we need what he terms "AoE healing". And I think he's right. If we don't start using the power of the internet and media for mass distributing mental health and making changes personally and in the systems, we're gonna lose so many more people to the most repugnant cause of death I can imagine. Of course he makes mistakes. I don't doubt that for a second. I have a hard time saying it's fine to criticize him, but it has to be. He should be accountable for his actions and be able to stand with them no matter the outcome - and I think he is prepared for that. Another thing Dr. K has mentioned repeatedly is how you can't control other people, only your actions. Using himself as an example, he has to recognize that he can do everything in his power to help, but in the end he can't stop someone from comitting suicide - and he has to accept that. It's like surgery, sometimes it just goes wrong - or even if it goes perfectly; it just sometimes not enough. Also, Reckful didn't actually finish Everland. He never completed the task/dharma Dr. K gave to him - so I'm sorry Slush, but the entire premise of your accusation is wobbly

[@clockwerk853]

"Guys, I mention many times that I think Dr.K is great and that he didnt intend for X...but look here."

[@mechanomics2649]

Do you have a point? What is it?

[@nasriq]

@@mechanomics2649 same

[@polikato4813]

@@mechanomics2649 Non sequitur

[@nicolastaisne7910]

I believe the biggest reproach to standard therapy is a lack of involvement. Those "non-therapy sessions" enable that kind of involvement wich is why we found dr. K so interesting/effective. I doubt that if those streamed sessions were more regulated to fit the general methods of therapists, they would be as impactful and helpful

[@patrikpass2962]

In other words, dr k would not have made as much money.

[@4lonzo]

The involvement that you speak of is probably what made Dr. K act out of emotion and promise to be there for reckful for 2 years. Having your emotions cloud judgment is why real and professional therapy avoids that level of involvement, it's dangerous and unethical.

[@nicolastaisne7910]

@@4lonzo Dangerous and unethical ? Dealing with suicidal people has no perfect answer, one day they're making progress and the next week they're hitting rock bottom. Lack of involvement is what makes you quit therapy altogether. People choosing death for themselves shouldn't be blamed on the few ones trying to help.

[@4lonzo]

@@nicolastaisne7910 just because there is no perfect answer does not mean anything goes. Dr k is a professional profiting off the sessions in one way or another and he literally promised to love reckful for 2 years and implied it would cure his BPD. The insanity of implying you can cure BPD aside, I think it's equally bad and disingenuous for Dr k to say he'll love reckful while getting paid as it would be for an escort or sex worker to say the same to a client.

[@nicolastaisne7910]

​@@4lonzo Dude, you're litterrally complaining about a lack of involvment. And come on, money was not an issue for Reckful

[@sicus5D]

This isn't related to the video persay, but trying to watch this video I've had 6 adds in 22m. I dont know if thats a creator or KZbin thing, but this seems very suspicious, and also annoying.

[@activistarts7722]

Talking to people about your problems is therapeutic, not therapy so there is a difference. It's clear these sessions were not therapy even though they did provide a therapeutic benefit. This was a hit piece connecting dots to Reckful's suicide and not an objective criticism.

[@adnanomerhodzic3869]

it was objective critism since you are putting the burden on the "people" ("patient" aka the person he is talking to) to distinguish between those two. as far as i have seen his interniews, he doesnt put bounaries on things that can be talked (as a fan i am watching dr K), so there is no boundary in which an conversation cant slip into a therapy session. the burden on being prolific as a professional should not be put on people he talks to, even if they nominally agree that they are not doing therapy (which in reckfuls case he himself said, "therapy session that is not therapy")

[@jamesgentry13]

@@adnanomerhodzic3869 but not a patient because it never was a dr patient relationship

[@adnanomerhodzic3869]

@@jamesgentry13 it doesnt matter what you would call their relationship, what matter is the actual criticism that u didnt pay attention to

[@hiawrj]

Great video, a good way to start a conversation about online therapy. It has always been dodgy as the lines were too blurry.

[@gambaroni92]

No matter how much Dr. K helped Reckful, there's certainly no doubt that he was VERY casual when speaking to him at times. I'm not going to use the reincarnation comment as an example since Reckful likely knew about that long before he met him. But saying things along the lines of "you can die after fulfilling your life's dream" or possibly diagnosing him with BPD is pretty irresponsible and something he should at the very least address. I'd never say that Dr. K pushed Reckful to suicide, but what was said during these talks could've reinforced the idea. Obviously we'll never truly know, but it's still something to wonder about.

[@TheMotU92]

How is that irresponsible to say? When you see someone on a bridge about to jump, the best thing you can say is something casual like "you still have to feed your cat today, then you can come back here". It's literally just about buying some time for them to change their mind. Or in the example of Dr. K and Reckful, giving a goal and purpose to work towards (buying loads of time). And that goal isn't finishing the game, it's doing a favor for his 5-year-old self so it can not be like "finished, time to kms"

[@meerartdump]

26:08 making the point that reckfull is talking about reincarnation and simulation is grossly misunderstood by slush. Reckfull said nothing about reincarnation in this clip of his last stream, slush is literally assuming reckfull misunderstood simulation and reincarnation as the same thing. Simulation isn't the same thing as reincarnation, simulation is more so as a game (as reckfull insinuated himself in the clip) and so a game is not real life, reincarnation is real life being transferred after death to other real life. To insinuate Dr.K had something to do with reckfull's state of thinking in this clip is terribly misconstrued because reckfull never mentioned reincarnation to begin with in this clip. All this aside I think it's good to discuss this topic about ''therapy'' online and blurring lines.

[@adamyoung8900]

You should look at the similarities between Reckful's death and Etika's death before making such a reach. Etika multiple times said that life was just a simulation basically the same stuff as Reckful said before his death. It completely ruins the idea that concept of reincarnation was to blame. Someone that didn't talk to Dr. K or think of reincarnation believed the same thing.

[@simonbuysse8559]

He never says that is was the cause just a possibility to push him further.

[@adamyoung8900]

@@simonbuysse8559 It wasn't even a possibility, he talked about life being a simulation and this is the first stage. That has nothing to do with reincarnation.

[@wodidos]

🤦‍♂️

[@deensama7718]

i do want to say that i think the way Dr. K handled Reckful in regards to his suicidal ideation has a lot to do with Dr. K's personal experience with suicidal patients, including those who have killed themselves. he's mentioned that people who are suicidal are perfectly logical, and that while it can be seen as a mental health issue, it's also something anyone can go through. the point that i took away from the conversation (and that resonated with me heavy actually) was that people who are determined to commit suicide or have some kind of plan or desire to go through with it are typically not swayed by conventional approaches to dealing with mental illness. suicidal ideation is a severe crisis, and the person in question is very often perfectly logical in their desire to die. i should say that he didn't say that in the terms i used, and maybe i just totally misinterpreted his point, but i think ultimately he believes that people who are suicidal can only be swayed by reforming the way they think, and in such a crisis radical intervention is necessary beyond what most therapists are trained to offer. i think when it comes to reckful in particular he saw a lot of his former patient, but he was positively reinforced to continue down the radical interventionist path (which involves some, let's say... nonstandard psychiatric advice) because reckful insisted that he was helping and talked often about how useful he found it. plus i think Dr. K just genuinely cared about reckful and liked talking to him. i think this gets to the essence of the ethical violations in this case. maybe the best solution has to do with suicidal people or people with a history of suicidal ideation or tendencies: terminate the interview as soon as possible and do your best to urge the person to get help. what sucks is that this approach, at least in my experience, never helps. suicidal people AREN'T swayed by being told to get help, that's all they're ever told. it's also very rare that they're ever so excited to speak to someone, and to kill that momentum by telling them you can't talk to them can be more harmful than helpful, so i'm not sure there is a truly good solution to the problem

[@simonbuysse8559]

Exactly and all this leads into how this should have been official therapy with Doctor K. no some loophole these are serious problems.

[@Cloudsurfer69]

ty for the vid, appreciate the convo been open at least. RIP RECKFUL