Dr. Mary Beth Wilkas Janke PsyD - Stepmother of Isabella, former secret service special agent, security consultant, psychologist, professor, author

Dr. Janke just appeared on FOX News, being interviewed about psychological issues potentially at play in the Gabby Petito case concerning her fiancé.

EDIT: Couldn't believe my fucking eyes lol. I had tuned back in after finishing a program midway through the interview and I was thinking "no way that's her." Then at the end they showed her name and I was dumbfounded. Trying to push new results to the top of Google? Entirely unaffected by the ILJ drama?

Kind of amazing how she just keeps on truckin', hypothesizing about someone's mental state when her own stepdaughter is a bit screwy to say the least.

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Interesting that she's still living out of the mansion that's pending sale, given how rich she and her husband are. That's Mike's office room.
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Interesting that she's still living out of the mansion that's pending sale, given how rich she and her husband are. That's Mike's office room.
Yeah, there's lots of reasons this could be. Not unusual for people to stay in their houses and keep them staged (stocked with furniture and looking "lived in") with their own stuff while on sale. Real estate companies will stage for you, but it is oftentimes a ripoff and usually adds little to the house sale numbers. If you have nice stuff that is well-organized and clean, you can add some value on your own and move it later. Even rich people dislike getting overcharged.

It's also possible that she is staying behind to manage the move while Mike starts up a new company somewhere else? Mike is a smart guy and knows that if the ChrisChan simps want to, they can continue to stalk them unless they just up and leave the country. A domestic move isn't going to buy them that much freedom from the weens. They're not exactly hiding if Mary Beth is going on Fox winemom crime news shows!

Additionally, there seems to have been this "mystery" around why Bella would wind up at TTU. Just look at a map, it's like 5 easy hours of driving from TTU to Santa Fe. I bet that 1) her grades aren't that great ( I also don't buy that Daddy bought her way in without proof as it's just not that hard to get in there ) 2) they know what a menace she is and wanted her close by and knew they would be living in Santa Fe for at least a few years. Not positive that is the case, but it makes plenty of sense, and I guess it just bugged me seeing Kiwis say " why on Earth would she wind up in Texas?" Yeah, it's remote from her mom, but her dad and stepmom are only 300 miles away.

I have also seen various suggestions on this forum that "Mike is moving because of the stalkers" or "he seems paranoid and moves around a lot". Well, considering that his whole thing is starting up companies, it doesn't surprise me that he moves every few years. That is normal for "serial entrepreneur" types like our Coach Fedpill, who seems to start a cybersec company every other year.

Not saying that PsyDs are inherently incompetent but the lack of research fundamentals in these programs do present severe costs in an understanding of behavior and constructs otherwise inobservable (i.e., trying to measure smoke).
This is why I love the Farms, I come here to learn more about the Human Mushroom and come away knowing the difference between a PsyD and a PhD! Good stuff. However, I think with Mary Beth, it is less about what she knows and more about WHO she knows to explain how she gets on Fox News.. This is the crowd she runs in.

FYI: News Corp is the parent of the Fox companies


Wall St. Journal
By John Jannarone
Sept. 5, 2012 4:06 am ET

News Corp. nominated former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao and former Colombian president Álvaro Uribe to join as directors amid other board changes.
 
Here is a link to that news segment for good measure, with Dr. Mary "the Protector" Janke appearing around seven minutes in.

Not really worth watching tbh. I have absolutely zero interest in some random american getting murdered and sadly they don´t really go off topic. The only new thing I learned from this about Mama Janke is that she does not hear voices in her head, so good on her.
 
If she neglected to mention this to the USSS while applying, is it because she learned her lesson and decided to omit certain information, or - more likely - is she using a kernel of truth in order to obfuscate the real reason her contract with the USSS was terminated?
Also, aren't agents hired as federal employees rather than contractors?
 
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I know it's been said, but man, Mary Beth advertised as "trained professional, able to identify and explain indicators of toxic personalities" gets me every time. It's like how Courtney Love's mom was a child psychologist, of all things.

You just can't help but wonder if she noticed something was way wrong, what she noticed, and when. Did she keep it to herself? Try and minimize it? Or was it one of those "I get paid to work with crazies, but I'd never actually have one in my life, let alone my house" prideful blind spots?

Waiting on the "Mushroom princess ends up in headlines for something way worse, Mary Beth divorces Daddy Janke, then writes a tacky tell-all and cashes in" saga in 2025
 
I know it's been said, but man, Mary Beth advertised as "trained professional, able to identify and explain indicators of toxic personalities" gets me every time. It's like how Courtney Love's mom was a child psychologist, of all things.

You just can't help but wonder if she noticed something was way wrong, what she noticed, and when. Did she keep it to herself? Try and minimize it? Or was it one of those "I get paid to work with crazies, but I'd never actually have one in my life, let alone my house" prideful blind spots?
I think part of why our mushroom is so profoundly and intentionally toxic is because that her step mom tried to help her and Bella rejected that entirely.
So its Mary Beth's fault, in a sense, but my reading of Mary Beth's character isn't someone who is evil or warped. I really don't think she fucked with Bella intentionally, certainly a little counter-trolling I'm sure, but I don't think Mary Beth is a bad person.
I think privately to Mike she is like "i fucking TOLD YOU SO a THOUSAND TIMES" due to Bella's crazy shit getting exposed.
 
I think part of why our mushroom is so profoundly and intentionally toxic is because that her step mom tried to help her and Bella rejected that entirely.
So its Mary Beth's fault, in a sense, but my reading of Mary Beth's character isn't someone who is evil or warped. I really don't think she fucked with Bella intentionally, certainly a little counter-trolling I'm sure, but I don't think Mary Beth is a bad person.
I think privately to Mike she is like "i fucking TOLD YOU SO a THOUSAND TIMES" due to Bella's crazy shit getting exposed.
Agreed. I definitely don't intend to blame Mary Beth (not saying "if she knew, why didn't she DO something?" or anything like that). I just have to wonder about the creeping realization and the behind-the-scenes conversations with Mike.
The possible consequences (or lack thereof) for Bella have been discussed to death in other threads, but Mary has to know that if there kinda aren't any, from family or school or whatever, then Bella will only get worse and weirder.
 
Agreed. I definitely don't intend to blame Mary Beth (not saying "if she knew, why didn't she DO something?" or anything like that). I just have to wonder about the creeping realization and the behind-the-scenes conversations with Mike.
The possible consequences (or lack thereof) for Bella have been discussed to death in other threads, but Mary has to know that if there kinda aren't any, from family or school or whatever, then Bella will only get worse and weirder.
I think Bella's main victim was Mary Beth, she has a haunted look to her.

There was one interview with Mary Beth, let me find it,
she describes how its like to have family with mental issues.


Mary Beth's life story is both unironically inspiring and makes me feel bad about the injustices she faced (woman secret service agent fired for being truthful about a single joint?). Real alpha-female material there, it is a shame she never had her own children, of course was scared off by the mushroom.

Usually saying someone is a 'girl-boss' is a term to make fun of a woman pretending to be like Mary Beth, Mary Beth seems like the real deal.

Mary Beth's flaws are not fatal in any way, and the very worst thing anyone can say about her is that her step daughter is a fucking monster.
After a couple of drinks, I bet she would agree wholeheartedly that Bella is a fucking full blown psychopath.

Knowing what we know now, living in the same house as Bella for a decade must have been a nightmare. The emotional manipulation likely never ended, there was no catharsis, no release. Living in emotional fear can take its toll even on the strongest woman.

I bet she was so happy when Bella finally left the house to go to TTU. Mushroom be gone, the first clean up with anti-fungals was a joy I'm sure.
 
I think Bella's main victim was Mary Beth, she has a haunted look to her.

There was one interview with Mary Beth, let me find it,
she describes how its like to have family with mental issues.


Mary Beth's life story is both unironically inspiring and makes me feel bad about the injustices she faced (woman secret service agent fired for being truthful about a single joint?). Real alpha-female material there, it is a shame she never had her own children, of course was scared off by the mushroom.

Usually saying someone is a 'girl-boss' is a term to make fun of a woman pretending to be like Mary Beth, Mary Beth seems like the real deal.

Mary Beth's flaws are not fatal in any way, and the very worst thing anyone can say about her is that her step daughter is a fucking monster.
After a couple of drinks, I bet she would agree wholeheartedly that Bella is a fucking full blown psychopath.

Knowing what we know now, living in the same house as Bella for a decade must have been a nightmare. The emotional manipulation likely never ended, there was no catharsis, no release. Living in emotional fear can take its toll even on the strongest woman.

I bet she was so happy when Bella finally left the house to go to TTU. Mushroom be gone, the first clean up with anti-fungals was a joy I'm sure.

Hard agree. Mary Beth is based, change my mind.
 
I think Bella's main victim was Mary Beth, she has a haunted look to her.

There was one interview with Mary Beth, let me find it,
she describes how its like to have family with mental issues.


Mary Beth's life story is both unironically inspiring and makes me feel bad about the injustices she faced (woman secret service agent fired for being truthful about a single joint?). Real alpha-female material there, it is a shame she never had her own children, of course was scared off by the mushroom.

Usually saying someone is a 'girl-boss' is a term to make fun of a woman pretending to be like Mary Beth, Mary Beth seems like the real deal.

Mary Beth's flaws are not fatal in any way, and the very worst thing anyone can say about her is that her step daughter is a fucking monster.
After a couple of drinks, I bet she would agree wholeheartedly that Bella is a fucking full blown psychopath.

Knowing what we know now, living in the same house as Bella for a decade must have been a nightmare. The emotional manipulation likely never ended, there was no catharsis, no release. Living in emotional fear can take its toll even on the strongest woman.

I bet she was so happy when Bella finally left the house to go to TTU. Mushroom be gone, the first clean up with anti-fungals was a joy I'm sure.

It's hard to maintain boundaries as a parent that's also a psychologist or therapist- especially if you have a kid with severe mental illness. There's a distinction too between kids who have developmental or mood issues (autism, anxiety, depression, bipolar etc) and kids that have a personality disorder - the latter usually have a history of prolonged abuse and manipulation from their parents or caregivers. I don't buy girl boss Doc Mary Beth being a scared widdle wifey while Big Bad Bella terrorized the household. A grown ass person who is trained in the detection of personality disorders should have been able to address it in some way and if bio dad did not place the needed barriers to preserve respect from the child, then the grown ass person can simply leave. Although of course if there was and is emotional manipulation and abuse from Mushroom and her dad, Mary Beth should NEVER give up. If other people say to her "you can't fix crazy... walk away" her own message is "YES I CAN." Hmmm!

Her brand of pop psychology does not have a strong basis in clinical evidence besides the general "having a positive perspective improves your mood" truism. Yeah, that's true... but the reason therapists are needed is to support the building blocks of the motivation and action it takes to shift perspectives. Reading a book doesn't do the trick to address clinically significant mental health concerns. A good example of that pop psychology BS is the brainwashing used by multilevel marketing schemes like Herbalife and Mary Kay - legalized pyramid schemes that scam and exploit the majority of the women tricked into signing up. Which, spoiler- Dr Janke promotes by inflicting her "positivity psychology" on the women they've corralled at their events. I already knew just from reading a little bit about her that she would be associated with the MLM cults.

Helping elites ruin families and empty savings accounts - what an alpha female. What a #BOSSBABE.

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Really brief, as someone with knowledge of the difference between the training of a PsyD versus a PhD in clinical psychology, I do not trust anything Dr. Janke says as far as I can throw her. PsyDs are raked over the coals in court because that degree does not inherently have the same rigorous research component to it as a PhD (i.e., what gives credibility). People get PsyDs because they aren't cut out for research or the rigors of a traditional program and try to self-enhance by saying that research isn't as important because they want to help people.

I don't have a PhD in clinical psychology but know many who do and they constantly shit on PsyDs.

Psy.D.'s are certainly less prestigious than Ph.D.'s and are indeed very limited on the research side.

However, I would argue that doing graduate level bitch labor research has next to no relevance to psychology as a clinical practice. Running repetitive studies, using quantitative methods, etc. is all stuff you can do, and almost certainly will if you are considering a graduate degree, in undergrad; you do it in your graduate studies as a way of paying your dues, exploring a topic of interest, and oftentimes to "pay off" your degree to the university through bitch labor. This is also why Psy.D.'s, AFAIK, generally carry a greater net cost and degree seekers rarely if ever get stipends from the university.

In short, if your interest is entirely in practicing psychology, you don't need financial support, don't care much for prestige and are prepared to be near the bottom of the barrel when it comes to joining a practice from scratch (generally you would make connections as part of your studies, though, AFAIK), and you don't have any interest in research, then a Psy.D. is a good choice. For everyone else, Ph.D. is the way to go.

Criminal Justice + PsyD??? Big red flags. One of the reasons social workers are such shitty diagnosticians IMO is the lack of research literacy they have. Research literacy is critical for being a clinician. Being able to gauge efficacy of treatments, legitimacy and limitation of studies is part of clinical mental health work. IDC if you have a DSW or a PsyD - they rarely have that skill as polished as a PhD in Social Work or Psych.
 
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@bernadette This research literacy you reference isn't taught exclusively in graduate school. In fact, the general rule is that in order to pursue advanced degrees in psychology (which is one of the most over-bloated throw-away undergraduate majors that currently exists) you have to complete not only the mandatory coursework (which includes mandatory statistics/quantitative methods courses, as well as a "lab" component) but also pursue undergraduate research under the supervision of a professor or graduate student, among other extracurricular activities and engagements. If you graduate with a Bachelor's in Psychology without having gained at least some "research literacy" that is quantifiable in terms of credits or citations, you have basically no chance of pursuing an advanced degree from any respectable establishment. Of course, shoehorning and favoritism may have been doled out toward Dr. Janke given her background, but that would be an exception to the rule.

It would also be patently false to say that when pursuing a Psy.D., you are not going to be exposed to studies, instructed on how to interpret them in a clinical setting, etc. However, you are much more likely to be exposed to studies which are relevant to the practice. As a Ph.D. student, you might be injecting rat brains with glow-in-the-dark chemicals to see if there is a reaction when you say the word "cheese" (facetious example obv), which certainly helps you become versed in study methodology and even more advanced statistical analyses, could see you branch out into other fields like neurology, neurochemistry, psychopharmacology, etc. to get a base level understanding of what is being measured in this study, but I think you will agree that this is not directly relevant to practicing psychology.

If you think that everyone who goes into practicing psychology is following a path which is laden with lab work and research that is only relevant to their ultimate career goal, you are sorely mistaken. For the first year or two at LEAST, you are used as a straight up slave, at the whim of your laboratory supervisor, department head, etc. You will teach classes to inner city kids who would mug you on your way home, you will clean up rat feces out of cages, you will fill out mountains of paperwork without as much as a thank you, and you will do as you are told even if you disagree with the methodology, all in order just to pay for your degree so you can get the fuck out of there and practice psychology - and then, the results of "your" study, if you are lucky enough to be even third on the list of contributors, may be published in some journal and be yet another study that can't be reproduced due to the extreme failure of psychology as a science in general in the modern era (aka the "replication crisis").

These were mostly Ph.D.'s and Ph.D. students publishing these studies, of which a huge percentage are failing to be reproduced, so I don't know what you're talking about when you say that gauging the legitimacy and limitation of studies is something that is "polished" among Ph.D.s. It's a racket, no matter which way you slice it - whether you are a Psy.D. and willfully sidestepping the racket in exchange for not having a stipend/full ride and thus missing out on some of this "research literacy" which leads to fraudulent studies, or whether you are a part of the racket and are treated like a slave for some crusty old boomer who wants to push some theory they have and they will slice and dice the results of the research in a million different ways until they find some numbers that support their hypothesis and then in turn publish those numbers as fact. Either way, it's a joke to believe there is any real research integrity being promoted on either side of the divide. At least as a Psy.D., your studies and duties will focus more on what you actually want to be doing for the rest of your life, which is pushing your pre-existing opinions and gut instincts as fact (edit: on a practical level), backed by bullshit studies.
 
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@bernadette This research literacy you reference isn't taught exclusively in graduate school. In fact, the general rule is that in order to pursue advanced degrees in psychology (which is one of the most over-bloated throw-away undergraduate majors that currently exists) you have to complete not only the mandatory coursework (which includes mandatory statistics/quantitative methods courses, as well as a "lab" component) but also pursue undergraduate research under the supervision of a professor or graduate student, among other extracurricular activities and engagements. If you graduate with a Bachelor's in Psychology without having gained at least some "research literacy" that is quantifiable in terms of credits or citations, you have basically no chance of pursuing an advanced degree from any respectable establishment. Of course, shoehorning and favoritism may have been doled out toward Dr. Janke given her background, but that would be an exception to the rule.

It would also be patently false to say that when pursuing a Psy.D., you are not going to be exposed to studies, instructed on how to interpret them in a clinical setting, etc. However, you are much more likely to be exposed to studies which are relevant to the practice. As a Ph.D. student, you might be injecting rat brains with glow-in-the-dark chemicals to see if there is a reaction when you say the word "cheese" (facetious example obv), which certainly helps you become versed in study methodology and even more advanced statistical analyses, could see you branch out into other fields like neurology, neurochemistry, psychopharmacology, etc. to get a base level understanding of what is being measured in this study, but I think you will agree that this is not directly relevant to practicing psychology.

If you think that everyone who goes into practicing psychology is following a path which is laden with lab work and research that is only relevant to their ultimate career goal, you are sorely mistaken. For the first year or two at LEAST, you are used as a straight up slave, at the whim of your laboratory supervisor, department head, etc. You will teach classes to inner city kids who would mug you on your way home, you will clean up rat feces out of cages, you will fill out mountains of paperwork without as much as a thank you, and you will do as you are told even if you disagree with the methodology, all in order just to pay for your degree so you can get the fuck out of there and practice psychology - and then, the results of "your" study, if you are lucky enough to be even third on the list of contributors, may be published in some journal and be yet another study that can't be reproduced due to the extreme failure of psychology as a science in general in the modern era (aka the "replication crisis").

These were mostly Ph.D.'s and Ph.D. students publishing these studies, of which a huge percentage are failing to be reproduced, so I don't know what you're talking about when you say that gauging the legitimacy and limitation of studies is something that is "polished" among Ph.D.s. It's a racket, no matter which way you slice it - whether you are a Psy.D. and willfully sidestepping the racket in exchange for not having a stipend/full ride and thus missing out on some of this "research literacy" which leads to fraudulent studies, or whether you are a part of the racket and are treated like a slave for some crusty old boomer who wants to push some theory they have and they will slice and dice the results of the research in a million different ways until they find some numbers that support their hypothesis and then in turn publish those numbers as fact. Either way, it's a joke to believe there is any real research integrity being promoted on either side of the divide. At least as a Psy.D., your studies and duties will focus more on what you actually want to be doing for the rest of your life, which is pushing your pre-existing opinions and gut instincts as fact (edit: on a practical level), backed by bullshit studies.
I'm not saying that all PsyDs or DSWs are 100% trash all day everywhere and anywhere. I'm just saying that they will have -less- research literacy than PhDs. Criminal Justice as undergrad preparation for psychology magnifies those issues for #bossbabe Mary Beth. Being anywhere near an MLM? Telling those dupes that "they can do it" and "just work harder" while bankrupting their families? Big fat red flags.

I appreciate your high level of knowledge about the psych research field... but it just doesn't really change anything about my perspective of Janke. Your kvetching about the problems with the field is irrelevant to the Mary Beth issue because pop psychology doesn't promote improved wellness - it just bamboozles idiots into joining Lularoe and Herbalife. But yeah being a shill for the government and pyramid schemes will definitely earn you way more than a psychotherapy private practice.
 
@bernadette Can't quote you for some reason, but just wanted to mention that it's the lack of any type of critical thinking taught in psy'd programs that tends to lend way to the MLM shit they seem to start peddling. Social workers seem to go the same way as well. Wonder if this is due to systems theory being what they are taught instead of anything psychological in basis. Always found it odd that one could get a degree and license to help people with psychiatric problems yet not even have to take a course on normal or abnormal psychology.
 
@bernadette Sorry, I misunderstood the direction you were going in because the Mary Kay discussion was before my quoted post and I thought we were speaking more broad strokes than anything specific to Mary Beth, since the original discussion of Ph.D. vs. Psy.D. was more generalized IMO. That's my fault.

The whole self-affirmation ("You are a strong, independent woman. You will lose weight. People like you," etc.) movement does have some basis in research, but I agree with you that it is very much abused and repurposed into Tumblresque pop psychology and suffers from the issues both you and I listed (can't be enforced appropriately through a book, also a lot of research in the even-"soft"er aspects of psychology frequently fails replication), and of course that Mary Beth does not have the foundation others have due to her prior education (which, IIRC, was over a decade before her Psy.D.). Furthermore, being affiliated with Mary Kay/MLM certainly taints any "expert" opinions she may have.

In short, I agree.
 
@bernadette Can't quote you for some reason, but just wanted to mention that it's the lack of any type of critical thinking taught in psy'd programs that tends to lend way to the MLM shit they seem to start peddling. Social workers seem to go the same way as well. Wonder if this is due to systems theory being what they are taught instead of anything psychological in basis. Always found it odd that one could get a degree and license to help people with psychiatric problems yet not even have to take a course on normal or abnormal psychology.
...That's weird..!!

Yeah - I mean honestly CBT and DBT aren't that difficult to learn and are often useful in treatment - the diagnostic course that MSWs take is often laughably bad. I think systems theory is helpful for social workers that are doing case management work... I don't see how that can morph into instagram pop psychology... I see that more as a bastardization of stuff like CBT and SFBT because of their features of "perspective change" versus the ecological framework's features of "structural change." In any case, bella being a spawn of a gypsy and a glowie and raised by a shill... it really gives credit to the ecological framework...!
 
I honestly don't understand this whole "Psy.D" etc discussion / objection.
Two paths to the same professional position but have different names because a Ph.D. is more traditional and follows the Boulder model, which is a 20th century standard which argues that both research and practice is necessary for a person to be a practitioner, while a Psy.D. is a more modern (note: not necessarily better in any way, and in some ways more limited) approach to becoming a practitioner by studying mostly practical elements and not doing much research.

Parallels are hard to draw to other fields, but I would compare it to having an astronaut that trained specifically for one job (piloting a spaceship for example) vs. an astronaut that had to take advanced courses in astrophysics and researched what happens when two black holes collide. The argument can be made that researching what happens when two black holes collide is not necessary in order to land a spaceship on the moon. The opposing argument is that a lot is lost if the astronaut doesn't do so because they may pick up, learn, and otherwise understand outerspace phenomena better because of the fact that they had to get to the point of understanding how black holes work in the first place, and thus may be more well-rounded in their profession.

It's obviously not exactly like that but hopefully it gives you an idea.

Bernadette brought up a good point in that Mary Beth (in the context of this analogy) didn't even major in astronomy or machine operation or have a learner's driving permit before she went to NASA. She also used her position as an astronaut to endorse consuming Moon Rocks (tm) as a legit way of becoming a healthier, happier person.
 
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