by Lane Trawick

Created on: May 03, 2008

As a television show, The Dr. Phil Show is a good example of a Hollywood production created to appear "real" to its viewers. The only "real" part of the show is the guests that appear with real problems. Comparative to other talk shows, the set is top-shelf from lighting and sound (theme music, included) to production & editing, it's all put together very well to look like something it isn't legitimate.

Since Phil McGraw is The Dr. Phil Show, it's fair to review him and his credentials in light of the show. While Phil McGraw does have an academic degree in psychology, he possesses no license to practice as a psychologist or counselor anywhere. In fact, the only time he was an actual psychologistit didn't go very well for him. He was found guilty of professional misconduct and put on probation by the State of Texas Board of Psychology for rehabilitative accountability an accountability he chose to avoid, instead. He quit.

Phil McGraw moved on to use his "people reading" skills as a consult to legal teams in litigation. When Oprah came to town, his services were employed to assist in her fight against the Texas cattle industry's suit against her. Since he helped in her victory, she returned the favor by presenting him to her national audience to share his "Phil-isms" (mostly hand-me-down southern clichs). He found his niche a place where he could share his "words of wisdom" to a general audience without personal involvement. What better scenario for an admitted disillusioned therapist who didn't possess the patience to deal with people in their struggles. That confession is consistent with his history of severed personal and business relationships in the wake of his pursuit for personal gain. But, nowhere is self-interest a more destructive contradiction than in the health care profession psychology, included.

It's been suggested that The Dr. Phil Show is just "a show," and that Dr. Phil's activities as a professing "expert psychologist with thirty years of experience" should not be held accountable to the California Board of Psychology, or the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (the authoritative body responsible for all other counselors other than psychologists), since he's just a "talk show host" making a show for entertainment purposes.

Whether filming a television show or a major motion picture, no production company is allowed to film a scene without pain-staking provisions being taken to first protect the public and participants from any harm. Much attention is given to fulfill safety requirements before filming. From OSHA to animal rights restrictions, the safety and well-being of all living participants are never suspended in the name of "making a show for entertainment purposes." Even professionals, like stunt men and special-effect explosive experts, must satisfy safety regulations to perform their trade. There are Child Labor laws to protect juvenile actors. Fire-safety and building codes must be adhered to provide an auditorium for an audience's protection to watch the making of a production. In the current lack of applicable law, you are safer sitting in the audience of the Dr. Phil Show, than you are as a guest. That doesn't offer much for trusting people who unknowingly subject themselves to an unlicensed, un-accountable "psychologist" to be exploited in the name in entertainment.

Though, Phil McGraw isn't a real psychologist by any legitimate definition, he should get an Emmy for successfully portraying one on TV. He's fooled a lot of people.

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