My Reply to My Take: The Scary Nepotism of the Dr. Phil Family

This is in response to the article My Take: The Scary Nepotism of the Dr. Phil Family, written by Suzanne Donahue. In her article she claims that Dr .Phil's wife Robin and their son Jay have no business giving advice to the guests on the show. She feels they are not qualified to offer their advice and should not be allowed to. I have to disagree I am a regular watcher of the Dr. Phil show and I have to say I really enjoy seeing his family get involved with the show and I like to hear their advice and opinions. They don't come on the show and claim to be experts in any field nor do they claim to be anything they are not. Everyone gets their start somewhere and if Robin and Jay got theirs from Dr. Phil so be it. Dr. Phil is very upfront when offering his advice that it's just an opinion and they are free to make their own choices.

When Robin McGraw appears on the show with her husband she doesn't claim to be a Dr. She just offers advice on things she knows about and has researched . People write in and ask for her advice. They want to know how she feels about things. I have to disagree with the comment from the writer of the article My Take: The Scary Nepotism of the Dr. Phil Family when she says that Dr. Phil runs his show like a military boot camp. Granted there are times where he has to be firm and use a stronger voice with the guests. The guests require it by yelling and not facing the facts that there is a problem, that is why they are there after all. I doubt that someone would come on the show if they never seen Dr .Phil before. They are very aware of the way he deals with things .That's why they called or wrote to the show to ask for Dr. Phil's or his families help. Jay McGraw has helped many children overcome obesity .His books are being used in classrooms across the country to help teach children how to reach for their goals and succeed. I wasn't aware that a person had to have all types of degrees to help someone and make a difference in their lives. People are not going on the Dr. Phil show for advice on Open-heart surgery.

They are looking for advice dealing with family or personal issues. If Dr. Phil doesn't have enough knowledge on a subject he consults with the people who do .He provides some advice and then the experts make sure they get the help they need from people with more experience. Jay McGraw has a Bachelors of Science in Psychology as well as his law degree. I would think this qualifies him to help people .If Robin McGraw and Jay didn't truly help people then maybe you could say that there was nepotism in play. I don't think that is the case here. Sure they were first exposed to the public on the Dr. Phil show but they have proved they can do just fine on their own. Robin McGraw is a featured speaker for the Woman of Faith events. She speaks to woman about how to be the best they can be. The Dr. Phil family never stated they were experts on the things they talk about they are just trying to make people realize they need to Get real and face the truth about things happening in their lives. In all my years of watching the Dr. Phil show I have never once seen a guest manipulated or taken advantage of as Suzanne claimed. I have only seen Dr. Phil and his family help thousands of people have a better life and realize they have to wake up and smell the coffee. He has helped families who might be torn apart by divorce get the appropriate therapy they needed to get their family back on track .He has also helped families who were staying together just for the kids sake to realize sometimes its better to be apart instead of all the fighting and hostility toward each other. Jay McGraw has made teens see that its OK to have an open relationship with your parents and Robin McGraw has made thousands of women see they can accomplish whatever they set out to do. So while the McGraw family might not be an expert in every field I think they do a great job of helping people with what they do know.