Phil McGraw

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Phil McGraw bigraphy, stories - American television personality, psychologist and author

Phil McGraw : biography

September 1, 1950 –

Phillip Calvin McGraw (born September 1, 1950), best known as Dr. Phil, is an American television personality, author, psychologist, and the host of the television show Dr. Phil, which debuted in 2002. McGraw first gained celebrity status with appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show in the late 1990s.

Early life

Phil McGraw was born in Vinita, Oklahoma, the son of Jerry (née Stevens) and Joe McGraw. He grew up with two older sisters, Deana and Donna, and younger sister Brenda in the oilfields of North Texas where his father was an equipment supplier. During McGraw’s childhood, his family moved so his father could pursue a lifelong dream of becoming a psychologist. McGraw attended Shawnee Mission North High School in Overland Park, Kansas. In 1968, he was awarded a football scholarship to the University of Tulsa, where he played middle linebacker under Coach Glenn Dobbs. On November 23 of that year McGraw’s team lost to the University of Houston 100–6, which is one of the most lopsided games in college football history. Coach Dobbs retired after that season, and McGraw transferred to Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas.

Personal life

McGraw married his first wife, an ex-cheerleader and homecoming queen named Debbie Higgins McCall, in 1970, when he was 20 years old. According to her, McGraw was domineering and would not allow her to participate in the family business. She claimed that she was confined to domestic duties, which included lifting weights to improve her bustline.

During the process of annulling the marriage in 1973, McGraw began dating Robin Jo Jameson. The couple had two children, Jay, born in 1979, and Jordan, born 1986.

McGraw’s son, Jay McGraw, has partially followed in his father’s footsteps, publishing books aimed at teenagers based on McGraw’s books and working for Stage 29. Jay McGraw became engaged to Erica Dahm, one of the famous Playboy Playmate triplets. McGraw, who has been an outspoken critic of pornography, was best man at his son’s wedding, which was held at his home in Beverly Hills.

McGraw is also a private pilot, with an instrument rating, flying single engine airplanes.https://amsrvs.registry.faa.gov/airmeninquiry/Detail.aspx?uniqid=A1250217&certNum=1

Career

McGraw graduated in 1975 from Midwestern State University with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology. He went on to earn a Master of Arts in experimental psychology in 1976, and a Doctor of Philosophy in clinical psychology in 1979 at the University of North Texas, where his dissertation was titled "Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Psychological Intervention". Scholar.Google.com After run-ins with several faculty members,, McGraw was guided through the doctoral program by Frank Lawlis, who later became the primary contributing psychologist for the Dr. Phil television show.

After obtaining his Ph.D., McGraw joined his father, Dr. Joe McGraw, in Wichita Falls, Texas, where the elder McGraw had established his private psychology practice.

In 1983, McGraw and his father joined Thelma Box, a successful Texas businesswoman, in presenting "Pathways" seminars, "an experience-based training which allows individuals to achieve and create their own results." Critics claim that many of the "phrases and the terminology and the quaint sayings" used by McGraw on the Oprah and Dr. Phil shows were coined by Box and presented by McGraw in this seminar. McGraw admits that some of the material from Life Strategies, his first best-seller, is taken directly from the Pathways seminar. However, he has never mentioned Box or her contributions to his success in any of his books or TV shows. Eight years after joining Box, McGraw signed an agreement for the sale of his Pathways seminar stock for $325,000 without notifying either his father or Box of the impending sale. Box founded her own seminars entitled "Choices."

Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists