THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 45 FEBRUA RY 26, 2020
A
stride. During a segment on the
Late Show With David Letterman
the following year, he pulled
out a list of epithets (including
“half-baked quack”) the host had
called him and good-naturedly
read them on-air. In 2017, medical
news outlet STAT and The Boston
Globe published an investiga-
tion into the alleged exploitation
of Dr. Phil guests with addic-
tion problems, asserting some
had been allowed easy access to
alcohol and drugs in immediate
advance of showtime. Martin
Greenberg, a psychologist who
serves as Dr. Phil’s director of
professional affairs, denied the
claims. Previously, McGraw found
himself fighting a yearslong
class-action lawsuit involving thepsychotherapist customers of a
service called the LearnDrPhil
Network. The litigation claimed
the service had, in exchange for
their participation in the pro-
gram, dangled referrals from
the large pool of Dr. Phil viewers.
Lawlis was part of the endeavor
and named as a defendant in the
case, which was settled in 2009.
Lawlis says now of the service,
“That’s gone away.”
McGraw’s engagement with
celebrity mental health issues
also has drawn criticism. Britney
Spears’ parents said he violated
their trust after he publicly
spoke about a private visit
with the troubled pop singer in- Eight years later, a heav-
ily promoted November sweeps
episode of Dr. Phil focused on a
disoriented Shelley Duvall. Mia
Farrow and Ron Perlman called it
exploitative. Lawlis stands by the
program. “You can’t script what a
person says, and sometimes the
guests are their worst enemies.
We don’t exploit a person’s prob-
lems,” he says. “I always think we
can do better, but I think we do a
better job than anybody else has
ever done with the types of things
we deal with.”ABOUT 20 DR. PHIL GUESTS CYCLE
through the PsychoNeuroPlasticity
Center each season. Its website
notes it helps clients with ADHD,
autism, mood disorders, OCD,
PTSD and other challenges. “I can
tell you that for the majority [of
visitors],” Peavey explains, “it’s
‘I’ve heard about you through
Dr. Phil.’ ”
Peavey, who was once Lawlis’
student and now handles the
administrative end of their
partnership, says multiple show
guests have confided that they
initially contacted Dr. Phil with
the specific intent to secure an
expenses-covered visit to the
Texas clinic. (Insurers may also
cover a portion of the price tag.)
The customized screening
includes a variety of diagnostic
tests, among them the use of a
medical instrument designed
by Lawlis and his son, an elec-
trical engineer, called the
Bio-Acoustical Utilization Device,
or BAUD. It emits calibrated
sounds in each ear — think of
drumming rhythms — with the
intended benefit of influencing
brain function. In 2006, the FDA
granted Lawlis permission to use
and sell the BAUD “for relaxation
training and muscle reeducation
and prescription use.” Lawlis,
meanwhile, characterizes the
BAUD as a panacea for a variety of
health problems. “A person comes
in with PTSD and you give him
the BAUD and after 30 minutes it
goes away,” he claims.
In 2014, the Texas State Board
of Examiners of Psychologists
disciplined Lawlis and Peavey
for the same offense: Allowing
one of their staffers, who was nottheir hobbyists’ joy in piloting
small planes. In the decades that
followed, before national promi-
nence on Dr. Phil, they teamed on
business ventures, including a
never-launched set of seminars
for physicians.
Later, when McGraw had set
up his litigation services firm
Courtroom Sciences, which
inspired the CBS drama Bull,
his mentor was regularly con-
tracted out as an expert witness
in personal injury cases. “I
would testify as to what money
[the plaintiff] would’ve made as
opposed to how much money he’s
capable of now,” Lawlis says.
Since Dr. Phil’s 2002 debut,
McGraw has faced criticism over
his credibility. He’s taken it all in“ THERE’S PROBABLY NOT A SHOW
THAT GOES ON THE AIR THAT DOESN’T
HAVE DR. LAWLIS’ FEEDBACK.”
Lawlis and Creative Care’s 30-year-old clinical
director Dr. Farrah Khaleghi with his custom-
designed sensory deprivation chamber. The
rehab had its license suspended late last year
following the deaths of two clients.