Which program was Phil McGraw in?

[Antigen]

Anybody ever watch Dr. Phil? A good friend was talking to me about his language. "You need to get honest" and "get real!". Hell, the whole daytime talk format is an encounter session or confrontation rap filmed live before a studio viewing audience. I don't have TV now and I can't stomach more of him than the time it takes to find the remote. But I think I may go out of my way to catch a couple of eps somehow just to stoke this question. I'm nearly 100% convinced that that dude did some damned motivating in his day. If anybody knows where and when I think we should contact his biographers and fan base and fill them in.

[Anne Bonney]

just a guess.....Daytop?

[Froderik]

Doctor Phil-billy is a retard and a quack. As if Oprah's condescending bullshit wasn't bad enough, now we have this bald redneck yelling at people and calling it "therapy". His dedicated audience need some real head-shrinking, and not some quick fix from a TV charlatan like Dr. Phil. People bitch about "trashy talk shows," but at least on Springer you know you're being demeaned upfront....

[Ursus]

I was under the impression it was one of the LGATs, maybe Lifespring.

[Antigen]

Now this is fucked up. I had about 5 or 6 options there, not two!

[Ursus]

Former business partner Thelma Box claims she came up with much of what is touted as Dr. Phil's program "Pathways," but was squeezed out.  From what I have read on Thelma Box, she was really into the self-help seminar stuff and researched and attended many of these type of programs.  It is conceivable that Lifespring may well have been one of those programs.

Mention of the Thelma Box controversy is made about halfway through this piece:

=========================================

SALON.COM
In addition, a former business partner of McGraw's, Thelma Box, alleges that McGraw sold his stake in their self-help seminar company, Pathways, to a third party a full year before he let her know about it. Box claims that she co-created and coauthored the materials used in the Pathways seminars, traces of which are found in Dr. Phil's approaches and strategies on his show, but that no credit or mention of her name is offered, either by McGraw or by the associates who eventually purchased her share of the company.[/color] Unlike some of the other sour-grapes critics in the book and in other pieces, Box seems a reliable character witness. She compliments McGraw and says she gained a lot from working with him, and she appears to report the facts of her history with him without going out of her way to attack him. Mostly, she's alarmed that, despite her influence on his work, he's never mentioned her name in his books, on his show or in interviews about his background.

Taken alone, such criticisms might ring hollow. After all, a man with McGraw's obvious talents and charisma should hardly have to march around, reciting a list of credits. And generally, when the usual complaints about abusive or egocentric behavior are lobbed, as they have been at McGraw by former associates and employees of his show, it's not difficult to write them off, since McGraw's strong personality is a big part of what makes him a natural leader. The man is a polished brand in motion, a remarkable presence onstage with a likable, self-assured manner, a quick wit, a knack for giving straightforward, sure-footed advice, and an uncanny ability to address criticism before it appears.

"I don't expect you're going to substitute my judgment for your own," he tells the young woman who's just put her wedding on hold. "Y'all are gonna decide what you want to do."

McGraw will often stop at the end of a guest's spot, or at the end of a show, and address the audience. "We're not doing 8-minute cures here," he tells viewers, over and over again. All he's offering, he insists, is "a wake-up call" or "an emotional compass."

Still, on show after show, it's clear that Dr. Phil eclipses the boundaries of the innocuous role he claims to fill. It seems as though he can't stop himself from getting far more involved and magisterial than would be recommended by most licensed therapists.

On one show, a teenaged son is tricked into appearing under false pretenses, and is then confronted and threatened with a total withdrawal of support and protection from incarceration if he doesn't enter rehab on the spot. Such interventions may be necessary for those with drug problems, but surely taking such avenues on national television should be considered cruel and unusual punishment for a teenager, who's apt to be consumed by appearances. Indeed, the boy seems mortified by the situation and appalled that his parents have lied to him.

But drug users aren't to be taken seriously, you see, and with every legitimate expression of anger and betrayal that comes out of the kid's mouth, we're reminded that "it's the drugs talking." The kid eventually storms backstage, where there are more cameras, of course, and in a "private" conversation, Dr. Phil insists that he decide whether to go straight to rehab, or face the consequences. The kid angrily chooses rehab, and he and his parents fly directly from the show to the facility, escorted by a bodyguard -- apparently the boy doesn't have the option to change his mind once the cameras aren't rolling.

Whether Dr. Phil has just saved the kid's life or shamed him in front of millions of viewers goes unchallenged -- by both the audience and the kid's family. Instead, they all stand around, wide-eyed and obedient, waiting to see what the good doctor will prescribe next.

This "Surrendered Family" phenomenon is most evident on the episodes of the show surrounding the "Dr. Phil Family," a couple and their two daughters who have chosen to subject their lives to around-the-clock scrutiny by the show. Dr. Phil's immersion in their lives is complete, from the use of around-the-clock video cameras to the involvement of therapists and lawyers to the family's regular appearances on the show. They have completely yielded their lives to Dr. Phil's tough love machine, and on each "Dr. Phil Family" episode, their problems, which range from infidelity to teenage pregnancy, are dragged out and dissected. Naturally, their ongoing struggles make for some seriously entertaining television. These episodes constitute a mini Dr. Phil-branded reality show, featuring all of the denial and outbursts and insults you'd expect from members of a wildly dysfunctional family. While the advice Dr. Phil offers is consistently sound and reasonable, and may indeed offer hope to other families in crisis, his role as the ultimate authority is hard to ignore. Alexandra, the 15-year-old daughter who has just decided to raise her child on her own, is shown talking to the baby's father on the phone.

"Dr. Phil actually thinks it's best that you and your family don't visit the baby until you actually speak to him," she tells the boy. Alexandra and her family hint that the baby's father and his family are trashy, irresponsible people, but you can't help but admire the class they demonstrate in refusing to throw their lives into the ravenous Dr. Phil wood chipper.

The irony, of course, is that the very behavior that allegedly led to McGraw's receiving a public letter of reprimand is exactly what makes him "America's Favorite Therapist" today. It's his aggressive, confrontational approach that appeals so much to a nation that's lost its faith in the talking cure. While traditional therapists often encourage a client to discuss their feelings in an uncensored, unlimited way, for Dr. Phil, feelings are merely a brief rest stop on the way to committing to life-altering behavioral changes. This is a macho approach to therapy, couched in the tough-love language of football coaches and wood shop instructors.

"That dog won't hunt!" Dr. Phil blurts at guests like an impatient daddy, giving them firm instructions on how to stop messing up their lives, while disparaging softer approaches. "Trust me, I'm not going to spout a bunch of 'guru-ized' stuff about thoughts and emotions, or tell you to go up on a mountaintop and get in touch with your 'inner child,'" he writes in his bestselling diet book. "You can either sit around and stew about the situation, or you can make the choice to be self-directed, take action, and adopt a solution-side approach to your life."

Although that solution-side approach -- exercise, don't eat when you're emotional, control your portion sizes -- is far less groundbreaking than it sounds after it's been spiked with down-home Dr. Phil flavor and marketed by the Dr. Phil juggernaut, his fans don't seem to care. They're anxious to have him weigh in on one more aspect of their lives that feels out of their control.

In fact, it's difficult to imagine devoted disciples of Dr. Phil changing their minds about him for any reason at all, since the nature of his authoritative, instructive relationship with his guests, viewers and readers protects him from scrutiny. Just as taking your football coach's advice is predicated on turning a blind eye to the fact that he's sort of an abusive jerk, so does accepting Dr. Phil's word as the gospel mandate that all criticisms of him are ignored, or treated with utter skepticism. Viewers can take the cue from Dr. Phil himself on this front. As he recently told the New York Times, "I guarantee you there is absolutely nothing -- nothing I could do that somebody wouldn't have a problem with. If I was on the air and was just kind of a plain-vanilla personality that took the safe road and the safe way trying to please all of the people all of the time, I'd been gone in two weeks."

The message is clear. Part of being empowered, of "getting it," of "telling it like it is," of being a tough guy and a winner instead of a whiny little loser, is wrapped up in ignoring the criticisms and complaints of others. Thus, no matter how many times Dr. Phil's ego and overbearing tactics bring him negative attention, it's clear that his devoted viewers will continue to see him as comforting and decisive father figure in their lives. And what could be more American, really, than a macho, charismatic leader who blunders arrogantly into disastrous territory, while a nation of obedient children looks on?

[Ursus]

Now this is fucked up. I had about 5 or 6 options there, not two!

Maybe you could edit your post/poll and put those other options back in?

[Oz girl]

He ran his own "seminars" for a bit in the 90s? or 80's. He also once televised one he did for Oprah which had things like that game where you walk around telling strangers whether or not you trust them. So i don't think it was a program as such but a lifesprings type of set up.

His wife is also a capital H holy roller. She is involved in some group called the Women of Faith ministry program. This explains their obsession with the devil drink.

[Ursus]

This is from the writer of the book reviewed by Salon in my previous post...

The Dallas Morning News[/i]. At the time, I had no strong opinion about Dr. Phil. I'd seen him a few times on Oprah, and he seemed OK. He was entertaining and made sense. In fact, unlike many other public advice-givers, McGraw has a doctorate in clinical psychology. I have nothing against pop psychology, and as a psychology student myself (literally, in school), I saw this as an opportunity to learn how to make a gazillion dollars as a psychologist.

Kirk would edit the book before it went to Wiley, and my co-author was to be Lisa Gutierrez, a reporter at the Kansas City Star, covering the city where McGraw grew up. We had six months to get the manuscript to Wiley and a shoestring budget on which to do it. Kirk assured us that once we started making calls, it would all fall together. We knew what to do. You do your research, make calls, conduct interviews, get referrals, travel as necessary, piece it all together, and tell the story. We were experienced newspaper reporters, and we were confident.

Lisa and I divided the work between us. She would write chapters on McGraw's childhood, youth, and family life. I would take up the chronology from college through the present, focusing on his professional progress.

It was McGraw's successful Dallas-based litigation-consulting firm that first brought him together with Winfrey, when she was sued by Amarillo cattlemen for speaking unkindly about hamburgers. It was a fateful meeting that launched his celebrity. How hard could it be to find people in Dallas who knew Phil?

Lisa already had a compelling start on covering McGraw's early years. After an article about the Dr. Phil show appeared in the Kansas City Star, a reader tipped Lisa off to Phil's hometown connection. Lisa found an old yearbook containing a photo of McGraw dancing at his high school prom. She tracked and telephoned the girl in the picture.

"I knew you'd find me some day," the woman who answered the phone had said. Lisa had a scoop: A first wife whom McGraw never mentioned, even in his most confessional moments in his books or with Larry King. The story had run in the Kansas City Star and was picked up nationally.

The first thing I did was call McGraw's publicist at Paramount to request an interview and perhaps a behind-the-scenes day on the Dr. Phil set. The publicist told me to fax a request.

Rereading that fax now makes me blush: It's so hopeful, so starry-eyed. I was enthusiastic, excited, confident I was the ideal person to plumb McGraw's secrets for success. I listed my credentials, sent clips, concluded by writing, "I remain hopeful that Dr. Phil will meet with me and allow me a glimpse into the inner workings of his phenomenally successful show."

And that's as far as it went. I called and emailed with the Paramount publicist for a while. He was friendly, but he put me off for weeks by telling me that he hadn't yet broached the subject with McGraw.

Then McGraw's attorney called. In a menacing monotone, he tried to intimidate me off the project. He advised me to keep his name out of the book, as well as the name of a mutual Dallas acquaintance. He made no threats but his tone was ominous.

"You people just want to dig up dirt and bring people down," he said, or something along those lines. And by "you people," I don't think he was talking about journalists in general. McGraw had recently started making regular appearances in the tabloids, and this rankled the attorney and no doubt McGraw. Clearly, his "you people" was lumping me in as "tabloid scum."

"What 'you people'?" I protested. "I'm a journalist. I worked for The Dallas Morning News. I'm just doing a job." The attorney was unmoved, ordered me again to keep his name out of the book, and we hung up.

Next time I checked in with the publicist, he told me that any further contact would have to be through the attorney.

And so the tortuous saga began. We'd decided to write about Dr. Phil just as his success launched him into the stratosphere of celebrity; now he didn't need us and wanted nothing to do with us. The project changed and we—naïfs in celebrity land—could only press on and do our best. We were now writing an unauthorized biography. We had to dig to get the story and keep our noses clean, both to maintain journalistic integrity and because we sure as hell didn't want to be sued by Dr. Phil.

McGraw is a harsh, charismatic man of high intelligence and higher self-regard. His quest for success has left a trail of dislike, admiration, envy, loyalty, respect, mistrust, and gossip. Not surprisingly, pissed-off people were happiest to speak with us. McGraw's friends and colleagues, who would presumably have painted a different portrait, were likely to agree to interviews then never again return an email or phone call. We assumed they were checking with McGraw before speaking with us and being warned off. Eventually, our calls to the McGraw camp were formalities. We called because we had to, expecting nothing.

For every interview we landed, we made dozens of fruitless phone calls. Some people indignantly refused at first contact, sometimes out of loyalty, sometimes out of what sounded like fear. We quickly learned not to leave messages, which were rarely returned and only gave people a heads-up. Some people agreed to talk with no names or identifying details, others told stories with trembling voices and then panicked and refused to let us use them. McGraw's first wife decided that she wanted to write her own book and refused to speak further to Lisa.

Courtroom Sciences, Inc., McGraw's litigation-consulting firm, was impenetrable. Database searches revealed little existing press on CSI. To get a look at the CSI office, I hand-delivered to the receptionist a written plea for an interview with a CSI principal. (No response, of course.) I landed interviews with two former CSI employees and considered myself lucky. Another person seemed anxious to talk about CSI but then balked, claiming McGraw was known to stage mock press inquiries as a way of catching indiscreet employees.

People told us tales about McGraw's bullying childhood, youthful indiscretions, betrayals, infidelities, and rages. The most damning accusations were whispered, too tentative for us to touch them. We cautiously used only what seemed plausible with appropriate qualifiers. We ran everything past Wiley's attorney, who advised us to remove a tale or two.

As our deadline approached, I found myself calling people and begging them to do McGraw a favor and speak well of him. Lisa and I were determined to write a balanced book. We mined published interviews extensively, letting Phil speak for himself with previously published words. At this point we were making sausage, but we wanted it to be honorable sausage.

We're proud of The Making of Dr. Phil: The Straight-Talking True Story of Everyone's Favorite Therapist, an honorable sausage if ever there was one. We got our story—and we could have done even more with another six months, once we'd hit our stride.

But the book was released in November 2003 to resounding silence. Traditional attempts at publicity mostly failed. Our big coup happened months before the book was out, when the E! True Hollywood Story came to Dallas to tape an interview with me. Presumably, they were hitting the same brick walls we were and an unpublished biographer was better than nothing. (The show is still in their on-air rotation.) I was recently contacted for an upcoming update of A&E's Biography of Dr. Phil.

But there was little notice in the traditional press. We got a snide write-up on Salon.com, which complained we didn't have enough new dirt. Lisa got some press in Kansas City; I did interviews with Canadian radio stations and Internet sites. My former employer, The Dallas Morning News, ran a blip on the book. And that was about it.

We know we achieved balance because every interviewer who bothered to read the book asked, "So do you like Dr. Phil? I couldn't tell." We speculated that the balance we had strived for was actually a liability. Tabloids wanted more dirt, and other outlets, perhaps anxious to stay in Phil's good graces, wanted less. Balance has proven a dud on the marketplace. When people ask me how the book is doing, I say, "Well, we haven't been sued." No small feat, to be sure, but we'd like to sell some more books, too. We tell ourselves that better books than ours have failed and worse succeeded, but we're frustrated nonetheless.

Meanwhile, I seemed to have lost my benign ambivalence towards Dr. Phil. After six months of pounding my head against the wall of silence, of being treated like a bad smell, of hearing stories about McGraw's rages and self-serving life strategies, of watching him bellow at his guests every weekday at 3, I turned sour on the doctor. I admired his success. I'd learned some things from him. But he'd become my nemesis.

So when, via a connection made through colleague, the New York Post asked me to write a story about Dr. Phil, I bit. Press is press and we wanted to sell books. In his "Life Laws" Dr. Phil says, "You create your own experience," "People do what works," and "Life rewards action." According to Dr. Phil, if wanted to sell books, I had to do what it takes, even it if meant being exactly what I'd tried not to all this time: one of "you people."

I had a nice little scoop—a class action suit filed against Phil over his ShapeUp! weight loss products—and again did the grim dance of evasion with Phil's people to report the article. I got my facts and interviews, upholstered the story with the careful ambivalence of balance, and turned it in. When it came back to me, the editor had stripped away all the waffling and qualifiers to get down to the basics of the story. It was a masterful job, and chilling. It was a tabloid story. Truthful and carefully reported, but stark and with only the slightest nod to balance.

A few days later, the story ran. There was my byline under an "exclusive" banner and the headline, "DR. PHIL A BIG FAT LIAR:SUIT."

I'd become one of "you people."

And I lived. What the hell? Buy our book.

Sophia Dembling is also author of The Yankee Chick's Survival Guide to Texas. You can buy The Making of Dr. Phil at Amazon.com.

[Ursus]

Snippet from an interview with John Hanley, Sr., originator of Lifespring...

This interview is quite long, but I think it is important to be on the forum somewhere in its entirety, as a reference point for many programs (e.g., OrangeWorks, AsiaWorks, etc.).  I'll be posting it later in the General Section, link to be provided at that time...

UPDATE, Dec. 30, 2007:  Entire interview has been posted in the thread "LIFESPRING / John Hanley Sr." (Feed Your Head forum) in three parts; the excerpt below is from the 2nd part.  Link to full interview:
http://wwf.fornits.com/viewtopic.php?p=303414#303414

=================================

INT: Can you just give me a rundown of the history of the development of Lifespring from its inception?

JH: I can.  Actually we started in San Francisco and then we expanded to Portland, Oregon.  Then we went to Orange County, and then from Orange County to L.A., and then we went way across the country to Washington D.C., and then we spun off the East Coast from Washington, and then ultimately the hub of the East was New York.  Then from New York--sorry, we did Washington, Philadelphia then New York--and then from New York we had people coming in from Florida and Atlanta.  Then eventually we spun Atlanta and the Miami area after that.  Then we went back to the Midwest.  We had Dallas, then we opened Chicago, and so it goes, you know.  I think we had fifteen or eighteen centers in the US.

INT: Over what period of time did this expansion take place?

JH: Well, let's see.  The first three or four came within the first couple of years, and then the next ten took about five or six years more.

INT: So you started in the mid-70s…so that takes us up basically to the mid-80s, right?  So you're at that point?

JH: Yeah.

INT: Then at that point you just worked on continuing to develop into these cities?

JH: Yeah.  We started also to work on new products.   By that time we'd come up with several workshops.  We had invented a new training called the Masters Course which we felt was a premium piece of work, and we really took it upon ourselves to continue to develop our staff, our trainers, and our trainings.

Then we began to look overseas.  We opened up Tokyo, Japan in 1977 and then, about 1990--I cannot remember exactly, maybe '92--we sold the license for Asia to a company called AsiaWorks.   And then we trained all their trainers as well as our own.  AsiaWorks is a big company today and is doing very well.  Again, all Lifespring trained personnel and Lifespring technology.

And then we saw several spin-offs around the world, with several here in the US.  I think the most interesting spin off is Dr. Phil.  In fact, the first day somebody called me and said, "Did you know that Dr. Phil on the Oprah show has the Lifespring training?" I said, "No, I did not." And they said, "Well, you should tune into this and watch it." And I did, and I was simply amazed that somehow this guy had gotten our manual and, verbatim, took the basic training as his own and then followed with the Advanced course as his own.  Really, if you watch Dr. Phil, for those who've seen the show and have done Lifespring trainings, you will know that there's only one place he could have gotten that information and that is the Lifespring Basic and Advanced courses.

INT: So you're not aware of how he ended up having that information?

JH: No, I'm not, actually.  But, he got it.

INT: That is wild.

JH: Yeah, it really is.  Well, it's wild because, when we started out, we were (how would you say?) 'high risk.'  And people were sort of looking at us cross-eyed saying "Come on now, is this really possible that for five days you can give me my life back--you can turn my whole life around?  I don't think so."  So this was met with a lot of scepticism, and I think most everything is.  FedEx was met with a lot of scepticism too, so we're in good hands.  You know, today, if you really look carefully, you will see experiential learning and, really, the center-points of the Lifespring training in almost every corporate training in America.  I think, globally, you'll see pieces of it here and there, and I think the next step is going to be seeing pieces of it in the high schools and colleges around the country.

So you know, that has all of us win at the end of the day, anyway, because, after all, we really started out as young, enthusiastic, can't-be-stopped-by-anything kids.  I was 27, and we really were on a mission, and the mission was to transform the planet.  Everybody goes sort of thing, everybody wins.  We were coming out of an era where that was not the case, where there was a lot of suppression of people's thought and value-systems and ability to step outside what called the establishment and think for themselves.   But, of course, today, as we see, that's "pc."

So it's funny, I really enjoy looking from the abstract at the thirty year process, the evolution, the transformation.   And it has gone from sort of 'very risky, we don't know if this kind of thing will actually work,' to mainstream.  You know, if you want to know more, turn on Dr. Phil and you can watch Lifespring every day if you like.

[Ursus]

Even if John Hanley, Sr. was lying through his teeth in that interview, for whatever ulterior motive of his own, I'd be inclined to give Castle's take on it a great deal of credence:

I thought Dr. Phil was bullshit from day one. My friend posted in her journal about a thing he was doing with a group of people, and he was asking them "Are you a giver, or a taker?" The blood drained out of my face. I said "What the fuck? That's from fucking Lifespring! He's using Lifespring!"

I go online to discover that he has a five day workshop. Most of the activities are kept secret, but it does talk about the red/green game, another lifespring/CEDU(summit) exercise. Except I believe he called it the red/black game. I'm assuming that the rest of the workshop was pretty much the same script, since LS is also five days, and the summit is 6.

So yeah, he is a total program tool.

http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?p=233039#233039

[Ursus]

His Pathways program is listed under "Other Groups" in the LGAT section of The Awareness Page:

• Other Transformational Encounter Groups
  
  • PSI World Seminars - Founder: Thomas Wilhite (Mind Dynamics)
  • Context Associated - Founder: Randy Revell (Lifespring/Mind Dynamics)
  • Life Training - Founder: Roy Whitten/Brad Brown (est)
  • Lifestream - Founder: Jim Quinn (Mind Dynamics)
  • Pathways/Temenos - Founder: Carole Kammen/Jodi Gold (Actualizations)
  • The Art Works - Founder: ?
  • Personal Mastery - Founder: Brian Klemmer (PSI World)
  • Summit Workshops - Founder: Paul Larsen
  • Future Coaching/I Am Workshops - Founder: Pat Grove (est/Forum)
  • Pathways Educational Corp. - Founder: Dr. Phil McGraw
  • The Experience - Founder: ? (est/Forum)
  • Global Relationship Centers
  • Human Awareness Institute
  • Lifeskills Curriculum/Access I Education Founder: Jeanne Sterner - Mainly an LGAT with some Avatar material
  • Sportsmind
  • The Option Institute
  • The Conversation Founder: Arnold Siegel (est/Forum)
  • The Kiln/August Institute
  • Sterling Institute
  • ISA Experience
  • ASSET Founder: Larry Jensen
  http://pagesperso-orange.fr/eldon.braun/awareness/

[Ursus]

From the Pathways website:

Dr Phil McGraw



Dr. Phillip C. McGraw, star of the "Dr. Phil" Show, #1 New York Times best selling author and "The Oprah Winfrey Show's" resident expert on human behavior is clearly one of the world's most recognized experts in the strategy and management of life, and he is the founder of Pathways LifeStyle Management. Drawing on his 30+ years experience in psychology and human functioning, Dr. Phil meets people where they are, dealing with real issues arising in the real world rather than the touchy-feely fantasy relationships people cannot relate to. His books and new TV show are filled with humor, clarity and scorching reality, and have revolutionized the country's approach to self-management and relationships.

As he told Andy Lawrence, "Pathways is one of the top two things I am most proud of".

He founded Pathways in 1985 in Wichita Falls, TX where he was a professional psychologist in private practice with his dad, Dr. Joe McGraw. According to Phil, he developed Pathways because he knew there had to be a better and quicker way for people to knock down the barriers preventing them from being successful in all areas of their life, and he was right! Since he opened Pathways' doors, the classes have filled by word-of-mouth for 18 years and have changed the lives of thousands and thousands of people nationally and internationally.

Although no longer involved in Pathways, Dr. McGraw works with Pathways in a consulting fashion in order to ensure Pathways stays true to his original training model. He trained Andy Lawrence, the lead facilitator, and personally conducted the Pathways Weekend /Walk in March 2001. Dr. Phil invited Andy and Christie Lawrence to assist him in creating the "Get Real Challenge", which aired on the Oprah Show in the fall.

Dr. McGraw also provides strategic guidance and planning for the world's leading companies when they find themselves in the litigation arena. Fortune 500 companies the world over, rely on Dr. McGraw's counsel through Courtroom Sciences, Inc., the company he co-founded. CSI is the world's leading litigation consulting firm.

Dr. McGraw is an avid golfer, tennis player, scuba diver, and little league basketball coach who currently lives in California with his wife, Robin, his wife of twenty-three years, and their two sons, Jay and Jordon.

[Ursus]

If you've heard there's a connection between Dr. Phil and Pathways[/b]

We're the training seminar he designed and delivered for eight years.

Dr. Phil McGraw no longer conducts the training personally, but he did train Andy Lawrence, the lead facilitator. In March of 2001, Dr. Phil conducted the Weekend and part of the WALK training for Pathways. It was the first time he was back "in the room" in over a decade. Dr. Phil remains an ongoing supporter of Pathways. He has sponsored over a hundred of his personal friends through the training.

Based on exercises designed by Dr. Phil, the program uses his same down-to-earth approach for getting real and gut-level-honest about how you are managing your life. If you've read his books or seen his TV appearances, you probably know that Dr. Phil doesn't coddle whiners or rescue volunteer victims. He does, however, cut right to the heart of being compassionate to yourself, living your commitments, and becoming accountable for the results you are creating. That's what we do, too.


•  If you have a friend or family member who's been through the training, and they won't tell you what happens in the training

They're trying to not spoil any surprises.

When you've seen a great movie, you avoid telling a friend anything that would spoil the experience for them. You want them to have the same delightful results later, so you don't give away the ending. You don't tell them the butler did it, Ole Yeller dies, or Darth Vader is really Luke's father. It's not really a secret, but you wouldn't want to spoil it for their experience.

Because Pathways is an experience-based training, telling you "what happens" would deprive you of spontaneity and immediacy. It's a sign your friend cares greatly for you that they are willing to frustrate you now so you'll have some great joy later.

Pathways doesn't require any secrecy from participants. In fact, everyone is given explicit permission to talk about their experience any way they want to, after the training is over.

With one exception.

We have a firm commitment to "what is said in the room stays in the room," meaning that trainees don't disclose what anyone else says during the training. Keeping that kind of confidentiality makes the training a safe place for people to do the kind of significant work they need to do. That's the only promise about keeping secrets that every Pathways trainee makes.

Anything else they're holding back from telling you is just a gift that's waiting to be unwrapped.


•  If you've been to other self-development programs, group counseling, church retreats, or leadership training. You're wondering how Pathways compares

Pathways' main distinction is that it is experience-based training, meaning it is…

Individualized – What it's really about is YOU, what YOU want, what's keeping YOU from getting it, and what YOU need to do about it. No formula, no program, no list of steps to work through. You, your heart, and your life.

Involving – You are very seldom being lectured – you're constantly doing something. It's impossible to be a passive observer.

Interactive – Most of the time you're working with one other person or a small group. Sometimes the whole group. It's more about conversations than about listening to lectures.

Intense – You work on yourself at a heart level. And everything about the process is crafted to help you to get real.


•  What Pathways is not...

Like most seminars, there's some content that you learn from the facilitator, but unlike most seminars, you don't spend most of your time just sitting there listening.

Like a support group, you talk about your life and how you got here, but you don't stop with complaining – you make changes.

Like at church retreats, you get some inspiration, some time to reflect on what really matters, but there's nothing that's specifically religious, no doctrine, no preaching.

Like many leadership trainings, you work with other participants in small and large groups, but you are working on your life foundations, not your skill with leading.


•  How much does it cost?

About 10 dollars an hour. Each of the weekend-long trainings is 399 dollars, and the WALK is 799 dollars.

Paying for the entire series in advance entitles you to a 10% discount.


•  Will insurance cover it?

No. Pathways is not counseling or therapy, and we don't make any diagnoses or prescribe any particular course of action. Some companies and churches have decided to subsidize tuition for individuals. If you are interested in exploring that possibility, send an email to [email protected] or call at 972-791-0337 (800-866-7284).


•  Do professionals support it?

Yes. Along with Dr. Phil, the individuals who have sponsored the greatest number of trainees are therapists who have recommended the training to their clients after having experienced it themselves. If you would like to speak directly to one of those therapists, please call 972-791-0337 (800-866-7284) for contact information.


•  How long are the courses?

Each training lasts from 7:00 p.m. Friday to Sunday afternoon about 5 p.m., except for the WALK, which begins at noon on Wednesday. You are involved with the training for 100% of the time you are awake. (There's plenty of time for adequate rest and meals, but almost no time for diversion or shopping. Don't plan on doing anything except the training during the training events.)

Click here for a calendar of training dates. If you attend the training events in the shortest possible sequence, you will graduate about four months after you begin. It is possible to skip months, but not to change the sequence. Nearly everyone tries to avoid missing a training because they want to proceed through the training with the members of their class.

•  What about lodging?

All trainings are conducted in hotels in the Dallas-Irving area, and trainees are required to stay in the hotel during the trainings. The cost of your lodging is not included in your tuition. Pathways will make your hotel reservation, and you will be charged the "Pathways" group rate upon checkout. (You pay for your own meals and your transportation to and from the hotels.)


•  Is Pathways good for couple relationships?

According to Andy Lawrence, lead facilitator, formerly a family counselor, Pathways saves more marriages / relationships than any program of which he is aware. One of the reasons it saves marriages / relationships is because it is NOT a marriage retreat or program. The training compels you to take a look at yourself, and as each partner changes themselves they rediscover why they fell in love in the first place. The doors open for the friendship that used to exist to experience new energy and delight. The Relationship Rich Seminar can make a substantial improvement in your relationship. Are you ready for a relationship? In Relationship Ready, you can find the confidence that you can have a fulfilling, successful relationship.


•  Can couples attend together?

Yes, but you should know that the training is designed for individuals, not for relationships. You'll get to work on your relationship from the perspective of how the choices you are making – as individuals – affect the relationship. If you won't or can't take that approach (i.e., if you believe your partner alone should change), your relationship is unlikely to profit from the training. In the Relationship Rich Seminar you learn how working on your personal issues can greatly improve your relationship as well.

©Pathways, 2004

[Che Gookin]

I think he was is WBA.