After three years in business, McGraw returned to school to study psychology, first at Midwestern University in Wichita Falls, then at the University of North Texas. College was something he both excelled at and had little patience for. "I almost quit every day," he says. "The faculty just jacked with you all the time...I remember telling one professor, 'Either kick me out or get off my ass.'" He certainly had a better relationship with the North Texas professor who mentored him through his doctoral program, Dr. G. Frank Lawliss, who to this day says he considers him "by far the most brilliant psychologist [he has] ever worked with."

McGraw graduated in 1975 from Midwestern State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology. He went on to earn a master's degree in experimental psychology in 1976, and a Ph.D in clinical psychology in 1979 at the University of North Texas,[6] where his dissertation was titled "Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Psychological Intervention." After run-ins with several faculty members,[7] McGraw was guided through the doctoral program by Frank Lawlis who later became the primary contributing psychologist for the Dr. Phil television show.[8]

Yet despite McGraw's reputation as enlightened being, he didn't apear to get along with his father. Theirs was a combustible relationship, two powerful egos wrestling for dominance in the same family and the same business. It didn't help that the elder McGraw kept falling asleep in the training room and was at times more disruptive than helpful. During the training, McGraw seldom spoke with his father, and his contempt for him became obvious. "Come on, here is a guy who is running a relationship seminar, and he doesn't speak to his own father in the training room for years," says one former training assistant. "He didn't walk his own talk."
Though McGraw and Box were partners for more than seven years and friends for more than a dozen, his treatment of her didn't seem much better. On November 16, 1992, Box received a faxed memo from McGraw informing her that he had made a "tentative deal" to sell his interest in Pathways to Midland philanthropist Steve Davidson. McGraw was ready to move on, his father ready to retire -- that's why his father had sold his 1/3 interest, the memo informed her, to a Wichita Falls businessman. Of course the new partners "understand yours [sic] and my relationship and know that I am committed to you as a friend and associate and expect fair treatment."
"Basically, he sold me down the river," says Box, who recalls having heated discussions with McGraw about either selling her own Pathways interest or buying him out in the two weeks prior to the memo. "Phil and I hadn't been getting along. He stopped talking to me, and I knew we couldn't go on that way."
What he had neglected to tell her, she says, is that he had engineered this corporate takeover scheme by actually selling his interest more than a year earlier. On October 15, 1991, he signed a agreement for the sale of his Pathways stock for $325,000.
"I absolutely told her I was selling," McGraw says. "What she didn't like was who I was selling to."

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."[10] 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 Thelma Box or her contributions to his success in any of his books or TV shows.[7] 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 Thelma Box of the impending sale. "There was a feeling of betrayal because Phil had compromised the integrity of the program. The accusation is that he reduced Box's asset value in the corporation by selling behind her back."[7] Box founded her own seminars entitled "Choices."[11] It has been reported that McGraw and his father seldom speak.[7]

Ephebiphobia
Okay, this guy is so paranoid about teenagers it has to be mentioned. What is even more notable is that he has devoted entire episodes to telling parents that teenagers should be allowed to have sex, yet left his first wife for a girl fresh out of high school. This is to ironic and hypicritical to not be noted. I added it before, but it was removed. We have to mention it. He is the best example that I know of of Americans' extreme paranoia of young people (which is, by the way, mostly an American thing). I mean this guy is the most ephebiphobic person sine Judge Judy. So, we must mention it, right? Sbrianhicks (talk) 17:04, 22 April 2010 (UTC)
While it is interesting, unless you have a cite from a notable commentator who has made this observation, it can't be included in a Wikipedia article. WP is not a place to publish your own thoughts on subjects. Ashmoo (talk) 20:42, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

ALTERATION
The introduction to Phil McGraw states he is amongst other things, a psychologist. This implies he is a trained professional, which is untrue. I suggest this be changed to 'amateur psychologist'. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.198.16.193 (talk) 11:32, 22 August 2010 (UTC)
This has been discussed at length several times here, never with a consensus to remove the descriptor "psychologist". See the archives. He certainly isn't an "amateur psychologist". He has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. "Amateur" suggests he has no formal training or experience. Cresix (talk) 15:36, 22 August 2010 (UTC)

But the WP BLP smells more like a TMZ bitchy celeb hit-piece than an "encyclopedia article".