Jay McGraw Follows Dad's Lead
Nov. 28 -- Dr. Phil, America's favorite tough-talking TV shrink, doles out no-holds-barred therapy before millions of couch patients. But Dr. Phil has some competition these days — from his son Jay.
Watch Deborah Roberts' full report on 20/20, Friday at 10 p.m.
Dr. Phil's "quit whining and just do it" motto may work on the adult crowd, but Jay's gentler approach gets sullen teenagers to open up.
"If you think about my dad walking into a room full of teenagers, you know, he looks like the dad, the principal, the teacher, the authoritarian. You get a very different response when my dad walks into the room, versus when I walk into the room," Jay said.
Appearing regularly on his dad's talk show, Jay, 24, is emerging as the newest authority in the afternoon dose of self-help. But how can a guy who's so young dole out advice on life?
Life Lessons at Home
Jay says he's gotten years of experience learning and living his father's strategies on how to take charge of life.
"People say he's very tough, but if you really pay attention, he's equally as supportive, and he's always got a good answer that makes sense," Jay said of his dad's tough-talking style. Even during his teen years, Jay said, his dad's demeanor was a help, not a hindrance. "He sets the bar very high, and that's something that I enjoy," he said.
Setting the bar high seems to run in the family DNA. Grandfather Joe McGraw once plunged the family into poverty by going back to school to study psychology, later becoming a success. His son Phil got the message: Life is about sacrifice and hard work. He's instilled those lessons in his own sons, Jay and Jordan.
"I've always told our boys that they had two jobs that I really wanted 'em to do: Job one was to get an education and job two was to have a lot of fun. Those were the two jobs, in that order," he said.
And Jay McGraw heeded his dad's advice — particularly the "have a lot of fun" command.
Dr. Phil has described Jay this way on his show: "If he couldn't bounce it, catch it, throw it or date it or eat it, he had no interest in it. … I mean he just really has always enjoyed life. It was like you had to tie the boy down to get him to read a book."
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