by gunhilltrain
The thought of Dr. Phil and any kind of sex makes me a little queasy, but if that's your thing and it's workin' out for ya, it's nobody's business and I don't judge.
Actually, the "guests" in real life would be called "patients" not clients, even if the doctor is a quack like Phil.
Phil is a psychologist with a PhD, not a medical doctor (as psychiatrists are). I assume a lot of his viewers think he really is a doctor in the latter sense (like Doctor Oz). It's a bit of showmanship on his part.
Don't quote me on this right now, but I think only psychiatrists can use the term patient for the people they treat.
Dr. Phil don't even have a medical license. He's strictly a quack whom is greatly frowned upon by real professionals in the medical field.
He never claimed to have a medical license, but he is being tricky because psychologists usually don't call themselves "doctors" in their work. He used to be a psychologist just like Judge Judy used to really be a judge, but they're both in show business now. And they both got rich doing it. Judge J. is worth $400 million; what a great gig that is.
You'll notice that Phil hands off his tough cases to rehab centers and other places to do the real work.