Every day, millions of Americans tune in to "The Dr. Phil Show," a nationally syndicated program hosted by psychologist Phil McGraw.
The subject of the Feb. 11 episode centered on marriage, specifically on married couples who fight over predominately one issue. Among the guests on the show that day were Jerry DeGrado, a practicing doctor of chiropractic from Wichita, Kan., and his wife, Diedre. Although the two have been happily married for 10 years, they argue, Deidre contended, because Dr. DeGrado won't ever take a vacation. Why? According to Dr. DeGrado, he can't take that much time away from his busy chiropractic practice.
"He's never been in on any vacation with the kids," complained Diedre, stating that the last time the two went on a vacation for any significant length of time was their honeymoon. Even then, Diedre says her new husband "freaked out" about being gone from his practice for so long.
Dr. DeGrado defended his actions by outlining his dedication to chiropractic: "For me, vacation is going to the office. I love what I do."
"I'm a doctor of chiropractic," he continued. "And I have a lot of patients, and it's hard for me to get away. [I have] patients that I don't feel comfortable [leaving]... patients that come to see me. They don't want to see somebody else."
Dr. DeGrado added that he views vacations a little differently from most people, and that working at the office is an integral part of his life.
"You know ... the practice is just one part of the problem for me [going on vacation], he said. "I mean, I don't really enjoy being away from my life, I guess. It's like my vacation when I go to work."
The gist of the problem was that Jerry and Diedre DeGrado seemed to have different opinions as to what constituted a "vacation." To Deidre, a vacation meant at least seven days away from the worries of work. To Dr. DeGrado, however, four- or five-day vacations are easier, particularly with his practice demands. He isn't opposed to the idea of vacations; he just doesn't want to take a long one.
"The way I look at it is if we could - if we could take three or four small ones vs. one or two big ones - hey, that's just the same amount of time. It's just broken out."
While listening to the two tell their respective sides of the story, Dr. Phil pointed out that he is a chiropractic patient himself, and actually sees a chiropractor regularly: "I'm a big believer in chiropractic," Dr. Phil comments. "And I - I've got a chiropractor that I see, two or three times a week here in L.A."
Finally, Dr. Phil gave Dr. DeGrado and his wife advice on how they can resolve their vacation dilemma:
"You guys need to negotiate something that you can do. And I have to tell you," he said, motioning to Jerry, "I think that it is unreasonable for you to not spend time with your family away somewhere where everybody is in a different mindset and everybody is relaxed and everybody is enjoying it. And I think it is unreasonable for you," he continued, looking at Deidre, "for you to say, 'Seven days or nothing.' He is telling you, 'I will go, but I just don't want to go for long periods at a time.'"
With all the negative press Chiropractic has recieved lately, "The Dr. Phil Show" provided a welcome alternative. It told the story of a hardworking chiropractor who cares for his family and his patients - except this time, it was broadcast to 6 million potential chiropractic patients across the country.
