'Insider' And Therapist Put Sober Living In The Spot Light

CBS) Celebrity interviewer Pat O'Brien, recently released from a rehab facility for treatment of alcohol abuse, is back on the air this week as host of "The Insider." 

But before he faces his TV audience, O'Brien confronts his demons on air Wednesday night when he and Dr. Phil McGraw host a CBS primetime special about substance abuse and living sober. 

The Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen spoke with the tough-talking therapist about the challenges facing O'Brien. 

Asked if he tiptoed around some of his questions because O'Brien is a celebrity himself, Dr. Phil says, "To me, a junkie's a junkie. And an alcoholic's an alcoholic." 

O'Brien admits to Dr. Phil that his behavior was out of control. And to Chen he says there was a lot of tough love in that interview: "With Phil, it's really therapeutic. And I think you'll see that it was not only therapeutic, it was honest; it was tough. I even squirmed a little bit during this interview." 

For years, O'Brien cozied up with celebrities while reporting on the stories behind Hollywood's headlines. 

But in March, he found himself in the direct glare of the spotlight when a slew of sexually explicit voice-mails from O'Brien became public. 

Here is an excerpt: "I want to (bleep) go crazy with you. I want to talk dirty to you...get another woman up...Let's get crazy, get some coke." 

Quizzed by McGraw, O'Brien says that is not him, but admits it is his voice. 

"What was going through your mind that said this is OK, I'm going to do this not once, not twice, but 7 or 8 times?" Dr. Phil asks him.
Many are wondering if O'Brien's career can take the heat. 

Dr. Phil says, "Will celebrities, certainly women, who are so offended by the nature of some of the things that came into the public light, will they talk to him? How's he going to feel with that? All of those things I think are huge challenges that create stress, and it's that's kind of stress that makes you want to go back to the drinking and the drugs." 

Dr. Phil tells Chen it is an extremely difficult road O'Brien has ahead of him. "I think it is an uphill battle on a slippery slope," he says. "Pat has gone to the extent of getting a sobriety companion, someone that lives with him 24/7, in a weak moment can say, 'Stop. Do not. Walk away.'" 

O'Brien will begin anchoring "The Insider" again Thursday night. But before returning to his office, Dr. Phil accompanied him to "The Insider" studio where O'Brien apologized to his staff. 

Linda Bell Blue, the executive producer, says O'Brien's return to the show was not conditional on him having to get into rehab. 

"Pat very much wanted to go into rehab," she says. "We played the tapes for him. He didn't remember leaving the messages and was pretty embarrassed." 

So did America's therapist leave O'Brien with any good advice? 

"He said it's the advice I would give myself and other people out there with the same conflicts," O'Brien tells Chen, "Move forward, one step after another." 

When Pat O'Brien returns to "The Insider" Thursday night, Blue tells Chen, he will apologize on air to his viewers. 

Dr. Phil's "Behind The Headlines" special airs Wednesday night at 8:00 p.m. on CBS. 

"The Insider" and CBSNews.com are both units of Viacom, which also distributes "Dr. Phil."