Education
And Doctor of Philosophy degrees in clinical psychology from Syracuse University.
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Toni Grant
Edit ProfileCareer
She was one of the first licensed psychologists to have her own radio talk show, and a pioneer in the advice-giving genre. Prior to getting into broadcasting, Grant maintained a private practice, counseling former Vietnam veterans and later working with autistic children and people with schizophrenia. She first got started in radio as a guest expert on psychology on controversial Los Angeles talk show host Bill Ballance"s Feminine Forum, in 1972 on station KGBS, and then on KABC. Grant was so well-received that in 1975, she got her own call-in advice show on KABC radio.
Almost immediately, she gained a sizeable following and received critical acclaim for her ability to handle the advice-giving genre, while being both informative and entertaining.
Said Los Angeles Times media critic James Brown, "Grant.. is a soothing, reinforcing sounding board for people with problems." In fact, in a world of increasingly angry and confrontational talk hosts, Grant came to be known as "the Doctor who tells it like it is, but in a nice way."
Beginning in 1982, Grant and several other KABC personalities, were syndicated nationally via satellite, on the American Broadcasting Company radio network. This brought her show to a much wider audience.
That year, it was reported that she was earning more than $100,000 a year, more than other radio psychologists. From 1986 to 1988 her program was heard on the Mutual Broadcasting System.
In 1988 she re-married, to business executive John McCulloch Bell, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Bell Packaging Corporation.
She also wrote a best-selling book called Being a Woman, which she advised women to return to more traditional roles and embrace the idea of home and family. In 1989 she took a "sabbatical" from her radio program, which by then was originating at Los Angeles radio station KFI. In 1997, she returned to the air with another syndicated radio call-in program
Membership
She was also considered more credible than some radio advice-givers because not only was she a licensed clinincal psychologist but she was also a member of the American Psychological Association.
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Born
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Nationality
United States