No, the mother did not seek help on her own. It was her teen daughter that became so sick of this reoccurring abuse, that she caught the punishment on tape and sent the tape into the Dr. Phil show.
It was the Dr. Phil show that contacted this mother. Before the show aired the footage they made it perfectly clear that none of his staff were present during that taping. Even the teen daughter was smart enough to know this was cruel and perhaps figured this was the only way to try to stop this abuse.