Struggling With Separation After Long-Term Abuse

The Dr. Laura Podcast

Dr. Laura Schlessinger & SiriusXM

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4.6 • 6.3K Ratings

🗓️ 11 July 2026

⏱️ 13 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

After five decades of marriage, Melody is reaching a breaking point due to ongoing verbal abuse. • Got a dilemma? Call 1-800-DR-LAURA / 1-800-375-2872 or make an appointment at DrLaura.com - Listen to The Dr. Laura Program daily on SiriusXM Triumph 123.

Transcript

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0:28.9	Dr. Laura.com.
0:30.6	Melody, welcome to the program.
0:34.1	Yes.
0:35.4	How can I help?
0:37.4	Yes, ma'am. I am a long-time listener and admirer of you. I appreciate you very much.
0:47.1	Thank you. And I've known for, yes, I've known for a few years that I should probably have this
0:53.4	conversation with you, but I do have a couple of
0:56.3	very good counselors. I've been married around 50 years, and I'm around 70 years old.
1:04.6	You have a couple of counselors at the same time?
1:18.8	No, I've had two different ones, and they both have counseled in the same way over the years.
1:22.6	What did they tell you in the same way over the years?
1:30.3	Well, my husband was a religious leader for many years. And about 10 years ago, well, in the early part of our marriage, he was physically abusive, but it was kept very much a secret.
1:42.3	I was very naive and I was very controlled by fear.
1:47.8	And when it finally came out...
1:49.0	I'm sorry.
1:49.8	Can you tell me what you were naive about?
1:55.8	I was afraid to leave him because of things that he would say to put fear in me and I was afraid I
	...

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