Topic : 09/18 The Dr. Phil House: A Family’s Last Chance, Part 1

I was wondering whey domestic violence/child abuse charges werent pressed on this woman??? the pshycological damage abused children (even if they are only hit once) suffer is huge.... if she hit him knowing cameras where there... whose to say she hasnt done worse before??  These chidlren should be removed.. sent to a family members home or to a foster home if no family can take them, until these grown ups can act like grown ups  .

these children should not be put back in the home UNTIL AND ONLY UNTL the parents straighten up.

i mean the little one is considering suicide!!!! even if these kids havent been "physically" abused they sure as heck have been put threw some emotional abuse just listening to the fights (but unfortunatly its hard prosecute emotional abuse)

thats just my two cents.

Self-centered behavior at its finest!

I don't believe the couple is in love anymore, nor do they actually care about each other. It appears the woman needs male attention and affirmation and he needs to "own" her. The sad part is the fact there are kids involved. A suicidal eight-year-old brings me to tears.

I don't think the husband is going to stop berating her until she finally confesses what she has been up to. ONLY if  they can be honest and actually work at their marriage will it succeed, seems to me she wants both sides of the coin and doesn't want change. Of course, we have only seen edited interviews with them.

I don't know how damaged he is, it seems we couldn't get past his obsession with her affairs and his anger over the lack of control he has in this situation. Isn't it curious how things that go around come around? Suffering from the actual fact or the suspicion due to their own histories. Interesting stuff Maynard!

It is very apparent that Jessica has been sleeping with the other man. 

I only wish to comment because I too have been in a situation where my wife slept with someone else.  I too made the jump to the other side of the fence because I felt the grass was greener on the other side. 

I found out that if you see that the grass looks greener on the other side it is only the work and care you originally put into your own yarn that bled threw to the other side.  It is always the edges that see to fade after the centre (the root) of your problems. 

My wife and I challenged each other on everything. Hobbies, likes and dislikes you name it we fought about it.  I believe that is what caused the root (the centre) to fall apart.  It was so bad that we both looked outside our marriage.  Just hoping that the grass was greener on the other side.   Well we both jumped and found out the same thing.  Weeds and a mess of destruction that was could only be fixed by as much effort as it took to fall in love with each other the first time we met.  

The truth was the answer for us and when we finally seen the truth in our lives, it made the whole question of togetherness make sense.  Look at the pictures of your life and the memories. That will be the bridge to your gap.  Are you willing to make all those memories with a stranger whom will not share your children’s birth and growth process?  My answer was no, I wanted to be my wife’s safe place to fall when she needed someone.  I wanted her to be mine.

Now Please don’t get me wrong,  if our marriage was the at the point of me not caring if she was sleeping with this other guy, yes the marriage should be over. Children or no children; I feel that you if you have no invested interest in your life with your partner, for everyone involved move out and respectfully let your partner become your ex-partner and just raise your children.  Regardless you still have to raise your family.  What type of message do want to send to your children,  parents that are willing to destroy each others lives just to make themselves feel better.  Your children will only pay the price of your behavior.

  Trying to help

Dr Phil

I think that before Jessica and Todd can work things out, they need to find out what caused all of those harsh feelings. With the children being involved and all, Someone is going to have to be awfully good. Many times when siblings see this type of activity among their parents, it causes many bad feelings and could also cause kids not to trust anyone. Sometime children become rebellious and may feel they are the cause of everything that is happening. I really think that if Jessica and Todd are trying to work things out, they should find a way to reassure their children that the violence will stop. They should also know that however and whatever they portray to their children is possible that....that will be the same way their children will portray themselves to whomever become a part of their life. So although there is some dysfunctional ism in many families, the ones that are asking for help, are the ones I believe, really want to have a really good family relationship and they indeed should get that opportunity if there's someone like yourself that can help them pull through. God Bless that entire family and You Too Dr Phil.

Todd,

I have no idea who you are but, you are right, you shouldn't be judged by others. People are so quick to jump to conclusions without looking for an answer to help the situation at hand. Todd, have you Jessica and the kids ever tried Praying together? Even if the both of you decide to go your opposite ways, pray and ask God to keep a watch over your kids, your wife and yourself. Trust this, if your situation has gotten out of control, God will step in and fix it! I am speaking from experience and not something someone has told me. Even if You and Jessica should part ways, It will be in a friendly manner where no one will be hurt. God will put the words in both your mouths to say to one another. Try it Todd and when you see changes put your faith in God, He's all of our Real Love anyway. God Bless You, Your Wife Jessica and Last but not at all least, Your sons Justin, Tyler and Seth.