Topic : 07/05 180-Degree Turn

There are many more kids experiencing this problem and moms and dads not interested in getting help.  Add alcohol and drugs to the mix and you really have a mess.

 

Karen and her family are not some odd family that experiences this by themselves.  There are many many kids who experience the same things by parents who DO NOT want help.

 

So, lighten up!

Keep watching...you'll see. Child services does get involved and they all get help and they all get on a really healthy path...Yes, there is still healing going on, but how about applauding someone for turning it around when SO MANY people NEVER do!

 I was so sick to my stomach when I saw the mom abusing her kids. Her son was BEGGING her to stop hitting him. I cant explain the anger i had toward the mom.

 But on the other hand I must admit it must been hard for her to go on your show and to tell the world her story.

 I just hope its not to late to help the kids so they wont grow up having the same behaviors as the mom did.

 I  dont understand how the father didnt know any of it was going on , wasnt he ever home?

I wish there family all the luck.

Kudos to that entire family.  I agree with the therapist that it took immense courage to ask for help in the first place & to take the well deserved criticism of her actions.  Great job!

I'm so happy for the kids, you can  tell from the childrens eyes the change is real. some people never get. At 47 I still do not have a good relationship with my mother who was 10 time worse then this mother. Thank God someone step up to the plate to save this kids and the Parents who made the decided to listen to Dr Phil and take the help. GREAT JOB EVERYONE this really brought tears to my eyes. Happy Tears because Yes Girls Cry.

Karen, you are so much like many other women who are suffering behind the scenes in secret. They are carrying the burden of trying to raise children and feeling so inadequate - working from poor self-esteem issues and possibly poor child rearing skills passed on from their own parents.  I know your pain and I was right there with you with my own children at one point.  I realized I was out of control though and I got myself and my family the help we needed through counceling and other means. It really does make a difference.  I really appreciate your bravery - your tremendous bravery to expose yourself like this on National T.V. - I know it was not easy at all, but you did what you knew you needed to do in order to help yourself and your family.  I applaud you for making such an honorable effort.

My parents were abusive in many ways toward me and my siblings - so I had all that to contend with and the overwhelming anger - but I have to tell you this.  I love my mother so very much now - we are very close.  You don't need to worry about your children not trusting you or loving you in the future because they will understand and they will love you more than life itself when they are adults.  They will appreciate your heroic efforts that you are taking right now as well.  My parents did the best they could considering what they had to work with and that wasn't much - they both came from highly disfunctional alcoholic parents and this was at a time when there was no help available to them.  I understand all this now and I saw my mother's incredible strength when she was raising us in the fact that she did not drink or become an alcoholic herself.  She always told us she would never do to her kids, what her mother did to her.  Her mother went off on drinking benges and spent every penny on booze - to the point - my mother at age 14 had to get a job at the corner drug store just so she and her younger siblings would have food to eat.  I have total compassion for her and I love her dearly. I admire my mother tremendously -even though this is the same woman who once hit me and slashed me across my back and legs with a wire coat hanger right before she had a nervous break down.  I forgave my mother because I know now that she really could not help herself.  She had too much pain inside to deal with and that was the only way she could let it out.  I'm not dead and I am a stronger person for having gone through it, because it definitely taught me to forgive. Forgiveness is a strong medicine.  It is the hardest lesson sometimes to learn - especially when you have to forgive yourself - you forgive yourself not only for you though - you forgive yourself for the sake of others around you, so they can benefit from the healing process that it brings as well. 

There is so much more I could say about my mother - what a Lady and what a woman she is - she was on the board of the American Cancer Society in Dallas and she helped to organize and start the first Walk-a-thon for the March of Dimes along with many other benevolent and charitable efforts.  She took that pain and suffering from her own life and turned it around for good to help thousands. She has actually been honored to be named "Woman of the Year".  She has done a great deal and she is a constant source of inspiration to me and my sister by showing us always that we can rise above our circumstances no matter how hard they are. I never allowed myself to have an excuse for why I could not do something.  Mother always said, "You can do anything you set your mind to do".  I know thats true, because she did and I don't know that I will ever come close to being "Woman of the Year", but I am at least doing my best to follow in her footsteps now.

You are doing a very great thing even now for so many other woman. You just don't know it yet, but You Go Girl and you keep up the good work.

I Salute You,


Suzy

Karen,

I give you a ton of credit for the courage it took to face your demons on national television. I am sorry you were suffering from post partum depression and your kids were suffering along with you as a result. What tremendous integrity you have to take that cold, hard look at yourself (in front of an audience) and take the gut wrenching steps you have for the benefit of yourself and your whole family! God Bless You and the kids. You did the right thing! 

Also, Dad is to be highly commended for the steps he took to support his wife, and as a result, his family. How many men have the guts and the wisdom to take time off from work to get the family in order when there is a crisis? This is one family that did not stand around and look passively to society to fix their problems. God Bless the solid ground this family is walking on now!