Messages By: pocusset

There's no balance in that relationship and I'm inclined to advise them to stay together just to keep their misery off anyone else,  but boy, what a sad family.  She was up-front when she said that she didn't love him when they married but her mother urged her on, saying that he was going to be a rich doctor.  With that woman I'd be abusing oxycontin too.
Dr. Phil was kind and gentle but it's clear that the woman does not like nor love her husband. After declaring her children 'moochers', did you see her smile and blow a kiss to them in the audience? Dr. Phil said that the doctor had the warmth of a spider but didn't extend the comparison to the wife; he may be dense but she's toxic.  He seems like a guy who's been trying to do the best he can with a wife who doesn't love him and sabotages him even with her own children.  My advice to him would be to try to make peace with his children somehow and flee this terrible relationship.
 Remember the old 'can this marriage be saved' feature in Good Housekeeping or Ladies Home Journal? I don't think this one can nor should be saved.  Sometimes I wish that Dr. Phil would call these things out instead of prescribing some Family First and we'll call you in the morning. 
The woman didn't have a shopping problem; she is an empty shell with so many unmet needs that she can never be filled up.
Very sad indeed.