As she wraps up the final minute of her broadcast, Dr. Laura Schessinger signs off the same way everyday, saying, “Go take on the day.” This blunt and feisty nationally-syndicated radio psychotherapist has achieved fame for her straightforward insight and crystal clear values.
Though she received her Ph.D. from Columbia and post-doctoral certificate from USC, Dr. Laura does not use what she calls “psycho-babble” or “sweetie stuff,” to help listeners relate to her. She also does not feel that radio is her medium to give therapy, saying, “I’m clarifying things for people based on all my training and experience as a therapist, but this is not a couch.”
When callers talk to her on the phone, they are to tell her what they think, rather than how they feel. She does not appreciate being sweet-talked, and she does not think it is her responsibility to make a caller feel better, but instead to make clear the right thing to do.
Unfortunately, some callers don’t like her advice because they can’t face the truth when they are wrong. They should wake up to the injustices they subject themselves to through the irresponsible choices they make instead of trying to justify them with petty excuses like “…but I really like him.”
She stands by the notions that premarital sex, having children out of wedlock, putting children in day-care and living with a boyfriend or girlfriend are wrong. These opinions are validated through the numerous callers who come to her with problems stemming from these and other poor choices.
A sensible thing she tells her callers when they are faced with moral decisions is, “Would you tell your children to do that?” This usually gets an answer like “Well, no but…” But what?!
An example from her radio show is a caller named Diana, who was living with her boyfriend in hopes of marrying him, though he was “not ready” for the commitment. Wrong! Dr. Laura explained that Diana was “auditioning” for the part of the bride and that she needed to move out if she was unsatisfied with the situation.
Just last week, a caller named Lee asked for advice in how to deal with her son’s moving in with her ex-husband. The son did not want to move away, though the father, who had an affair that ended the marriage, felt that it was “his turn” to have his son. Dr. Laura’s response to the woman was, “Your son is not a piece of furniture,” and he did not deserve to be passed around because the father felt it was his turn. She said the ideal situation for the son would be to have mom and dad living together, but since dad had made the decision to have an affair, he made it impossible. The child had a say in this one and his needs were more important.
Another caller, Lisa, was trying to get out of an abusive relationship with a man who was stalking her. When Dr. Laura suggested she call the police, Lisa said she “didn’t have the heart.” Dr. Laura’s interruption went something like this: “You cannot afford to be a wimpy, overcompassionate, frightened female because you’ll be putting yourself in real physical danger.”
Dr. Laura is obviously not afraid to give opinions to callers, no matter how much they disagree, and she has no problem telling them they are idiots if they have acted that way. Thank God there is someone out there telling people who they are and where they are wrong. Feeling sorry for yourself and accepting that “He cheats on me, but other than that..,” just won’t cut it. Changes need to be made in the morality department.
She once said, “The meaning behind our acts is what gives us meaning as individuals and as a society.”
Subsequently, if you go through life only doing whatever feels good or easy, you fail at being a human being.
We are the most civilized animals on the planet. We’ve been given hearts to love, brains to think and a conscience to keep us in line. Sometimes it takes a genius to get people to realize they are more, that they are human.
