Ilene, 20, says her boyfriend, Matt, constantly accuses her of cheating on him, insults her appearance, calls her despicable names, and threatens to take their son and leave her homeless. Watch as Robin McGraw, Dr. Phil's wife who's a leading advocate of domestic violence awareness, says: "A lot of people think that domestic violence is if someone hits, kicks, [or] punches you. What we're seeing here today is verbal and mental abuse."
She tells Ilene, "You are in an abusive relationship. My instinct as a woman is to just run up there, and grab you, and run out the back door, and hide you and keep you from him. Of course, I can't do that. I want to. But what we're here to do today is to educate you and tell you that you are being abused. You do not have to be talked to this way and treated this way. You can demand that he treat you with dignity and respect. You can demand that he treat you in an honorable way. And you can demand of yourself that you will not accept that of him. You have the right to tell him: 'You will treat me with respect. You will honor me.'"
To see more from this episode of Dr. Phil, visit DrPhil.com.
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