The Dr. Laura Podcast
Episode: My Husband Is a Little OCD
Host: Dr. Laura Schlessinger
Caller: Ashley
Date: November 9, 2025
Overview
In this episode titled "My Husband Is a Little OCD," Dr. Laura Schlessinger takes a call from Ashley, a wife and mother grappling with her husband’s extreme need for cleanliness and order. Ashley seeks Dr. Laura’s advice on managing her husband’s obsessive-compulsive tendencies around mess and their escalating impact on her young children and household harmony. Dr. Laura responds with her trademark candor, providing both practical steps for Ashley and broader guidance for listeners facing similar situations in their families.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Recognizing the Problem: Living with an OCD Partner
- Ashley’s background:
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Ashley describes her husband as being “particular” about cleanliness, noting his intolerance for messes has gotten much worse since the birth of their children.
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She says she always knew her husband was neat, “fussy,” and struggled with messy roommates even before marriage ([02:12]).
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Dr. Laura quickly identifies that Ashley likely underestimated the challenge this would pose once they had kids, who are inherently messy.
“So you dated him and you saw how fussy he was about things being in a certain place and no messes.”
— Dr. Laura [02:12]
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2. The Impact on Children and Family
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Dr. Laura emphasizes the emotional and developmental harm children experience when living with a parent who cannot tolerate normal mess.
“It’s terrible to need everything to be neat before you can calm down. Think how awful this is for him… And think how awful it is for the kids who always feel like they’re bad. That's why you can't allow this.”
— Dr. Laura [06:44] -
Ashley reveals she’s been “going around trying to make everything perfect and clean the house... to give him personal time with me at night,” highlighting her effort to manage the family environment at the cost of her and the children’s well-being ([07:45]).
3. The Futility of Couples Counseling for OCD
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Dr. Laura is direct about traditional marital counseling being ineffective for issues rooted in OCD and anxiety disorders.
“If you did marital counseling, that was a total waste of time and money.”
— Dr. Laura [04:12] -
She insists that the treatment needed is individual therapy specifically targeting anxiety and compulsive behavior, not joint sessions focused on the marriage dynamic.
“You should call the therapist up and say, I said you should get a full refund because you can’t treat OCD in marital therapy, so you need a refund of 25 sessions. Tell them I said so.”
— Dr. Laura [08:55]
4. Setting Boundaries to Protect the Children
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Dr. Laura is adamant Ashley must not allow the current dynamic to harm her children, suggesting a dramatic step if the situation does not improve.
“Please don’t let your kids be... I mean, I talk to people on the air all the time who have parents like this, and they constantly feel like they’re bad.”
— Dr. Laura [06:44] -
Her prescription: If the husband refuses effective treatment or to temporarily leave, Ashley should pursue legal separation to shield her children from harm.
“You’re going to have to talk to an attorney and get a legal separation. I still didn’t say divorce… He will have to leave and getting back requires treatment that actually works.”
— Dr. Laura [10:18]
5. Framing the Issue for the Children
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Dr. Laura offers concrete language for Ashley to discuss their father’s behavior with her children in a non-blaming, age-appropriate way.
“Daddy gets tight inside when things are messy, and that’s hard on him and it’s hard on you. And so he’s going to spend some time fixing that so he can be here and things are messy and he’s still relaxed and happy, and so are we. How’s that for reinforcing a positive imagery?”
— Dr. Laura [11:39]
6. Affirming Ashley’s Position and Encouraging Action
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Dr. Laura validates Ashley’s efforts but insists she must act now for the sake of her kids:
“You should have called me years ago. No more hesitating. Anyway, take care of it and get back to me.”
— Dr. Laura [12:08]
Memorable Quotes & Moments
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On traditional counseling:
“Waste of time and money. Yeah.”
— Dr. Laura [06:36] -
On protecting children:
“Let your kids be messy. As messy as is reasonable. I mean, kids play, things go in places, and then you go, okay, we're done, let's put it away.”
— Dr. Laura [08:55] -
On the husband’s responsibility:
“He's not a bad man. This is an anxiety disorder. Okay. But you don't give it a pass because it's an anxiety disorder. It's his moral obligation to remedy it.”
— Dr. Laura [11:00] -
On using legal separation if the husband won’t budge:
“If he’s being obstinate, that’s even worse. I mean, with the tears you had… get an attorney today. Go for a legal separation.”
— Dr. Laura [10:18] -
Practical approach for kids:
“Because life is messy, just like that. Does that sound horrible?… Does that sound not loving? No, it's factual.”
— Dr. Laura [11:39]
Timestamps for Key Segments
- [01:30]–[02:12]: Ashley describes her husband’s intolerance for mess and their history
- [03:09]: Dr. Laura identifies the lifelong nature of this pattern and the effect on family planning
- [03:23]–[04:12]: Discussion of (in)effective counseling and whether individual or marital therapy was done
- [06:44]: Dr. Laura explains the emotional cost to both husband and children
- [08:55]: Advice to seek a refund on ineffective couples counseling; pushing for kids to be allowed to be “reasonably messy”
- [10:18]: Dr. Laura introduces legal separation as a protective measure
- [11:39]: Dr. Laura offers a child-friendly way to discuss their father’s struggle
- [12:08]: Closing encouragement and directive for Ashley to move forward
Conclusion
In this episode, Dr. Laura offers both tough love and practical wisdom regarding the intersection of parental OCD and family well-being. She underscores the imperative to protect children from emotional damage rooted in a parent’s untreated anxiety and highlights the limitations of couples therapy for such cases. Her advice is bold—favoring separation over tolerance if the parent won’t seek proper help—while compassionately reinforcing that mental health struggles are real but must be addressed for the sake of the whole family. The episode is a clarion call for spouses to address—and never ignore—the hidden costs of mental health issues within the home.