Mindy McCready's Deadly Denial

"I was definitely fine before [I met Billy]," Mindy says.

"Wait a minute," Dr. Robin interrupts. "You actually weren't fine before. You may not have been in this kind of shape, but the ground had to be fertile for this kind of abuse to land in your life and stay. People can come into our lives and be horrible. But you meet them and you think, 'Hmm, that's bad news.' When we let them sit at the table, sleep in the bed, move into the house, share meals with them—that means somewhere your own sense of value and worth was already compromised."

Mindy nods her head and has a revelation. "Compared to Billy, there is only one pain in my life that I can recall that has been as or more severe, and that has been my relationship struggles with my mother."

Mindy's mother, Gayle, sent The Oprah Winfrey Show a statement saying, "Words cannot describe how much I love my daughter. I will always be here for her."

Mindy smiles bitterly and says, "If you only knew how she was there for me. My mom is a rough lady to describe to people. When I was younger, a certain instance in my life always comes back—I remember driving in the car. I was probably about 11 years old. I looked at her and I said, 'I'm going to be a famous singer one day.' She looked over at me and she said, 'Mindy, you need to have something else to fall back on. … I think that you're a good singer, but you're not great.' I said, 'But I'm going to be great.' She said, 'I doubt it.' That just killed me. That is how it has been my whole life."