Dr. Laura Berman on In the Bedroom | Interview

On her Oprah Winfrey Network show In the Bedroom with Dr. Laura Berman, the titular Chicago sex therapist makes house calls to couples who lay bare some embarrassing intimacy issues: premature ejaculation, porn habits, penis size. As Berman and Harpo producers launch a second-season casting sweep for partners in crisis within 300 miles of Chicago (apply at oprah.com), we wondered: How forthcoming would Berman be about her love life? Over the phone last week, the 42-year-old wife and mother of three was surprisingly cagey when talk turned to goings-on in her own bedroom.

Is there a problem you’re itching to tackle on the show but haven’t been able to?
I’ve seen and heard it all over the years. But we didn’t have any gay male couples last season.

Because gay men never have problems in the bedroom?
Wouldn’t that be nice? [Laughs] I think it comes back to a big problem, which is that people mistake me for the other Dr. Laura.

Laura Schlessinger, the conservative talk-radio host?
Yeah, they don’t realize we’re very different people with very different approaches. That’s why I never let anyone call me Dr. Laura.

Ever bump into her?
She gave me a signed copy of her book once. The only thing I can do is change my name, which I’m not inclined to do.

It says on your website that “no issue is off limits with Dr. Berman.” So, how are things in the bedroom with you and your hubby?
Upon agreeing to get married, my husband’s one request was that I never talk about the details of our sex life in a public forum. He said to Oprah when she put him on the spot, “I’m the luckiest man in America.” [Laughs]

Diplomatic.
Exactly. I told Oprah, “Do you see why he gets so much sex?!”

But you’ve had troubles.
Of course, of course. We get distracted by life, by our three kids.

And you’re too busy…
Too busy for sex? Not really. [Laughs] Too busy to connect, to have a really solid date, to sit down and spend three hours hanging out? Yeah, we go through periods where that’s harder.

There aren’t many men who can brag that their wife has her own line of vibrators.
He helped me design some of them, actually. [Laughs] He’s got a very creative mind.

Do you two personally test them?
[Laughs] That’s another question I’m not allowed to answer based on my marital vow.

Don’t you think it’s unfair to ask other people to talk about their sex lives if you won’t?
People ask me to talk about their sex lives. No one has to answer any question that I ask—ever. The only questions I’m asking are for the sole purpose of helping. You’re asking me if I test my vibrators, not with an intention to help or treat me. [Laughs] You’re asking to make your story titillating.

The second season of In the Bedroom with Dr. Laura Berman airs this fall on the Oprah Winfrey Network.