Jessica Alba Recalls Incident With Daughter That Led Them to Pursue Therapy Together

Jessica Alba is opening up about the moment she realized she needed therapy alongside her two daughters to foster a better relationship with them. The Honest Company owner is a cover girl for REAL SIMPLE‘s first-ever “Feelings Issue” for their January/February edition and recalls why she felt therapy was necessary.

“Honor was probably 11, and we were arguing all the time about dumb stuff. And I was like, ‘I don’t want to live like this. This is not fun,’” she shared. “I didn’t want us to have a wedge between us. As her mother, when I say something, she’s going to hear it as an argument or as me trying to control her. I wanted there to be someone who could explain things in a way I couldn’t,” Alba continues.

Alba and her husband, Cash Warren, are parents to daughters Honor, 15 and Haven, 12. They also have a son, Hayes, 6. 

“What I said to Honor was, ‘I want to be a better parent to you, and this is your forum to basically talk about everything that gets on your nerves that I do.’” Luckily, the Honey star says they saw the results of therapy sooner than later.

“It put me in check. Like, ‘Yeah, I totally do that. And I’m sorry. I’m going to work on that.’ It gave her a little bit of perspective too—that I’m not the bad guy; I’m just being a parent,” Alba admits.

“She’ll come out the other side of it, and I’ll still be here. I just wanted to get to that point, and it worked,” she added. “And the therapist allowed me to see that it’s natural for kids to disagree with their parents and as a parent, it’s not always about being right or rational in that moment. I’m not gonna front, it’s a process and I’m not perfect.”