‘Teen Mom’ Amber Portwood Says She’s Learned to Love Herself After Domestic Battery Arrest

Amber Portwood is reflecting on the changes she’s made in her life following her July arrest for domestic battery against then-boyfriend Andrew Glennon. The Teen Mom OG star said fans will see her “completely changing” some of her perspective on life and her own challenges with mental health in the upcoming season in a new interview with Us Weekly Thursday.

“I really had to go through something terrible in order for me to kind of sit back and say, ‘Hey, this is what I need to work on. This is how I work on it. And no more excuses. It’s time to actually do the job and get it done — one by one and not putting too much on myself,’” the reality personality. 29, told the outlet of the aftermath of her arrest and subsequent plea deal. “I think once I started doing it that way and really working hard on it in the best way that I could, I learned to truly, truly love myself in a sense.”

She continued of her growth over the past several months, “I think that one thing that people are going to see within this next season is me just completely changing, in some aspects, of how I do things differently when it comes to my family and how I relate them back into my life.”

The MTV star has also changed her relationship with men: “I feel like I had this very immature outlook on filling that void in my heart,” she noted. “I needed to fill it with some sort of love and the main focus I had was men at the time.”

Relying more on her family, including ex Gary Shirley, with whom she shares 11-year-old daughter Leah, and his wife Kristina, has helped Portwood realize she doesn’t need a romantic relationship to “fill a void.”

Moving forward, Portwood said she wants to focus on her daughter and her 1-year-old son James, whom she shares with Glennon.

“My children are my main priority always, even though it might be hard for some people to think that,” she said. “I truly just try to think of my family, think of my beautiful children and what I need to do next so I can be here for them and be the best mom I can be. I did a major change within myself and within my life in a little less than a year and I am happy. It’s a blessing in disguise as well as one of the hardest times in my life.”

Teen Mom OG returns for a new season Tuesday, March 17, at 8 p.m. ET on MTV

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