The Real Reason Jessica Alba Goes To Therapy With Her Daughter

Jessica Alba is opening up about how she parents her three children. The "Fantastic Four" star recently joined Katherine Schwarzenegger on her Instagram series "Before, During & After Baby," where she expressed the importance of communicating with her kids, as well as making sure they feel seen as "individuals."

The Honest Company founder, who shares daughters Honor and Haven and son Hayes with husband Cash Warren, discussed how she parents differently than how she was raised. She revealed, "How I think I was raised, or ... the dynamics of how children were treated when I was growing up, and even my parents, was ... the kids basically speak when they're spoken to ... you just sort of stay out of the way and do what you're told." Alba changed that with her kids, saying, "I think this new way of parenting is like, [kids] want to be seen and heard as individuals basically as soon as they start having any kind of consciousness or thoughts or opinions." She continued, "I take the approach of making sure they understand boundaries and respect but trying to see them each individually and meet them where they are."

Despite meeting them where they are, Alba admits issues do arise, especially when communicating with her eldest, Honor. She admitted, "Like my 13-year-old, I'm struggling with not treating her like a little [kid] — I want to treat them all like babies." Luckily, the mother and daughter have found something that helps them get through those barriers.

Jessica Alba revealed that she and her eldest daughter, Honor, go to therapy together to work through hurdles in communication. On the "Before, During & After Baby" Instagram series, Alba explained why she made that decision when Honor was 11. "For me ... I felt like my relationship really suffered with my parents because they didn't know how to communicate with me and how I needed to be parented. So I didn't want that breakdown with Honor so we went to therapy together," she said.

Alba noted that therapy helped her daughter "find her voice" and that she was finally able to "own her opinions in a way and really gain confidence to say, 'Hey, Mom, I like this, I don't like this.'" Alba even shared what Honor has mentioned in some of their sessions, saying, "'When you need to guide me or when I screw up or whatever, this is how I want to be punished. This is what I respond to.'"

The "Dark Angel" star admitted that Honor also told her something very important that she wasn't aware of. "'You need to spend more time with me alone without Haven around,'" Alba recalled. "That was a big one ... And 'You can't mush us together.' I have to say, I kind of still struggle with that." Because of this revelation, Alba says she now carves out time to spend with each child individually, adding, "They're looking forward to it."