Amber Portwood‘s relationship with her 12-year-old daughter, Leah, is in bad shape at the moment, but during the Nov. 9 episode of Teen Mom OG, Amber’s ex Gary Shirley will seek advice from a counselor on ways he can potentially help.
In this EXCLUSIVE sneak peek, which you can watch above, Gary sits down with Elizabeth, a parenting coach, who he invited over to give him some guidance, and he immediately starts sharing what’s been going on.
“[My daughter’s] not wanting to go to her mom’s. She doesn’t want anything to do with her mom because of all the times where she basically didn’t come — said she was going to come, [but] didn’t come — and chose men over her… things of that nature. So ultimately, I want to encourage the mother-daughter relationship. Amber wants the relationship, Leah [doesn’t]. I’m letting her choose,” Gary says.
“Leah has to feel like she’s being validated,” Elizabeth says.
Gary then explains that Amber came over a few weeks ago, so he encouraged Leah to give her “another chance”, but Elizabeth says he “might be overlooking the trauma that Leah has gone through” and pushing something that she’s not ready for. “I think if you force her into that relationship then you’re basically saying, ‘All these feeling you have aren’t that important. Having this relationship with your mom is more important.'”
Gary then asks what he should do, and Elizabeth says, “Everyone needs someone to talk to. There’s a wound in her heart, and that has to be healed.”
Gary then suggests going with Amber to a therapy session — it’s something she’s asked of him in the past — to see what else they can do for Leah, and Elizabeth says that’s a great idea.
Want more drama and to see what happens next? New episodes of Teen Mom OG air Tuesdays at 8pm on MTV.