Amber Portwood, 31, got real during group therapy on Tuesday, Jan. 18’s episode of Teen Mom: Family Reunion. During the session led by Dr. Cheynne Bryant, the cast of once-teenaged mothers went around and said something positive about themselves one at a time. Those who felt they shared that positive trait were asked to stand up along with the person whose turn it was. However, it was Amber’s decision not to stand up that shocked her castmates.
Tonight on #TeenMomFamilyReunion, the moms share their feelings and let each other in during a group session.
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When Maci Bookout declared that she felt she was a “good mom.” Everyone except for Amber stood up. Her co-stars pleaded with her to join them but she refused. “Sometimes I don’t feel like I am a mom,” Amber responded once prompted to elaborate. “I let my anger kind of take over my life. I just wasn’t a good mom. I wasn’t there for my daughter when she needed me and I was an addict and in jail for fighting.”
Dr. Bryant directed her to look to the present and asked what changes she has tried to make to be a better mom. Amber responded that she has tried to “keep being there” for her daughter Leah Leann Shirley, 13, and son James Andrew Glennon, 3, and signed up for intervention and anger management classes. However, she still feels like she’s failing. “When I went to prison, I turned myself around but then I messed up again a couple of years ago,” she told the group.
Maci was heartbroken to hear Amber’s admission.”I know things with Amber and her daughter Leah are kinda rocky right now. But I want her to believe that she’s a good mom,” Maci said during a confessional interview. While these moms don’t always get along, it was nice to see them support each other during this therapy session.
Amber has had a contentious relationship with her daughter Leah whom she shares with her ex Gary Shirley. During the most recent season of Teen Mom OG, Gary had invented her over for dinner to spend time with their daughter. However, Leah didn’t seem thrilled to have her estranged mother there and after plenty of awkward silences, the Never Too Late author complained and wondered “what the point” of driving out there was. The last we saw of Amber before Teen Mom Family Reunion was when she stormed off stage during the Teen Mom OG reunion after she found out Leah was in therapy. Fortunately, the two seem to be talking again so it seems Amber’s own therapy session may have paid off.
New episodes of Teen Mom: Family Reunion air Tuesdays at 8 pm on MTV.