R&B recording artist and reality star Syleena Johnson hasn't had a good relationship with her mother, Brenda Thompson. As a child, Syleena says her mother called her names and bullied her, and now, as an adult, the lingering resentment and hurt has made moving on next to impossible. Still, Syleena invited her mother to live with her when Brenda began struggling with alcohol again and the family dynamic has since gone from bad to worse.
Enter Iyanla Vanzant. On the season premiere of "Iyanla: Fix My Life," Iyanla travels to Georgia to help Syleena work through her pain and begin to mend her relationship with Brenda. In the above video from the episode, Iyanla has the women sit down to talk about their issues face-to-face.
Syleena begins by admitting her fear. "I don't want anyone to know that I'm scared because... I feel that that's a weakness," she says. "That is what I was taught. [It] is weak to be afraid."
Despite the fear, Syleena continues to confront her mother directly. "I'm worse to me than you could ever be," she says to Brenda as the tears take over. "I'm unhappy and I'm sad and I'm pissed about it because I don't want to be this way or feel this way. I'm mad at you because you increase those feelings in me when I fight them every day."
Wiping her tears away, Syleena then tells her mother two words that she needs to hear. "I just want you to say, 'You're enough,'" she says.
The season premiere of "Iyanla: Fix My Life" airs Saturday, July 27, at 9 p.m. ET on OWN.''
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