Beyoncé and Solange Went to Therapy as Children to Avoid Sibling Jealousy

Beyoncé and Solange may be the most talented siblings in the world, but at the end of the day, they’re human just like the rest of us and have experienced the same things all sisters face.

Though they have a close and supportive relationship today, there was a time when the famous sisters were exhibiting unhealthy behavior toward each other due to competitiveness. But thanks to their mother, Tina Lawson, the sisters learned earlier on that sibling rivalry was not for them and have since been closer than ever.

The superstars’ mother recently opened up about their upbringing

Avoiding drama while raising daughters is practically inevitable, but Lawson did her best to ensure that nothing — even a little sibling rivalry — would ever come between Beyoncé and Solange.

During a 2018 Facebook discussion with Maria Shriver, the fashion designer opened up about how she managed to raise the young stars, considering Beyoncé’s early rise to fame.

Lawson revealed that, as a child, she felt as though her mother loved her brother more, which caused her to put in extra effort to avoid her daughters ever feeling this way.

The superstars’ mother went on to detail how she would take off from work to spend mother-daughter time with each of her girls, giving Solange — who was somewhat living in Beyoncé’s shadow — a little more attention.

“I had days that I devoted to [each of them]. On Wednesdays, I took off from work and that was Solange’s day,” Lawson said. “She was a lot younger than Beyoncé, and it was tough because [Beyoncé] was five years older and Beyoncé was this little superstar in our city.”

With Beyoncé’s early notoriety, Lawson began to see sibling rivalry grow between the young singers and decided to seek professional help to avoid her daughters’ relationship turning into a competitive one.

“I took them to counseling so that, very early, the counselor could help Beyoncé be more sensitive to Solange,” the mother of two revealed. “She couldn’t stand her for a minute. You know, they were little, [Solange] was all in her stuff, trying to hang around her, and her friends and Beyoncé was really irritated, but it made her more sensitive to who her sister was and what she had to deal with because of her.”

Lawson taught her daughters how to be confident in themselves

Though her decision to take Beyoncé and Solange to therapy wasn’t met with support from her family, Lawson knew that it was the right thing to do.

She continued, “My family was like, ‘you’re going to make them crazy because they’re too young for you to take them,’ but I wanted Beyoncé to be sensitive to the fact that Solange had to deal with being a little bit in her shadow. It made her way more sensitive and protected, and they’re still fiercely protective of each other.”

On top of teaching Beyoncé and Solange how to love and support each other, Lawson also raised them to embrace their inner confidence.

She added, “I just spent a lot of time teaching my girls not to be insecure just because there was another girl around because you are the most beautiful thing going. I think that’s really important.”

Though Mama Lawson’s lessons helped her girls become the confident and powerhouse women they are today, she admits that Solange has always “walked to the beat of her own drum.”

“She doesn’t care about anybody, what they think,” she said. “She will do whatever she feels is right. It was what kept her feeling really good about herself. It didn’t affect her as much because she has so much support and positive reinforcement from her sister and us. She doesn’t care about what anybody else is doing.”