Iyanla Vanzant is returning with a new OWN special focused on healing fractured family relationships and addressing generational trauma, and BOSSIP’s got an exclusive look.
Mothers & Daughters: Torn Apart with Iyanla Vanzant, premiering Friday, Oct. 9, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on OWN, will bring together three generations of mothers and daughters for an emotional examination of the conflicts, unresolved pain, and longstanding patterns that have shaped their relationships.
Filmed before a live studio audience of women, the special follows Vanzant as she guides participants through difficult conversations designed to confront painful truths and begin breaking destructive cycles.
A press release reports that the program emphasizes the experiences of Black women, exploring the emotional burdens often carried across generations and the challenges of addressing unspoken family wounds with an aim to create a public space for acknowledgment, accountability, and reconciliation.
The project also reflects Vanzant’s longstanding approach to personal transformation, which emphasizes confronting difficult emotions and examining the behaviors and experiences that contribute to strained relationships.
Mothers & Daughters: Torn Apart Exclusive Clip
In a preview clip shared exclusively with BOSSIP, Iyanla works with a mother named Patricia and her daughter, Cha ‘Tania, whose relationship has become strained by years of miscommunication and emotional distance.
“Can I ask you a question, Miss Patricia? What’s the truth about your relationship with your daughter?” Vanzant asks.
“The truth about my relationship with my daughter is it’s rocky,” Patricia admits. “We kind of talk around each other. I choose wisely what I say, and it may be vice versa.”
Cha ‘Tania, however, goes deeper and explains that she often felt misunderstood by her mother growing up.
“My mom didn’t believe in being your kid’s friend,” she says. “I felt like she used how she grew up as an excuse. I don’t feel like she took the time to try to understand me or my likes and how I think, and just me as a person.”
Vanzant then encourages her to consider what her mother might not recognize about herself.
“There’s a scripture that says a child shall lead them,” Vanzant tells her. “Sometimes, it’s the children that have to straighten the adults out.”
When asked what her mother has failed to acknowledge, Cha ‘Tania says;
“She doesn’t recognize how broken she is and how it’s affecting me.”
Vanzant then “gossips” to Patricia about what her daughter said.
“Your daughter said that you do not recognize how broken you are and how your brokenness has affected her,” she says. “So, how’d you get broken?”
They then discuss Patricia’s childhood and the possibility that her own unresolved trauma has influenced her relationship with her daughter.
“You lost your voice a long time ago, baby. A long, long time ago,” Vanzant tells Patricia. “And either mommy didn’t notice or she didn’t care.”
Take an exclusive clip below.
