Tina Knowles Recalls Putting Beyoncé & Solange in Therapy to Prevent a ‘Wall’ Forming Between Them

As adults, famous sisters Beyoncé and Solange are close — but they might owe their bond to a pivotal decision mom Tina Knowles made when they were children.

While speaking to CNN News Central Friday (April 25) just a couple days after the release of her memoir, Matriarch, the businesswoman explained that she sent her daughters to therapy back when they were kids because she grew “terrified when Beyoncé turned around 10” that a divide was forming between the two sisters. As the “Texas Hold ‘Em” artist kicked off her musical journey at the time while in the singing group Girl’s Tyme, Knowles says Solange struggled to feel included.

“The kids would say to Solange every day, ‘Be quiet, Solange,’ because she would try to choreograph and, you know, she wanted to be involved,” Knowles recalled. “And then I started noticing that Beyoncé would allow them to talk to her like that, or she would say, ‘OK, Mom, can you get Solange out of here?’ And I’m like, ‘Wait a minute, this is her house, and you’ve got to be nice to her.’”

“Finally I realized that they weren’t listening, and I saw a wall between them coming,” the designer continued. “And so I got them in therapy.”

The whole family has come a long way since those days. Since Knowles welcomed her eldest daughter with ex-husband Mathew Knowles in 1981, followed by Solange five years later, both girls have carved out massively successful, Grammy-winning music careers while staying “super tight” thanks to their time in counseling, according to their mom.

“Back then it was really taboo,” Knowles continued Friday of the decision to put her girls in therapy. “Even my husband, he was like, ‘I just don’t know if they’re too young for you to do that.’ And I’m like, ‘I’m not asking. I’m going to find somebody.’”

“I found this wonderful child therapist,” she added. “And it’s funny, because he told Beyoncé all the things I had told her, but she listened from him, even though she hated therapy. She hated going. Solange loved therapy. She loved talking and, you know, expressing herself. And the outcome was great.”

Parenting two of music’s biggest stars is a major topic in Matriarch, which hit shelves Tuesday (April 22). In the book, Knowles also opens up about her recent breast cancer journey, which led to her undergoing surgery to remove a tumor late last year.

Of her daughters’ reactions to the diagnosis, the Cécred cofounder wrote that Bey “took it well, staying positive … I could already feel her mind racing, focusing on this as a task to tackle with precision,” while Solange simply said with determination, “We are going to take care of this.”