Kourtney Kardashian Barker Says She’s Figured Out Why She and Her Sisters Have Chosen “Bad Partners” In the Past

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 30 November 2023

Kourtney Kardashian Barker is pro-therapy, and she wants her family to get on board with her. The eldest of the Kardashian/Jenner brood said on today’s episode of The Kardashians on Hulu (which also happens to be the season four finale) that she thinks there’s a reason why the women in the family historically choose men that treat them far less than what they deserve.

“I didn’t start a self-awareness journey knowing what I was doing,” Kourtney said. “I started therapy through a toxic relationship and then learned so much about myself, about my family, about why I do certain things, about our childhood wounds, about how they show up in intimate relationships, generational trauma.”

Sister Khloé is skeptical of Kourtney’s love of therapy, telling her, “No offense or anything, but we all have f—king problems. Just buckle up and let’s go.” But Kourtney won’t back down, telling her sister “There’s certain patterns to break. You don’t want to pass things down to your kids.”

Khloé then brought up “bad partners,” and asked whether choosing them is a genetic trait. “I think it’s generational,” Kourtney responded. “It’s from MJ [Kris Jenner’s mother, and Kourtney and Khloé’s grandmother]. She was married three times…We all have picked people we thought we could change different things about them, and we can’t.”

Her mom isn’t buying it: “I’m not even thinking about that,” she said. “In a billion years I’ve got a full, fabulous life. Why am I going back to reimagine?” Jenner then tries to deflect the conversation by interrupting Kourtney to talk about everything from a chin dimple to the differing height of her eyebrows.

Kourtney Kardashian, Travis Barker, and Kris Jenner at the 2022 Met Gala

“My mom tries to change the subject or not really face these types of topics,” Kourtney said. In a confessional interview, Khloé adds to the conversation “God bless Kourtney, because she’s definitely trying to have this therapy talk, and God bless my mom, because she’s definitely not.”

Later in the episode, Kourtney said “I know that people in my family would benefit from therapy. But I’m letting go of trying to change other people and just accepting everyone for who they are. This is me. This is my journey. That’s you, and that’s your journey.”

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.

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