Brooke Shields Explains Why She’s Cautious About Giving Advice — Especially to Her 2 Daughters

Brooke Shields is very careful when it comes to doling out advice.

The actress, 59, spoke at Flow Space's An Evening with Brooke Shields in New York City ahead of the release of her new book Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old and was asked about how she's handled a time when she's had to give tough feedback to a friend.

"I'm very careful about giving advice because you can't really know how to walk through someone else's experience," Shields said in the conversation. "Some friends think they're being tough love friends, but no one asked for that! Sometimes all I need is someone to listen or to reassure me it's going to be okay."

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Related: Brooke Shields Opens Up About Raising Her 2 Daughters in a World Where 'Everything's Higher and Tighter' Now

"I've done enough work on myself to not need tough love all the time. I've learned to interpret when someone is trying to give me tough love, and I'll think, 'Is that what I need right now?' " she continued. "It's all about communication — being able to say, 'This is not the right time for that kind of feedback for me.' If we can have those honest conversations without judgment, it's the best way to navigate those moments."

Shields went on to say that she's also taken from experiences with her daughters Rowan, 21, and Grier, 18.

"And I learned a lot from my kids for that too, because Grier will say, 'Mom, please don't try to fix this. Just listen to me,' " the mom of two recalled. "And I'm just sitting on my hands and I'm biting my tongue and then I'll try the, 'Well, why do you think you reacted that way?'"

"And she's like, 'Oh mom, please.' And so there's subtext there. So I know I have to meet them differently when you figure one out and the next is completely different," she added.

Earlier this month, Shields spoke with Real Simple for their cover story and shared what it's been like raising her two daughters in a culture that seems to be so obsessed with being younger.

"I look at my two girls — everything's higher and tighter and smoother. And I know it's all appealing and it does sell, but I want my girls not to be terrified to be my age," Shields told the outlet.

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