Britney Spears‘ mum Lynne Spears has spoken publicly for the first time about Britney’s breakdown earlier in the year.

Britney reportedly cut off contact with Lynne in March, claiming she felt her parents had forced into rehab in February after she shaved her head and attacked a photographer’s car. But now the mother and daughter are talking again, Lynne has told Us Weekly magazine how hard it was for Britney to go through such a difficult patch while in the public eye.

Lynne told the magazine: “You go into a time in your life with the world watching and you are just trying to figure yourself out.”

“It’s sad that the whole world had to watch her make mistakes that all of us have made at one time or another.”

She added she thinks Britney is getting her life back on track: “Britney Jean Spears is the sweetest and the most sensitive and loving of all my children. She’s just figuring things out.”