Courteney Cox wishes she had been a "firmer parent".

The 59-year-old actress has daughter Coco, 19, with ex-husband David Arquette and reflected that when she was growing up she didn't "step in" on certain situations even though she should have "trusted" her instincts at the time.

Speaking on the 'Minnie's Questions' podcast, she explained: "I didn’t want to step in even though I knew something wasn’t right because she would get so mad at me. I did understand and I should’ve trusted myself and I should’ve stepped in.

"I’m not saying I made her who she is, but you do see things in other people, whether it’s just always taking care of people and being the nicest person.

"And I mean, that’s one of the things with age, I’ve learned to say no, I’ve learned to have boundaries.

"But I mean, earlier on when she was a kid or not even that many years ago, I wish I’d been a firmer parent."

The former 'Friends' star is now in a relationship with Snow Patrol rocker Johnny McDaid, 47, but also revealed during the interview that there was a time when he split up with her just one minute into a counselling session

She said: "It was really intense. We broke up in therapy. I didn’t know it was coming.He broke up with me within the first minute, I was like, ‘What?'

"I was in so much pain. I also don't like surprises. “There was that much that needed to be dealt with that he had to protect himself around his heart."

But the 'Scream' actress admitted that when they eventually reconciled, she had learned so much about her own relationship with the world.

She said: "I learned how to reclaim my voice, boundaries, what were my motives in life — like, what was my part in this? It really taught me how I operated in the world, what were the things from my childhood that I needed,” she said, “whether it was to be adored by men, things that I didn’t know how to let go, to be in a relationship, to not take things personally, my boundaries. I just went into myself."