What Are Adverse Childhood Experiences?

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Today’s digital culture poses unique challenges to the mental health of adolescent girls.

Prepared caregivers can help adolescent girls develop into balanced, confident adults.

Ask self-discovery questions to help adolescent girls be confident in who they truly are. 

This post is part of a series on adverse childhood experiences. Read the other parts here.

From their vast experience in counseling and studying adolescent girls in recent decades, bestselling authors Mary Pipher and daughter Sara Gilliam (2019) offer sage counsel for parenting adolescent girls in today’s complex, often toxic digital culture.

1. Teach girls to cope with hard times. Parents can:

Remind them that their worth does not equal their weight, appearance, or social status. There’s more to their story—their personality, intelligence, kindness, character, talents, interests, efforts to make the world a better place—things that were known and appreciated in smaller communities of yesteryear. Security in their worth allows them to shrug off rejection and other hard times.

Instill the optimistic idea that they can work to achieve a bright future. Some families expect their teens to work or volunteer over the summer for 20 hours per week to build responsibility and confidence.

Encourage them to talk in person to trusted friends or adults, rather than turning to social media or aloneness to deal with difficult emotions

Model and teach self-calming........

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