Healthy Transitions for Girls Coaching Will Help You Protect the Girls You Love
Privately, girls hate their bodies. They need to know that being a girl is special, that the changes happening in their bodies have a beautiful purpose.
~Peggy McFarland MS
Why Do Girls Ages 8 to 14 Need Healthy Transitions for Girls Coaching?
As girls experience the physical changes of puberty, they unconsciously seek belief systems to make sense of these changes. It’s as if their brain is “taking snapshots” and building a photo album of “selfies” based upon what they see and experience during this critical stage. These mental “selfies” become their identity. Unfortunately, girls experience thousands of messages that represent unrealistic, sexualized concepts of what it means to be a young woman in today’s society. Their brain stores these images and says, “This is what I am supposed to be like,” even if it is impossible and unhealthy. It sounds like a powerful form of “brain washing,” doesn’t it?
As a mother, a faith leader, and a counseling professional, I have worked with hundreds of girls. Growing girls are developing a psychological “disconnection” from their bodies that causes them to feel disconnected from God’s voice and their own true identity. Sexualized images of women are everywhere, even at the grocery store. These images cause young girls to feel shame about their bodies. Body shame contributes to a shame-based view of God and religion. It contributes to perfectionism and performance-based self-worth. This terrible harm is happening during the critical ages of 8 to 14, yet you may not see the signs until girls are well into their teens.
Puberty has always been an awkward time for girls, but today’s girls need help more than ever.
We are experiencing a social contagion of girls who believe that there is nothing special about being a girl. They privately hate their changing bodies. Girls’ changing biology is designed to prepare them for nurturing and mothering. Girls need to acknowledge and awaken their powerful maternal natures and begin first to care for themselves. Nurturing, compassion, and tenderness, as they are uniquely expressed by women, need to be seen as power tools. Indeed, aren’t these the very qualities our world needs most today? God made them to be powerful creators.
How Early is Too Early?
If you have an eight or nine year old and wonder if it is too early to start preparing her for puberty, the answer is NO! The moment their bodies start to change–that’s when they are at risk. Let’s stop problems before they happen!
LEARN MORE ABOUT MY HEALTHY TRANSITIONS FOR GIRLS CURRICULUM
What’s So Special About Being A Girl? FREE DOWNLOAD
In Healthy Transitions for Girls Coaching, the objective of each activity is an “I can” statement, such as “I am changing in wonderful ways. I can prepare today to care for a new life.” Here’s a sample activity page that helps girls value the wondrous changes happening in their bodies.
Since the purpose of Healthy Transitions for Girls is to help girls to develop supportive connections with their parents, this activity includes a follow-up handout so that moms can share their feelings about being a mother. This activity can lead to some beautiful teaching moments. Girls need to hear why being a girl is special. They want to hear it from their own beloved moms, grandmothers, mentors.