Create a nurturing environment where your daughter feels safe, loved, valued, and free to express herself.
Award-winning science journalist and health-science expert Donna Jackson Nakazawa presents:
Growing Strong Girls - Part 1:Â
Fostering a Deep Connection with Your Daughter
Neuroprotective strategies to strengthen your bond with your daughter and help her flourish through childhood and adolescence.
AÂ self-paced online course
for parents and educators.
$197
Sign UpDo you want to foster a deeper layer of connection with your daughter and create an environment in which she thrives?
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The single most important ingredient in a girl’s mental health is feeling safe, seen, known, valued, and connected to parents and primary caregivers.
But how can we, as parents, create this crucial sense of parent-child connection and attunement which is so important for our girls’ wellbeing? Parenting through the teenage years is a rewarding and fulfilling experience, but it also comes with its own set of challenges.
In my talks with girls around the country, I often ask them what they wish the adults in their lives would do differently. The top things girls tell me?
We, the adults, are not listening to them. We often jump in with advice or questions before they’ve had a chance to fully express what they’re feeling.
Girls have resilience fatigue. They worry the adults in their lives want them to push through, be brave, be resilient, all the time. They want us to stop expecting them to bounce back from everything.
They want to tell you that they are struggling. They may tell you “Everything is fine” because that’s what they think you want to hear. Why? When they try to tell us about their distress, we often react in ways that make them feel they aren’t being heard.
They want, most of all, for you to up your game in how you talk, listen, and connect with them, and to better manage your own reactions, so they feel safe coming to talk to you about anything, anytime.
They want you to focus less on their extrinsic qualities (school, activities, appearance) and notice more of their positive behaviors and intrinsic qualities, even when (especially when) they’re struggling.
Bottom line: it’s paramount for your daughter’s well-being to create a neuroprotective environment in which your daughter feels safe, heard, connected, and understood.
Ultimately, this is what ensures that each girl feels safe within herself.
The good news is that there are dozens of ways we can up our game, so that we create the supportive environment girls need.
When we learn the skills to create this deep sense of parent-child attunement, we not only enhance our parent-child bond, we ensure that our daughter feels safe coming to us with any worry or problem, now or in the future—no matter how difficult the topic or situation. And this really matters! Studies show teen girls who feel they can safely turn to a parent with really hard things are significantly more likely to flourish throughout their lives.
This is especially true as girls enter puberty. Puberty is a crucial developmental window during which the brain and nervous system rewire themselves in sticky and long-lasting ways.
The strategies and exercises you'll learn in this first course will help you build a deep connection with your daughter and create a neuroprotective environment where she can grow and thrive.
What can you expect from Growing Strong Girls?Â
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This comprehensive course has been carefully designed to provide you with the essential knowledge and skills to:
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Better understand where your daughter's emotions and needs are coming from.
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Learn effective techniques to communicate with empathy, actively listen, and truly connect with your daughter on a much deeper level.
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Lay the foundation for a lifelong relationship built on mutual trust, respect, and understanding.
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Empower your daughter to thrive in a world full of novel challenges and uncertainties.
By enrolling in "Growing Strong Girls," you're not just investing in a course; you're investing in your daughter's future. The lessons and skills you acquire will have a lasting impact on her, while also deepening your relationship, and improving her emotional well-being and resilience.
The details
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In this first part of Growing Strong Girls, you’ll learn five neuroprotective strategies – and 18 exercises – to help you gain new tools and techniques to nurture a strong sense of connection with your daughter, and bolster her mental well-being.
Be prepared: the first step starts with YOU!
Strategies 1 and 2 in this course are focused on the work we first need to do on ourselves, as parents, and Strategies 3, 4, and 5 are focused on ways to deepen our relationship with, and our connection to, our daughters in day-to-day life, as we support them through the stressors they encounter.
Let’s take a closer look at what awaits you!
Every lesson is designed to be practical, allowing you to implement new techniques and strategies immediately.
Strategy 1: Address your own trauma and learn to regulate your emotions so you can better support, and connect with, your daughter.
Focus: Your daughter’s stress response is influenced by your stress response. This means it’s crucial for you to address your own history of trauma or adversity if you want to help your daughter thrive. Creating a safe, nurturing emotional climate in which your daughter feels safe, seen, supported, and known starts with recognizing and managing your own reactions.
Strategy 2: Expand your ability to be present for your daughter in ways that deepen your connection.
Focus: Life for girls today can feel overwhelming! By using the techniques in these lessons you’ll become more emotionally present and better able to support your daughter.
Strategy 3: Notice positive behaviors and qualities to cultivate a long-lasting sense of worthiness.
Focus: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to let your daughter know how much you appreciate the good in her, her positive behaviors, and her deeper, intrinsic qualities. By focusing on these positive qualities you’ll help her develop a strong sense of self-worth and resilience even in life’s most challenging moments.
Strategy 4: Provide psychological safety so your daughter feels safe talking to you about anything.
Focus: The goal of this strategy is to ensure your daughter feels safe sharing her deeper feelings and biggest concerns with you and trusts you as a confidant and source of support during both challenging and joyful moments.
Strategy 5: Amplify joyful moments to soothe the nervous system and reinforce family connection.
Focus: Happiness is a powerful neuroprotective force. In this strategy, you'll discover how to amplify joyful moments in family life, creating a positive and uplifting atmosphere that soothes your daughter’s nervous system (and yours) while strengthening family bonds. These moments of joy will create lasting memories and experiences that your daughter (and you!) will cherish throughout your lives.
Enroll in "Growing Strong Girls" today and unlock the potential for your daughter to flourish.
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This course will empower you to build a strong, nurturing connection with your daughter, and provide the tools she needs to face life's challenges with confidence and grace.
