“Child and adolescent psychologist and former Harvard lecturer and researcher has written the first book dedicated to the treatment and prevention of depression in teen girls. Drawn from over two decades of experience working with girls and extensive research, Dr. Machoian provides a wealth of information about the internal and external pressures that can transform happy children into brooding adolescents, and shares life-saving tips about how to tell the difference between normal teen angst and real trouble. Filled with eye-opening case studies, practical advise, exercises, and constructive adult-teen dialogue topics, this guide shows how girls can navigate cultural pressures, develop their identity, and make healthy decisions, while building a resilience that will empower them throughout life.”
—The Harvard COOP
The Disappearing Girl
by Dr. Lisa Machoian
Dr. Lisa Machoian, a former Harvard University researcher and lecturer, offers lifesaving solutions for parents, educators, counselors, others working with girls, and for teens themselves.
Media, peers, and even parents send teenage girls dangerously conflicting messages about what it means to look and act just right and to be good, hip, attractive, and desired. Frighteningly, everyday events can start a teen on a downward spiral. The growing rate of depression in teens is alarming, and parents and adults must understand the difference between “adolescent angst” and trouble. The Disappearing Girl explores:
• Why silence reflects a girl’s desperate wish for inclusion, not isolation
• Recognizing signals of problem behavior
• Vulnerabilities in dating, friendships, school, and family
• Signs of girls’ hope
Dr. Machoian also offers guidance for:
Parents and other adults—on starting meaningful conversations with girls and helping them navigate mixed messages in their lives, develop their identity, make healthy decisions, and build resilience that will empower them throughout life.
Girls—activities including the Emotional First-Aid Kit, that girls can do with friends, alone, or with adults for self-expression, to de-stress, to cope, and to build a positive and strong sense of self, identity and character.
Combining twenty years of research, teaching, psychotherapy, and working with parents, teachers, therapists, social workers, counselors, caregivers, and teens, Dr. Machoian’s The Disappearing Girl, based on the girls telling their own stories, explores teen depression, and provides essential guidance for helping the girls we love.
BOOK ENDORSEMENTS
“Lisa Machoian’s heart is with girls, and she writes brilliantly about them. Showing us how girls can disappear, she also shows us how to prevent it. This is a hopeful book—for parents, teachers, therapists, and also for girls.”
—Carol Gilligan, Ph.D. NYU Professor, and author of In a Different Voice, and The Birth of Pleasure
“Lisa Machoian has done us a great service by shining a light on the struggles that infuse the lives of so many teenage girls. This insightful and important book is a must read for all those relating to girls.”
—Rachel Simmons, author of Odd Girl Out
“This book brings a fresh perspective and invaluable research to a difficult and complex issue. Dr. Machoian understands and cares about girls, and her writing is compassionate and clear.”
—Rosalind Wiseman, author of Queen Bees and Wannabes
“Finally it’s here: We’ve been waiting for a book to provide us with a clear understanding of what interferes with the robust development of girls. But more importantly, Lisa Machoian takes us that final step beyond understanding to doing something to change the downward spiral of many adolescent girls. EVERYONE who knows a girl needs to read this.”
—JoAnn Deak, Ph. D. Author of Girls Will Be Girls: Raising Confident and Courageous Daughters, and How Girls Thrive
Please call (617) 285-8198 or E-mail: lisa_machoian@post.harvard.edu