The Truth helps girls see that they are not alone, by being able to so easily identify with the ‘girl’ who is sharing her most personal feelings and thoughts with them directly, via diary form. If Mom also reads The Truth and shares more of her thoughts and feelings while also listening to her daughter’s ‘real’ voice, than a family correction will be made and indeed, the girl will be less alone
Tag Archives: daughters
The Truth Official Book Launch
Girls between 8 and 12 can and do everything. However, adolescence can be very hard on girls and years later many a woman has lost touch with her earlier talents, strengths, potential or what makes her happy. I worked to develop a companionship with the 10-year old inside myself. Suddenly, getting to know myself as a child again was serious psychological business.
That’s when I wrote a journal-style book, The Truth (I’m a Girl, I’m Smart and I Know Everything!) If you are a woman, it will make you want to dance with your inner 10-year old and make her energies a part of yourself again. If you are an adult, you will see the child in your life in a much more profound light. You will want to help her hold on to her wisdom, wit, sense of competency and self-esteem. If you are a kid or a ‘tween, you will feel understood and connected to this fictional girl. After all, she is like you. The girl sees so much and knows so much as we all did at 10 or 11. And wouldn”t it be great to hold on to the energy and confidence that can go with that stage of life?
Women and girls of all ages, kids, tweens, teens, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles thank me for bringing this book to them. It opens the door to communication, and they see themselves, their daughters, nieces and granddaughters in the girl. Girls feel she is speaking for them while women remark that they wish this book had existed when they were growing up.
Now, this book is available on Amazon and those who buy it will also receive nearly $6,500 in free downloadable gifts!
Enjoy!
Your friend,
Barbara Becker Holstein
Listening to Our Daughters
Listen to Dr. Barbara speak on Really Listening to Our Daughters Manasquan_Public_Library_Workshop_33009.wav
THE FIRST THREE GATEWAYS TO HAPPINESS AND HOW THEY AFFECT TEN YEAR OLD GIRLS, part 1
THE FIRST THREE GATEWAYS TO HAPPINESS AND HOW THEY AFFECT TEN YEAR OLD GIRLS
In The Truth (I’m a girl, I’m Smart and I Know Everything) the girl is 10. She is 10 for many psychological reasons. One is the importance of
understanding the critical development of girls around that age. One of the ways that I teach this critical stage of development for girls is through the lens of THE SEVEN GATEWAYS TO HAPPINESS. Let’s jump right in and examine the first three Gateways to Happiness in terms of the 10 year old girl.
The First Gateway to Happiness is around self-esteem and appreciating one’s own talents, strengths and potential.
This Gateway is similar for a woman of fifty, a man of 23 or for a girl of 10. She like all of us, needs a sense of well-being and to also feel good about who she is. She needs to feel that she has knows right from wrong, and that her life is purposeful. For adults this might mean a very deep understanding of one’s place in the world. For her it could be as simple as going to her fourth or fifth grade class, knowing what is expected of her, and knowing that she is capable of the work. It may also mean feeling good about herself in relationship to her friends. It may mean knowing she has a family that supports her, and a teacher that likes her. Also recognizing her interests and talents. For example, she may love art and music, and feel talented playing the flute, but not like basketball or hockey. She’s clear as to who she is.
She will also have some dreams. She may feel she has potential to become a writer or a skier or an Olympic champion in something, or that she wants to discover a way to stop global warming. Inside of her are dreams, hopes, aspirations.
Let’s see how the above ties into The Second Gateway to Happiness for Girls.
In this gateway, one is aware of the narrative of her life. We begin to see how our attributes all come together in who we are and how we behave. So, for example, for a girl of 10, she may have been told many time that she is very similar to Aunt Belinda. She knows that Aunt Belinda is a wonderful woman interests in art and music, just like she has. She also knows that Aunt Belinda always remembers her with beautiful presents and is absolutely so much fun to be with.
And so, for that little girl, she now has a story-line around her life. It is not set in stone but it works wonders for her at age 10. She is loved by a woman she adores and that woman is said to be like her. So she feels great about Aunt Belinda and she also feels great about herself.
As she grows, she may change the story line a bit. She might even drop Aunt Belinda and decide she’s more like Uncle Sylvester for X reasons when she’s 11 or 12. But the point is, she’s being given a strong messages that she is a special person with lots of talents and potential and that can always serve as the underpinnings of her own story line about who she is.
Tomorrow we will talk about The Third Gateway to Happiness for Girls.
Mother and Daughter talk on “Kids, Tweens and Teens, A Positive Psychologist looks at all three” about The Truth, I’m a girl, I’m smart and I know everything
Robin and Rachel made my day on Monday. They were my guests on my radio show, Kids Tweens and Teens on www.internetvoicesradio.com We pre-recorded the show that will will air next Monday, June 9th at 4:30 PM EDT and then be 
archived 24/7. What made the discussion so special was getting a chance to talk to both a mother and a daughter who had read The Truth, I”m a girl, I”m smart and I know everything. Their reactions were such fun. You will hear Robin discuss how the book made her remember her first crush which she hadn”t thought of in years, and then you will her Rachel chat about how she identified with the girl, even in secret things she does that nobody knows about. Rachel also will share her promises that she has made to herself for her future. Both talk about how to utilize the book as a discussion tool for moms and kids.
As an author it isn”t always so easy. You write the book at some deep level of concentration and meaning. You agonize in ways that the public never knows-what word here? What should stay in the final draft? What needs to go? Who will read it? Will anyone read it? And then finally it is out and still there is agony. Who likes it? Do kids like the book? Do moms? Does it have the punch that a great book does?
And then the universe sends a present by special delivery. In this case the present was Robin and Rachel. Their reactions confirmed what every author needs and hopes to hear. The book works! And best of all, it works for both kids and adults. And that is unique. I”m blessed.
