Why Girls Need
Our Support

"I am an emotional creature.

I was born like that."

— V / formerly Eve Ensler

Most people don't listen to teenage girls—but I do. Listening is the foundation of everything I do. At The Intuitive Writing Project, I am here to listen to and amplify the voices of young women, to hold space for their thoughts, feelings and ideas, affirming their experiences and mirroring back their unique strengths. Through carefully curated content and class discussion, I challenge teens to think for themselves. Then, after they have written their thoughts on paper, I am here to validate and encourage their insights.

It’s not easy being a young woman. It’s never been easy. But with social media, it’s become a lot more complicated. Teenage girls* are facing epidemic levels of anxiety, depression and despair. According to a recent report from the US Surgeon General, “half of all female teens” have reported “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness.” (*Girls and young women is meant to include all gender-expansive youth.)

We live in such a externally-focused world, young women are often denied the time and space they need to express their needs and discover their voice. Consequently, the majority of teenage girls suffer from low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, body dysmorphic disorder, and a chronic sense of inadequacy and worthlessness. With this comes drug and alcohol addictions, eating disorders, unsafe sex, and codependency in abusive relationships. And yet, as we all know, self-esteem is an inside job. That’s why the internal-focus of The Intuitive Writing Project offers an antidote to the toxic pressures currently confronting teens. (You can read more about the mental health benefits of writing here.) In our classes we try to offer both a safe harbor and a joyful "third space."

The idea of a third space was first coined in the book The Great Good Place by sociologists Ray Oldenburg and Karen Christensen. They said that all humans need a third space beyond home ("first place") and school or work ("second place") where they can relax, feel welcome and valued and experience a sense of playfulness. This is the essence of an Intuitive Writing Project class.

In this third space, I am here to support to your daughter’s authentic expression and celebrate her brilliance, to offer knowledge and wisdom that will help her connect to her own wisdom, and to hold the space for her continued self-discovery and growth.

At The Intuitive Writing Project, we offer teens the time and space they need to go within, to connect to their heart, and discover not only who they really are, but who they want to become. The more they go within, learn to trust their intuition, and cultivate their own voice, the more they develop authentic self-esteem and self-trust, the very foundation of happiness, health and personal growth. We are here to support young women in becoming the authors and leaders of their own lives, the kind of visionary thinkers who will change the story of the world.

Resources worth exploring:

https://hbr.org/2021/07/writing-can-help-us-heal-from-trauma

https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_achievement_culture_has_become_so_toxic

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/sep/18/culture-girls-childhoods-climate-crisis-economic-decline-online?CMP=oth_b-aplnews_d-1

https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2024/0514/prevent-male-loneliness-help-boys

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/11/facebooks-dangerous-experiment-teen-girls/620767/

https://blog.gitnux.com/single-gender-classrooms-statistics/

https://www.theeducatoronline.com/k12/news/girls-do-better-at-singlesex-schools/280329

https://www.kidsnews.com.au/humanities/study-reveals-benefits-of-allgirls-schools/news-story/bd53dfc34ee1b989266b5e7ae45a3a44

https://girlsschools.org/advocacy/why-girls-schools/

https://girlsschools.org/research/quick-facts/

https://magazine.byu.edu/article/when-women-dont-speak/