Enough | Miss-connection summit

Description

For so many girls, the desire to achieve is fuelled by a mix of toxic perfectionism, debilitating self-criticism, and a Sisyphean stretch to achieve the impossible benchmark of “enough”.

Statistically, young women have never been more “successful”. They do better educationally, outpacing boys in grades and university enrolment. Yet the self-imposed – and externally imposed – expectation is that more is required. On the surface, girls certainly seem exceptional, but in-depth research highlights a different reality: tween and teen girls are too often anxious and overwhelmed, expecting that regardless of what they do, they will never be smart enough, successful enough, pretty enough, thin enough, popular enough, or “hot” enough.

Dr Justin Coulson is a dad to 6 daughters and the author of Miss-Connection, a book about teenage girls. After interviewing and surveying over 400 Australian teens, he has identified key reasons girls don’t think they are enough, and his research shows a way for them to move towards happiness, resilience, and self-worth.

Deeply empathetic and carefully researched, this presentation will help girls consider their feelings about being “enough”, and highlight specific strategies they can practice to move towards a positive sense of self, so that young women can do more than survive adolescence. They can thrive.