WRITING

We give the girls a notebook at the beginning of the session and encourage them to write down their questions, doodle, rip out pages, whatever -- at first, this kind of freedom kind of freaks them out, but soon they realize the value of having this little storage bin at their finger tips. A notebook is a place to ORGANIZE, OBSERVE, RUMINATE.

CONVERSATION

We do a lot of sharing, but we encourage the girls to really think before they talk. We try to identify nervous chatter. We talk about the power of silence. Kids are so programmed to raise hands that they've stopped listening for the ebb and flow of conversation. We encourage active listening.

ART & MOVEMENT

When words fail us, what is our point of entry? We turn to expressive arts to make it safe to begin dialogue. We highligh multiple ways of knowing through drama, building, collage and dance.

Our Process

Girl Group begins in early adolescence with weekly gatherings. Each group is 60-75 minutes in length and structured around predictable beginning and ending rituals and an action based middle. As moms of adolescent girls and boys, Wesley and Tanya draw from their own personal parenting experience. In addition, both women draw from rich artistic backgrounds, which include theatre, yoga and Buddhist practices.

Girl Group has a built-in mentorship component, which encourages older participants to co-facilitate the younger classes. One of the primary responsibilities of the mentors is to answer the confidential questions of the group. By sharing their experiences, they are able to normalize the natural evolution of girlhood.

Classes are structured around weekly themes including "intuition", "beauty", "being an expert", "cultivating awe", "self love", "silence", "stress relief", "loneliness", "privelege", "sisterhood", "what scares you", "efficiency".

Every series ends with a pro-social component such as volunteering, providing food for the homeless and letter writing campaigns.

WESLEY STAHLER

LMFT, ECMH, RDT

Wesley Stahler is a licensed marriage and family therapist, registered drama therapist, early childhood mental health clinician, has over fifteen years experience as a child, adolescent and family therapist. She has worked with a wide spectrum of families including female prisoners and their children, new moms, teens with anxiety and OCD and individuals with trauma and or substance abuse histories. She specializes in play therapy, creating rituals and routines to promote healthy coping strategies and self-esteem. Her work has been published and presented nationally at various conferences within the field.

TANYA WARD GOODMAN

Author

Tanya Ward Goodman is the author of the memoir, "Leaving Tinkertown." Her writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Literary Mama, Brain Child, The Huffington Post, Perceptions: A Magazine of the Arts, TheNextFamily.com and in The Cup of Comfort Anthology series. Her writing often focuses on family and caregiving. She has a degree in Performance Studies and Creative Writing from Northwestern University.