Lisa Damour Books
Lisa Damour, PhD, is a clinical psychologist, best-selling author, and regular contributor to The New York Times and CBS News. Educated at Yale University and the University of Michigan, she specializes in child development, education, and family mental health.
Known for: The Emotional Lives of Teenagers: Raising Connected, Capable, and Compassionate Adolescents, Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls, Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood
Books by Lisa Damour
The Emotional Lives of Teenagers: Raising Connected, Capable, and Compassionate Adolescents
In this insightful guide, psychologist Lisa Damour explores the emotional world of teenagers, helping parents understand the developmental changes that shape adolescent feelings and behaviors. Drawing...
Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls
An urgently needed guide to the alarming increase in anxiety and stress experienced by girls from elementary school through college. Drawing on years of clinical experience and research, psychologist ...
Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood
In this insightful and compassionate guide, psychologist Lisa Damour explains the seven developmental transitions that teenage girls experience on their way to adulthood. Drawing on years of clinical ...
Key Insights from Lisa Damour
Understanding Teen Emotions
When we look at a teenager, we’re tempted to assume their emotions come from moodiness, hormones, or impulses. But neuroscience offers a more nuanced picture. In adolescence, the prefrontal cortex—the part of the brain responsible for reason, planning, and moderating behavior—is still developing. Me...
From The Emotional Lives of Teenagers: Raising Connected, Capable, and Compassionate Adolescents
The Role of Stress
One of the most vital distinctions parents need to understand is between healthy stress and toxic stress. I like to think of stress as the body’s way of responding to challenge. A moderate dose of stress is not only normal but essential—it pushes teenagers to adapt, learn new skills, and prepare for...
From The Emotional Lives of Teenagers: Raising Connected, Capable, and Compassionate Adolescents
Understanding Stress
Stress is not an invader but a physiological system designed for survival. When a girl faces a challenge—academic, social, or emotional—her body releases adrenaline and cortisol to sharpen attention and prepare action. The problem arises when the system is overloaded, when recovery does not follow a...
From Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls
Cultural and Social Pressures
Girls today are growing up in a culture that equates worth with perfection. Social media amplifies every expectation—academic success, ideal body image, flawless friendships—and broadcasts them in real time. Many girls internalize this messaging, feeling that anything short of perfection equals fail...
From Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls
Part 1 – Joining a New Tribe
The first major transition is perhaps the one parents feel most acutely: the moment when girls begin to shift their emotional center from family to friends. This change is not rejection — it is evolution. For years, your daughter’s identity was rooted primarily in her relationship with you, her pare...
From Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood
Part 2 – Harnessing Emotions
Adolescent girls feel everything. Happiness, despair, excitement, anxiety — all magnified, all intense. Parents often ask why their daughters seem to overreact or spiral emotionally; my answer is always the same: it’s not overreaction, it’s growth. During adolescence, the emotional system is undergo...
From Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood
About Lisa Damour
Lisa Damour, PhD, is a clinical psychologist, best-selling author, and regular contributor to The New York Times and CBS News. Educated at Yale University and the University of Michigan, she specializes in child development, education, and family mental health.
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Lisa Damour, PhD, is a clinical psychologist, best-selling author, and regular contributor to The New York Times and CBS News. Educated at Yale University and the University of Michigan, she specializes in child development, education, and family mental health.
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