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
Girls today are growing up in a climate of relentless evaluation. They are expected to excel in school, maintain polished social lives, look effortlessly attractive, stay emotionally composed, and bui...
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
Stress Is Useful Until It Overflows
One of the book’s most important insights is that stress is not automatically a problem. Many adults treat all signs of distress as evidence that a girl is struggling too much, but Damour argues that stress is actually a normal biological system designed to help us meet challenges. When a girl prepa...
From Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls
Perfection Culture Magnifies Anxiety
A girl does not need to be told explicitly to be perfect; she absorbs the message from the culture around her. Damour shows how girls grow up surrounded by expectations that they should be high-achieving, well-liked, attractive, kind, organized, ambitious, and emotionally easy to be around. Each dem...
From Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls
School Pressure Distorts Self-Worth
Academic stress is not simply about homework; it is often about identity. Damour explains that many girls come to believe that grades are a direct measure of their worth, intelligence, and future security. In competitive environments, even highly capable students can feel chronically behind. They co...
From Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls
Friendships Can Steady or Shatter
For many girls, friendship is not a side issue; it is the emotional center of daily life. Damour explores how intensely girls experience social connection and social pain. Belonging offers security, validation, and joy, while exclusion, gossip, and conflict can feel deeply destabilizing. Because gir...
From Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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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