GPS Completes Virtual Parent Speaker Series

For the month of April, GPS partnered with both R.E.A.L. Discussion and Dr. Lisa Damour for weekly parent speaker sessions. The purpose of the series was to help parents gain information that would provide insight into their teen and help them navigate their challenges with grace and guidance. 

The series featured:

Does it feel as if your daughter has two conversational modes: venting or withdrawal? This Lunch-and-Learn workshop shared common challenges Gen-Z girls face when conversing live and in-person—and research-backed solutions for breaking through to them. 

 

Sometimes, it’s not you—it’s her brain! This evening workshop dove into the neuroscience behind a Gen-Z daughter’s communication habits and taught proven strategies for directing in-person conversations to be safe, authentic, and focused. 

 

Do you wish hard conversations with your daughter could be … easier? This Lunch-and-Learn workshop offered frameworks to use when discussing choices, boundaries, world events, or self-awareness. 

 

In partnership with McCallie, Dr. Damour spoke to parents and teachers about responding to intense emotions from adolescents, gender differences (and similarities) in the expression of emotions, when to worry about a teen’s emotional health, and how to help teens manage stress and anxiety—and learn to grow from it. She also shared her expertise on the central importance of being a steady force in a teen’s life and how to determine the difference between what is uncomfortable for a child vs. what is unmanageable.

 

R.E.A.L. Discussion is a program that teaches students how to communicate and celebrate “human skills” in a tech-centric world. GPS has partnered with R.E.A.L for the past two years and has seen drastic improvements in student discourse and communication skills. 

For this series, Peyten Williams facilitated the discussions. Peyten facilitates R.E.A.L. for Parents, empowering parents to use R.E.A.L. strategies to have deeper conversations with their adolescents. Helping teachers and parents align around what’s best for kids comes naturally to Peyten as she previously served as an award-winning Director of Teaching and Learning at Westminster (GA) and English teacher.

 

Dr. Lisa Damour is the author of three The New York Times-bestsellers: Untangled,

Under Pressure, and The Emotional Lives of Teenagers, which have been translated into 23 languages. She co-hosts the Ask Lisa podcast, works in collaboration with UNICEF, and is recognized as a thought leader by the American Psychological Association. Dr. Damour is also a regular contributor to The New York Times and CBS News. She maintains a private practice and also speaks to schools, professional organizations, and corporate groups around the world on the topics of child and adolescent development, family mental health, and adult well-being.