For many teenage girls, back-to-school season is synonymous with stressors like peer pressure, cyberbullying and overwhelming academic expectations, making now the ideal time for parents to focus on creating better mental health outcomes for their daughters, says Cheryl L. Green, M.D., a professor of psychiatry at Loma Linda University School of Medicine and lifestyle psychiatrist in private practice.
“You can implement and structure the way your child lives in such a way that it’s way less likely that your child will ever develop depression and anxiety and all of these chronic conditions in the first place,” Dr. Green said in a recent interview.
In her critically important new book, Heal Your Daughter: How Lifestyle Psychiatry Can Save Her from Depression, Cutting, and Suicidal Thoughts, Dr. Green empowers parents with lifestyle psychiatry strategies that can be used in conjunction with traditional therapies or as standalone support.
She begins by explaining the new field of lifestyle psychiatry, and provides evidence-based information and guidance related to six lifestyle domains: nutrition, detoxification, exercise, sleep, emotional connectedness and stress reduction. She addresses the unique stress factors impacting teenage girls and gives parents or other caregivers concrete ways to help their daughters develop health-promoting, depression-reversing habits.
“The good news is that healing, even from the worst disasters of childhood and early adolescence, is possible,” Dr. Green said. “The early traumas that life inflicts need not be ‘managed’ with ever-escalating doses of psychiatric medications; I believe that they actually can be healed — completely or almost completely healed. There is every reason for hope.”
Dr. Green explains that the method outlined in her book doesn’t require a diagnosis. It is drug-free and affordable. And perhaps most importantly, it offers new hope to those who have given up on psychiatry and on the traditional mental health care system.
“Teen girls with depression are often overwhelmed, and are unable to help themselves,” Dr. Green added. “But you, the caregiver, can help them take tiny steps in the six domains described in the book. The more tiny steps taken, the closer teen girls can come to reclaiming the foundations of their physical and mental health.”
Ultimately, Heal Your Daughter and its companion book, The Heal Your Daughter Workbook, aim to make important new contributions to society’s collective understanding and support of today’s girls.
About the Author
Dr. Cheryl L. Green is a lifestyle psychiatrist based in Southern California. She works part time at the Loma Linda University School of Medicine, and part time in her own private practice based in the greater Los Angeles area. She holds degrees from Harvard University (A.B.), Princeton University (Ph.D.) and Stanford University School of Medicine (M.D.). She is board certified in Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and Lifestyle Medicine. Her passion is inspiring others to achieve vibrant physical and mental health. She can be found online on her website, www.CherylLGreenMD.com.
Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Heal-Your-Daughter-Psychiatry-Depression/dp/1667871242/
Heal Your Daughter: How Lifestyle Psychiatry Can Save Her from Depression, Cutting, and Suicidal Thoughts
Publisher: BookBaby Press
ISBN-10: 1667871242
ISBN-13: 978-1667871240
Available from Amazon.com, BN.com and other retailers
The Heal Your Daughter Workbook: Six Weeks to Feeling Good with Lifestyle Psychiatry
Publisher: BookBaby Press
ISBN-10: 1667871269
ISBN-13: 978-1667871264
Available from Amazon.com, BN.com and other retailers
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Reviews, photos, links to previous interviews and Q&As are available upon request.