Mary Pipher, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist, noticed that girls in the 1990s were more self-conscious about their appearance and exhibited more sex-stereotyped feminine behavior than they did when she grew up. She was puzzled and saddened by what seemed to be a shrinking or loss of self that many girls experience as teenagers. Pipher previously studied cultural anthropology, as well.

Girls can experience a variety of problems such as depression, eating disorders, substance abuse, and problems with sex and violence due to societal expectations, but also personal problems such as divorce, loss of a loved one, abuse, etc. Girls can fall victim to cultural ideals of thinness and feminine behavior. However, family support helps buoy the girls.

Dr. Pipher let the girls choose whether to continue therapy after one appointment. She was impressed by the resiliency of some girls. She examines the girls' problems with them by listening, suggests solutions and is thrilled to watch them heal. Some girls do not recover or choose not to continue therapy, but at least the therapist can help some of them.

Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls by Mary Pipher, 1994

I was fascinated to read this book because a family member was a big fan of the book in the 1990s when I was a teenager. I liked getting a psychotherapist's clinical view of societal problems that girls experience. Some of the information in the book is a bit dated, but it remains an interesting read.

• Mary Pipher's web site
• Books on psychotherapy