Healing Starts at Home: Trauma-Informed Strategies for Communicating with Teen Girls
Insights from the Girls Spark Conference – May 31
On May 31, our team had the privilege of presenting at the Girls Spark Conference, a powerful event focused on amplifying the voices of teen girls and equipping the adults in their lives to better support them. We delivered a trauma-informed communication workshop for parents and caregivers—one that emphasized not only the importance of trust and connection, but also the critical role of early intervention in shaping long-term emotional health.
We know that adolescence is a pivotal time. The challenges girls face—social pressures, identity development, emotional highs and lows—are often compounded by unrecognized or unaddressed trauma. By intervening early with empathy, understanding, and trauma-informed strategies, parents and caregivers can help prevent deeper struggles with mental health, self-worth, and relationships down the line.
What the Workshop Delivered:
Our one-hour session equipped caregivers with strategies rooted in neuroscience and compassion, aimed at creating safe, supportive environments for girls ages 11–18. Participants shared how common it is to feel unsure of what to say—or how to react—when their daughters shut down, lash out, or withdraw. We offered tools to help them shift from frustration to curiosity, from correction to connection.
By the end of the session, participants were able to:
Understand how trauma affects brain development, communication, and attachment in adolescent girls.
Identify trauma responses such as fight, flight, freeze, and fawn—and how they show up at home.
Apply trauma-sensitive strategies to foster trust, emotional safety, and open communication.
Avoid common communication pitfalls and triggers that can escalate tension.
Use relationship-building practices to support resilience and emotional regulation early on, before issues intensify.
Key Highlights:
The workshop began with a reflective icebreaker and an overview of trauma’s impact on the developing brain. We then introduced the core values of trauma-informed parenting, including predictability, emotional validation, and co-regulation.
A standout moment was reflecting on a video by neuroscientist and trauma expert, Dr. Bruce Perry, that emphasized the need to "regulate, relate, and then reason" during conversations when the heat is on high. The advice resonated with everyone in the room. Here is a link to the video titled Trauma-Informed Parenting – Sequential Engagement.
We closed with a rich discussion, and each attendee received:
A communication prompt guide tailored to common situations with teen girls.
A toolkit of grounding and co-regulation techniques to use in daily life.
Why Early Matters
One of the most important takeaways from our session was this: early, supportive conversations can change the trajectory of a girl’s life. When caregivers learn to recognize trauma and respond with empathy, they create a foundation of emotional safety that fosters healing—not just in the moment, but for years to come.
This kind of proactive, trauma-informed approach is not about fixing problems after they arise—it's about preventing them from taking root by building strong, trusting relationships early and often.
Bring This Workshop to Your Organization
The powerful response at Girls Spark showed us that caregivers and youth advocates are eager for tools that help them show up for the girls in their lives—before a crisis happens. If you're part of a school, community group, youth-serving organization, or clinical team, we’d love to bring this session to your space.
👉 Let’s partner to support the next generation of strong, resilient girls. Contact us today to schedule this workshop for your team.
Together, we can build a future where every girl feels seen, supported, and safe—starting at home.
