Starting in April of 2019, the Family Health Clinic will be hosting Accepting Me, a new group for teenage girls. This group will be a place where girls can support one another, learn more about themselves, and grow confident in who they are.

Kim O’Leary, one of the Family Health Clinic’s Behavioral Health Therapists and Licensed Clinical Social Workers, is the creator of the group and will be running the weekly meetings.

We talked with Kim about why she decided to create the Accepting Me group, who should come to this group, what participants can expect to learn, and more! Read through our conversation below.

Why did you decide to create the Accepting Me group?

We have many teenage girls who are seen at our clinic that do not realize their worth. It is heartbreaking. Beauty is often craved by young girls and the media often does not show an accurate view of true beauty. I want to create a safe place for girls to support one another, have fun, and learn to build self-esteem. The group will help participants be able to identify feelings, identify strengths, and what influences how we feel about ourselves.

Who is this group for?

This group is ideal for high school girls ages 13 to 18 years of age, who may suffer from anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, maybe bullied at school, need support, and who will agree to keep what happens in group confidential in order to create a safe space.

How do you think this group will benefit the community and address a need in the community?

Building strong women benefits the community as a whole. Girls knowing their value and worth will be the change markers of the future.  Empowered young women will decrease the likelihood they will accept poor treatment in relationships. These girls will learn how important it is to support one another and others in the community that may be suffering with the same issues.

What is your main hope for the girls in the group?

The aim of the group is to increase self-esteem by exploring identity, based around five factors: creative self, coping self, physical self, social self, and essential self, with an emphasis on the coping self. There will be a focus on exploring members’ current strengths and coping skills and introducing new coping skills. The group will promote an internally motivated sense of self-esteem, mindfulness skills, and a strengths based view of self.  Art therapy will be introduced as well.

Group Details:

The group is an open weekly group, starting April 4th.  It will meet every Thursday from 5:00pm to 6:00pm. At this time, group members need to be a patient of the clinic.  This includes primary care and/or behavioral health services. A parent or guardian will need to call me, Kim O’Leary at (765)564-3016 ext 2022 to enroll their daughter in the group.

For a detailed breakdown of how the group will be run, click here.

Group Topics:

Here are some of what will be covered by not limited to this list:

• Different rates of physical, emotional, sexual, and social development
• Body Image
• Healthy lifestyle choices
• Individuality
• Stereotypes
• Understand personal values and beliefs.
• Identification of support persons.
• Regulating emotions
• Feeling Identification
• Coping skills including the use of humor
• Bullying

Do your group members have to be a patient of the clinic?

No! This group is open to members of the community. However, if you are interested in becoming a patient contact the Family Health Clinic at 800-321-5043. 

Join the Accepting Me group!

If you have questions about the Accepting Me group or want to learn more, contact Kim O’Leary at oleary12@purdue.edu. ’ If you’d like to help us promote the group, you can download the flyer here.