• Do you sometimes struggle to understand your pre-teen or teen daughter?
• Are you uncertain about how to help your daughter navigate issues girls commonly struggle with during their pre-teen and teen years such as school stress, peer pressure, self-esteem, body image, dating, puberty, friendship challenges, transitioning to a new school or grade, and relationships?
• Are you concerned that your daughter spends more time with her friends or online than she does with you?
• Are you worried that your daughter is not living up to her full potential?
• Are you unsure about how to talk to your daughter about sensitive issues?
• Do you want to improve your relationship with your daughter?
• Do you want personalized tips on how you can help your daughter build positive self-esteem and reach her greatest potential?

I understand that fathers may feel stressed, anxious, and inadequate about parenting their daughters.  If you answered “yes” to any of the above questions and are serious about strengthening your relationship with your daughter, I have a special Father’s Day gift for you…

Because I am so passionate about helping parents raise strong, confident, and empowered daughters, I am offering a complimentary phone consultation/coaching session to 3 fathers of girls (ages 9-17).

In order to be considered for a free session, send an email to teencoaching at drcarla dot com before 11:59PM on Monday, June 21, 2010 with the subject “FREE Phone Consultation” (this offer is only valid for new clients). Please include the following information in your email message:

1. Your name
2. Daughter’s age(s) and grade in school
3. Home town
4. Briefly describe your biggest concern/parenting challenge?
5. What is your daughter’s biggest challenge?
6. Is your daughter currently in counseling or therapy?
7. How can I help you and your daughter(s)? What would you like to get out of our phone coaching session?
8. How did you hear about me?

Email your responses to the above questions to teencoaching at drcarla dot com (do not use the Contact form on this web site).

I am looking forward to learning more about you and helping you gain insight into your daughter’s world!

To your daughter’s success and greatness,

PS: Please be sure to sign up for my email list to receive tips, resources, and special offers for parents of girls.

• More information about coaching with Dr. Carla

1. I am offering a complimentary 30-minute phone consultation (on a topic that I address in my coaching practice) to the first 3 mothers of girls (ages 9-18) who email me before 11:59PM on Sunday, May 9, 2010 with the subject “FREE Phone Consultation” (this offer is only valid for new clients).
2. If you register your daughter(s) for the coaching group before 11:59PM EST on Sunday, May 9, 2010, I am offering $150 off your registration!

Happy Mother’s Day!

I am excited to announce the dates for the Spring 2010 session of my Girls Destined for Greatness™ coaching program for pre-teen and teen girls in Atlanta. I created this coaching group to inspire girls to make positive decisions, embrace their uniqueness, pursue their goals, and step boldly towards achieving their true greatness. Participants should be ready to fall in love with themselves, take their lives to the next level, and have fun!

Girls enrolled in Girls Destined for Greatness™ will work closely with me to learn tools and strategies to help deepen self-awareness, pursue goals, and develop a strong foundation for success.  If you sign up, you will meet with me on a regular basis and receive interactive coaching and inspirational exercises in between sessions to help you make progress along your journey to greatness. The four-session group starts on Thursday, May 13th, so reserve your spot today!

Click here to watch a video and learn more about this exciting coaching group and the special offer.

Read the article.

Article correction:

It was incorrectly reported in this article that I am a medical doctor (M.D.). Please note that I am not a physician. I earned a Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy) in Health Behavior and Health Education (cognate: Social Work) from the University of Michigan.

Please consult your physician or other professional health care provider for specific medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

You are invited to participate in a complimentary webinar and Q&A call with Carla Stokes, Ph.D., M.P.H.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010
8:00 pm Eastern Time

Join Dr. Carla as she shares 5 Tips to Help Your Daughter Build Healthy Self-Esteem and Self-Worth. Sign up to get information and resources for concerned parents and more details about Dr. Carla’s life-changing new Girls Destined for Greatness™ coaching group for teen and tween girls in Atlanta.

Don’t miss out on these valuable tips!

Register for the Webinar/Q&A Call

I hope to meet you at the lock-in!

Keynote Description

What Girls Are Saying about Dr. Carla

“Dr. Carla Stokes: You are a great inspiration to all young females. I thank you for taking your time to speak to us.”

“I had an enjoyable time. I cried on probably everything you said. Thank U”

“I really feel you on what you were saying. I’ve been talking to God about it. It is really heart breaking to see women so degraded. God has really blessed you with a word and I’m grateful to see that someone is teaching. Thank you!”

Registration Deadline: Sunday, March 7th.
No onsite registration permitted.

Forms and payment should be submitted via the following options:

1. MAIL: Regarding Women Ministry Turner Chapel AME Church 492 North Marietta Pkwy Marietta, GA 30060

2. E-MAIL: Scan your registration form and e-mail it to the Regarding Women Ministry at the e-mail address listed on the flyer above.

Download the Lock-In Flyer (PDF)

Download Dr. Carla’s Workshop Description

Download the Registration Form

Download the Parental Consent Form

Questions: Please direct all registration questions directly to the Regarding Women Ministry (above).

Dating abuse is a very serious issue that can happen to anyone regardless of age, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, etc. With the heightened attention to dating abuse in the news and everyday conversations after the highly publicized incident involving Chris Brown and Rihanna, it is especially important to dispel myths that perpetuate stereotypes and make it difficult for young women and girls to speak out and seek support.

One of my favorite resources for young women and teens is Love is Respect — a great web site that provides a National Teen Dating Abuse Hotline and helpful information about healthy relationships and teen dating abuse: Visit Love Is Respect and find out more about Signs of Abuse and how you can help raise awareness about this important issue.

Update (March 24, 2010):

Check out Dr. Carla’s interview and teen dating violence resources in the “Special Report: State of Our Girls” article in the April/May 2010 issue of Heart and Soul Magazine. Read the article.

I am excited to announce the launch of my new Girls Destined for Greatness™ program for middle and high school girls in Atlanta. I created this coaching group to inspire girls to make positive decisions, embrace their uniqueness, pursue their goals, and step boldly towards achieving their true greatness. Participants should be ready to fall in love with themselves, take their lives to the next level, and have fun!

Girls enrolled in Girls Destined for Greatness™ will work closely with me to learn tools and strategies to help deepen self-awareness, pursue goals, and develop a strong foundation for success.  If you sign up, you will meet with me on a regular basis and receive inspirational exercises in between sessions to help you make progress along your journey to greatness.

Be sure to register for the complimentary webinar and Q&A call for more information about the upcoming session beginning in April (dates TBA):

Wednesday, March 17, 2010
8:00 pm Eastern Time

Join me as I share “5 Tips to Help Your Daughter Build Healthy Self-Esteem and Self-Worth.” Sign up to get information and resources for concerned parents and more details about my life-changing new Girls Destined for Greatness™ program.

Register for the Webinar/Q&A Call

More Information about Girls Destined for Greatness

Product Description (from Amazon)

Hip-hop is in crisis. For the past dozen years, the most commercially successful hip-hop has become increasingly saturated with caricatures of black gangstas, thugs, pimps, and ’hos. The controversy surrounding hip-hop is worth attending to and examining with a critical eye because, as scholar and cultural critic Tricia Rose argues, hip-hop has become a primary means by which we talk about race in the United States.

In The Hip-Hop Wars, Rose explores the most crucial issues underlying the polarized claims on each side of the debate: Does hip-hop cause violence, or merely reflect a violent ghetto culture? Is hip-hop sexist, or are its detractors simply anti-sex? Does the portrayal of black culture in hip-hop undermine black advancement?

A potent exploration of a divisive and important subject, The Hip-Hop Wars concludes with a call for the regalvanization of the progressive and creative heart of hip-hop. What Rose calls for is not a sanitized vision of the form, but one that more accurately reflects a much richer space of culture, politics, anger, and yes, sex, than the current ubiquitous images in sound and video currently provide.

About the Author
Tricia Rose is a professor of Africana Studies at Brown University. She specializes in twentieth- and twenty-first-century African-American culture and politics, social thought, popular culture, and gender issues. The author of the seminal Black Noise, she lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

Me at the stained glass painting workshop

Do you take time for yourself on a regular basis? I’m not talking about taking time to shower, eat, or do the stuff that your parents and teachers expect you to do. I’m talking about spending quality time nurturing yourself and honoring your spirit by making your hobbies, dreams, and passions a priority in your life.

It’s really important to take time on a regular basis to spend quiet time connecting with what really excites you deep down inside — even if you only have 5-10 minutes to daydream, write in a journal, or send a text to a friend about your plans for self-care.  So find the time and tune out anyone (including yourself) who attempts to make you feel guilty about making time for your personal growth and happiness.

I found a notebook recently that contained some sketches from my elementary and high school years (mostly fashion illustrations and sketches of my high school boyfriend).  I felt a sense of loss because I haven’t really taken the time over the years to cultivate my artistic abilities even though I have loved to draw and paint ever since I was a little girl. As I grew older, I became fascinated with airbrushing and stained glass and learned how to do both, but I really wanted to take advanced classes in the ancient art of glass painting.

I recently signed up for a stained glass painting and airbrush workshop as a special gift and reward to myself for almost completing my new web site. I did so even though my “inner hater” warned me that I couldn’t afford to learn this complicated art form at this time in my life.  As a recovering perfectionist, I am really proud of myself for allowing myself to celebrate my progress even though I had not yet launched the web site.  I just returned from the workshop, and  feel renewed and more balanced and creative.  Even though it took a few days away from my plans to launch my web site, I had an amazing time and it was definitely worth the sacrifice.  I am excited about getting started on a special art project I have been planning for more than 13 years. All I have to do is get serious about making time in my busy schedule to work on it and let go of my desire for it to be perfect!

This Week’s Challenge:

I encourage you to write down at least five things that you LOVE to do and schedule time to spend at least 10 minutes this week doing at least one of the things on your list. If you don’t have hobbies, use the time to identify some things that might interest you. If you are really motivated, I challenge you to spend the next week doing at least one thing every day that makes you happy and rewards your soul. After you take some time to enjoy your hobbies, take a moment to stop and become aware of how good it makes you feel. And if you find yourself feeling guilty about taking time away from your daily grind, take a deep breath and repeat after me, “It’s okay to take time for myself.”

To your greatness,

PS: I would love to hear about what’s on your list and how you are making time for yourself…