St. Clement’s School welcomed renowned clinical psychologist Dr. Lisa Damour to the School on Wednesday, October 23. After sitting down with SCS staff, Dr. Damour met with SCS’s students in Grades 7-12.
“The world expects you to do it all, and to do it really well,” the New York Times bestselling author, columnist, and CBS News contributor explained to the girls in the morning session.
“If you’re working hard in school, you’re going to feel stressed,” Dr. Damour pointed out. “If you have a big test, you’re going to feel anxious.”
“However, society and psychologists have different views of stress and anxiety,” she explained. “Society tends to view both as being completely negative, but psychologists regard them as having positive attributes that can be used beneficially.”
The bestselling author of Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls, and Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood, Dr. Damour offered advice on how the girls can cope with the challenges that they currently face and offered ways to turn what some perceive as negatives into positives. This included advising the girls to be efficient, strategic, and tactical in their school work to help ensure that they continue to succeed in school to the very best of their abilities.
“You are not growing your brain unless you’re working at the edge of your capacity,” she explained, while also encouraging them to ensure that they properly recover between each mental work-out session.
Dr. Damour’s visit to SCS ended with a sold-out talk and book-signing in Powell Hall in the evening. The event was the first in the LINCWell Speaker Series for the 2019-2020 school year.
In January, the School will welcome mindfulness coach Dave Mochel.
