Last year, with support from Girls Leadership’s Empower Club, youth at Latitude High School in Oakland created and modeled in a photoshoot to embody strength, vulnerability, and body confidence. They held a creative showcase of their photos and poetry called “My Beautiful Body” at the Joyce Gordon Gallery in downtown Oakland to share their work …

My daughter’s friend has an eating disorder that she was hospitalized for last year. The friend talks about herself in terms I associate with people recovering from addiction, which is good, right? However, I’m concerned about some new behavior I’m seeing in my daughter since they’ve been hanging out a lot more. Lately my daughter has been photographing all her food and putting it on instagram. She lines up each dish, makes sure each leave is just right, and if she doesn’t like the result, she’ll start over again with a new plate. How can I tell if she’s a budding photo journalist, or if this is a sign of having control issues with her food? 3 min read

I’m a single dad to a 14 year old who takes 2 hours to get ready every morning. There’s an oil and steam ritual she must do daily, and then hair styling and makeup… She told me, “You just don’t understand, I’m not pretty. I have to do all this.” and now I don’t know what to do or say. She’s very pretty; her aunts and grandmother say so too. I’m worried she’s got a very unrealistic view of herself and it will undermine her self-esteem in the long run. Help? 4 min read

I could use help supporting my teenage daughter in dealing with difficult emotions after a crisis. For example, last summer her camp friend was cutting herself and my daughter felt she had to keep it a secret to preserve the friendship. Or the recent death of a student in a neighboring school she didn’t know, but she reacted like it was her best friend. She seems to be more emotionally charged about everything, big and small, and I’m not sure what to say or how to get her to talk to me. Any tips? 4 min read