Group gives girls a little get up and glow

A gap in meaningful support has prompted a youth practitioner to start a Helensburgh program aimed at improving how teenage girls navigate the pressures of growing up.

Glow Girls is a group for high school-aged girls led by qualified practitioner and therapist Sammy Mahler, who provides mentoring designed to help participants become resilient and self-aware young women.

Sammy founded Glow Girls two years ago, informed by her experience as a youth practitioner. She saw that teenage girls were facing many of the same challenges she and her classmates did when she was at school.

"I feel like there's so many young girls out there struggling with anxiety, which is on the rise, low self-worth, being emotionally overwhelmed with peer pressure, and even I think with identifying who they are, that sense of self,” she says.

"I wanted to bring something to young girls to help them build that inner strength and have that emotional awareness and that confidence that we didn’t have when we were young.”

Glow Girls is designed for girls in Year 7 to Year 10. To maintain a safe and supportive environment, groups are limited to a maximum of 10 participants. This small-group setting allows the girls to speak honestly while building emotional growth, leadership skills, resilience tools, real-world confidence, and self-awareness.

"The whole thing around the program is just focusing on practical tools and skill sets that they can use in their everyday lives," Sammy says.

"It has been incredible. I feel like the outcomes of what I wanted for the program have been very successful. The girls feel like they're safe to talk and to express themselves and feel supported around what they're talking about.

"One of the girls had actually mentioned that she loves it because she feels she can talk and she's not embarrassed and she's not going to be laughed at."

Following the success of the original Glow Girls cohort, Sammy began offering an extended mentoring program, diving deeper into emotional regulation, relationships, boundaries, identifying personal values, future planning and job readiness.

"That's been exceptional. It's been really well received. That's basically been just a really nice cohort of girls... again, it’s around guided activity and then we do peer support, but guided activity around different focus areas that we work on in each mentoring session.

"We tap into relationships, developing a sense of self around their values, stress and anxiety tools, and also goal setting."

Sammy is developing a new four-week program called Mean Girls as an offshoot of the original model. This program targets Year 6 students as an early intervention before they transition into high school.

"A lot of the behaviour in young girls is starting at a younger age ... predominantly I find out it’s starting Year 6," she says. 

“It’s really based around friendship, conflict, exclusion, social peer pressure, comparison, bullying – all the dynamics that fall into that 'mean girl' category,

"I feel if you can do something as an early intervention, you can equip the girls to better understand and have ways where they're going to be able to respond with confidence and help them regulate emotionally around some of the conflict they’re up against. It’s kind of like that footstep in the right direction.”

Looking ahead, Sammy is focused on building school partnerships and securing the resources needed to expand. While she operates out of a room provided by Indigo Design, her goal is to establish a permanent community wellness hub.

"I've been very blessed that Amanda from Indigo Design has been allowing me to use one of the rooms at the back of her shop... that's been really kind and I’m really grateful that I've been able to facilitate out of that,” she says.

"I've just done two and a half years of study to better myself as a qualified youth practitioner therapist, but funding is always a need... at the bottom line, that’s really what is holding it back but I really want to expand and I’m looking for support around that in the community." 

Glowing references

Glow Girl Maddie: “Being a part of mentoring with Sammy has seriously helped me so much. Over the past few years, Sammy has helped me and so many others grow so much and learn how to navigate difficult situations. I’ve made friends for life being a part of the Glow Girls community, and I’m genuinely so grateful for the opportunity to know Sammy.”

Mel, mum of Maddie: “Sammy and her Glow Girls program and mentoring has had a huge impact on my teenage daughter’s life. Sammy talks to the girls about topics and issues that the girls may not want to talk to their parents about. My daughter has made friends for life and has the utmost respect for Sammy. My daughter always comes home in the best mood after a session. I would love to see Sammy’s service get government funding as she covers issues that are not taught in school. We don’t know what we would do without Sammy!”

Fiona, mum of May: “Glow Girls gives young girls and teens a platform to grow from. Sammy includes so many subjects that are age appropriate for each group, if you feel like your child is not fitting in socially, Sammy gives these girls tools to use. I've personally seen my daughter soar. Sammy is simply amazing! Highly recommend this to any Mum with a daughter.”

Glow Girl Stella: “I love going to Glow Girls because we can talk about anything without being laughed at, or embarrassed. It has given me a space where I CAN BE MY AUTHENTIC SELF!”

Ennette, mum of Lily: “Glow girls builds the foundations of resilience, self-awareness, healthy relationships, kindness, confidence, and emotional intelligence – equipping young girls with the essential skills and mindset to navigate the challenges of their teenage years and grow into their best, authentic selves. Glow girls has been an incredible journey for my daughter and I am forever grateful for Sammy’s guidance!”

For more information, visit A Fountain Of Youth on Facebook or contact Sammy, 0418 344 714; sammahle@bigpond.com