Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls

313 Pages·2005·1.34 MB·English

by  Mary Bray Pipher

Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Acknowledgements
Dedication
Preface

Chapter 1 - SAPLINGS IN THE STORM
Chapter 2 - THEORETICAL ISSUES-FOR YOUR OWN GOOD
Chapter 3 - DEVELOPMENTAL ISSUES—“I’M NOT WAVING, I’M
DROWNING”
Chapter 4 - FAMILIES—THE ROOT SYSTEMS
Chapter 5 - MOTHERS
Chapter 6 - FATHERS
Chapter 7 - DIVORCE
Chapter 8 - WITHIN THE HURRICANE—DEPRESSION
Chapter 9 - WORSHIPING THE GODS OF THINNESS
Chapter 10 - DRUGS AND ALCOHOL-IF OPHELIA WERE ALIVE TODAY
Chapter 11 - SEX AND VIOLENCE
Chapter 12 - THEN AND NOW
Chapter 13 - WHAT I’VE LEARNED FROM LISTENING
Chapter 14 - LET A THOUSAND FLOWERS BLOOM
Chapter 15 - A FENCE AT THE TOP OF THE HILL

Recommended Reading
COMING IN HARDCOVER FROM
“[A] COMPELLING ACCOUNT.” —Roanoke Times & World-
News
“Pipher is an eloquent advocate.... With sympathy and focus she cites case
histories to illustrate the struggles required of adolescent girls to maintain a
sense of themselves.... Pipher offers concrete suggestions for ways by which
girls can build and maintain a strong sense of self.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Pipher integrates literature, memoirs, and memories of her own adolescence
and that of her daughter; she also has a deft way of summing up psychological
phenomena in layperson’s terms.... Serious and thoughtful material presented
with the fluidity of good fiction.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“A must read for all of us who care about the young women in our lives ...
Reviving Ophelia arms us with information we can use in helping our daughters
grow to adulthood with their strength intact.”
—Lincoln Star Journal

“This book is the first to explore carefully the many aspects of adolescence. It does so without
blaming, vilifying, or shouting ‘Victim here.’ Instead Dr. Pipher uses clear, jargonless language and
fascinating stories to challenge readers to look at what our culture does to teenage girls. Parents,
teachers, and therapists alike will profit from Dr. Pipher’s knowledge.”
—Dr. MARY KENNING
Juvenile Justice System
Minneapolis

“Adolescent girls have always fallen through the cracks, but now they are tumbling into a chasm. Dr.
Pipher goes deep inside their world and comes back with a clearheaded and compassionate report.
We owe it to ourselves and our daughters to read this book.”
—CAROL SPINDEL
Also by MARY PIPHER , PH. D.
SEEKNG PEACE
WRITING TO CHANGE THE WORLD
THE SHELTER OF EACH OTHER
ANOTHER COUNTRY
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All clients are composite characters drawn from my life experience and clinical work. Names and details
have be changed to protect confidentiality.

Copyright © 1994 by Mary Pipher, Ph.D.

All rights reserved.
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PRINTING HISTORY
First Ballantine Books trade paperback edition: March 1995
First Riverhead trade paperback edition: July 2005
eISBN : 978-1-10107776-4

Pipher, Mary Bray.
Reviving Ophelia : saving the selves of adolescent girls / Mary Pipher.
p. cm.
eISBN : 978-1-10107776-4
1. Teenage girls—Psychology—Case studies. 2. Teenage girls—Family relationships—Case studies. 3.
Self-esteem in adolescence—Case studies. I. Title.
HQ798.P
305.23—dc20

http://us.penguingroup.com
Acknowledgments
Thank you to my family—Jim, Zeke and Sara and all the Brays, Pages and
Piphers.
I appreciate my writers’ groups—Nebraska Wesleyan Writers’ Group and
Prairie Trout. I thank these writers for their help with this project: Pam Barger,
Claudia Bepko, Carol Bly, Emilie Buchwald, Paul Gruchow, Twyla Hansen,
Carolyn Johnsen, Jo-Anne Krestan, Margaret Nemoede, Marjorie Saiser, Leon
Satterfield, Carol Spindel and Elizabeth Weber. I thank my writing teachers:
Kent Haruf, Bill Kloefkorn and my first teacher, Charles Stubblefield.
The following people helped me with the book: Nancy Bare, Randy Barger,
Beatty Brasch, Ellen Brt, Laura Freeman, Sherri Hanigan, Anna Harms, Sally
Jones, Karen Kelly, Brooke and Cathy Kindler, Mary Kenning, Dixie Lubin,
Jane Masheter, Frank McPherson, Natalie Porter, Carrie Rodgerson, Jan and
Amy Stenberg, Susan Whitmore and Jan Zegers. And I thank all my clients,
whom I cannot name, for the many lessons they have taught me.
I thank my friend and editor, Jane Isay, and her assistant, Rona Cohen. I thank
my literary agent, Susan Lee Cohen.