Research finds that seventy percent of young girls and women have low self esteem. A number of girls and women suffer from anxiety and depression, but aren’t able to get the benefits of therapy. So licensed psychologist and founder of The Practice Dr. Lauren Hazzouri has stepped in to become a part of the solution and has revolutionized the way young girls and women care about their mental health.
When Dr. Lauren started her private practice, Hazzouri Psychology in Scranton, Pennsylvania, years ago, she saw that the girls seeking therapy were experiencing the same issues manifested in different ways.
“What I recognized was no matter what girls were coming in with, maybe they were diagnosed with depression or anxiety or they may have symptoms of an eating disorder, there was one common denominator,” Dr. Lauren said to Her Campus. “The negative thoughts that each one of them were telling themselves were secondary to what society tells us from the time we’re born.”
She also found that these girls were having the same negative thoughts that she did way back when. Regardless of what the symptoms looked like, the source was still the same. She then began to research on how social norms affected the way young girls and women thought, felt, and behaved. Social norms essentially are the manors of behaviors that are considered acceptable in society. So basically when you break it down, it’s what we need to do in order to fit into this place.
She could relate to so many of the girls coming as she also struggled with her own mental health issues in the past. Psychology wasn’t her first career choice; it ultimately became her plan B as she initially went to Penn State University for dance.
“I spent everyday from the time I was a little girl in the dance studio, from the time I got out of school to the time I went to bed. I was a dancer. And my goal was always to be a professional dancer until my own mental health struggles got in the way of that,” Dr. Lauren said.
According to Dr. Lauren, it took her time to become comfortable with who she was, to fight the impact of society and to stand in her power in order to realize that she didn’t have to practice psychology like everyone else. “Now that I know and that I am comfortable with this traditional way [of psychology] let me kind of tweak this a little bit and bring my personality into it.”
So Dr. Lauren created a curriculum for girls that’s focused on the four aspects of self: physically, spiritually, emotionally and intellectually. It combines aspects of western psychology and eastern psychology to give young girls and women everyday strategies to utilize. The physical aspect encompasses the basics of eat, sleep and exercise. As we are on our hustle, the first thing to go is often the physical aspects of our lives that makes us feel good, according to Dr. Lauren. TBH, it’s usually always sleep. Once our physical health is in check, we can get our mood in check. According to Dr. Lauren, it is the first step in decreasing the external variables that could cause low mood or increased anxiety. The next step is focusing emotionally, managing the negative thought voice.
“If we manage that negative thought voice and recognize that thoughts aren’t facts, and we can change the negative thoughts to being truths, then we can feel better,” Dr. Lauren said. “Because thoughts lead to feelings, feelings lead to action. So if we want to change the way we feel, we’ve got to change the way we think.”
You work on the spiritual aspect by connecting with other people in a meaningful way, even if that’s just doing something in your community. You would be using your skills to have an impact on someone else not just yourself.
“We need to feel like we’re purposeful like we are doing something that matters,” Dr. Lauren said.
The intellectual aspect of this four part syllabus is just learning something new everyday. As women in college that is super easy to do as we are always learning something new each day.
“I thought if everybody does something in each of these areas every day then it’s likely that we could shed the impact of society and stand in our power, which will increase self of steam and then decrease mental health concerns,” Dr. Lauren said. Many young girls experience low self-esteem because they’ve sacrificed their sense of self in order to conform to society.
The curriculum is meant to help women to “emerge”, so that what feels good today also feels good tomorrow so that you could grow closer to the truest expression of yourself.
“Girls and women often toss aside integral pieces of self and things that we need to do for us in order to feel good in order to please others,” Dr Lauren said. “If you treat [the curriculum] like a class, you can’t necessarily say yes to everything because you have to get your run in.”
There has been a rapid decline in young girls mental health, which can be attributed to so many external reasons. This generation of young girls and women have been taught to fit into the opinions of others. Dr. Lauren found that so many girls could benefit from her message and from therapy, but aren’t able to get it. About 80 percent of people who would gain from therapy aren’t able to receive it because of lack of awareness, lack of available resource, fear or shame, or financial hardship. She thought these methods don’t only need to happen within the confines of an office.
Dr. Lauren developed The Practice, in order to reach the 80 percent of girls who could benefit from the curriculum and a community. In the most basic form, it’s a method using the four aspects of the curriculum, and provides different strategies within them that are dependent on symptoms. It’s essentially a “work out for your spirit” and a “pep rally for your soul”. The Practice stems from Dr. Lauren’s desire to normalize caring for one’s mental health, by focusing on self and society, mood, anxiety and depression, and your relationship with self and others.
“I thought you know this is a message that needs to go to a larger demographic,” Dr. Lauren said. “I don’t want to be in an office in PA and just teach this to the girls who have the opportunity to come in here. Because therapy is amazing, and it’s a great experience. I think everybody could benefit from it but not everybody gets it.”
There is a twist though. The Practice Ceremony incorporates interactive and community building almost “workouts” for our whole being. The aspect of community is incredibly important for Dr. Lauren. The 90-minute community-based event aims to start shedding the impact of toxic social norms in an open and active dialogue with other girls experiencing the same problems. It’s like the buddy system; it is so much easier to shed the impact of society, when it’s done together. Each girl, working together becomes a part of their solutions.
“I would see so many girls who’ve struggled with different things and because of HIPPA regulations and confidentiality with my practice I would see someone at 11:00 am and I would see someone at 2:00 pm. They’d be struggling with the same kind of stuff, and I’d think ‘God I wish they knew each other’. If I could just introduce her to her, they could do this thing together,” Dr. Lauren said. “If they could just do this together, they wouldn’t feel so alone. If we can do that together, then we can change social norms. We can become the new norm, but we need every single one of us to do it. Then we can change what the social norms are for future generations.”
Now The Ceremony aspect is like a celebration, according to Dr. Lauren. It is what brings The Practice to life through different artistic expressions. She incorporates music, movement, and poetry to talk about ever-present issues affecting young girls today. It is a way to stay present in the moment, and experience the presence and joy of everyone being together in one room.
“There’s no way that we can reduce the stigma of mental health concerns by talking about them. We need to reduce the stigma of mental health concerns by recognizing that ‘Yeah’ we all have this stuff, but we’re all okay like we don’t have to feel okay to be okay. We’re all here, and we’re all singing and dancing and chanting and having a blast. And we all have this mental health stuff too.”
Resident lady boss Dr. Lauren finds her career to be everything. She has created an event filled with an abundance of girl power, and a new way of talking about mental health.
“That’s what I mean, when I say we don’t come with a purpose, we are our purpose. The Practice is the truest expression of me. It took me literally four decades to get here.”
And if there was one piece of advice she could give to her college self and to other college women it would be, “You are already everything that you need to be.”