Doctors offer Parents Help Talking about Puberty

BIRMINGHAM, Mich. - Jan. 17, 2016 - PRLog -- BIRMINGHAM, Mich. - Jan 17, 2016 - To get parents and kids talking about puberty, two pediatricians offer workshops to help parents discuss the awkward topic. Metro-Detroit based doctors, Lisa Klein and Carrie Leff, created Turning Teen to offer mothers a way to start the conversation about puberty with their daughters in a casual and creative environment.

Since their launch in October 2015 they have had a dozen workshops, helping over 125 girls understand how their bodies work and what changes they can expect in their tween years.  The response has been incredible from both mothers AND daughters. One mom said, “My daughter had mixed emotions about going to a puberty class, but by the end was completely engaged.”  Mothers leave the two-hour workshop relieved that the “puberty talk” has finally been started, and are pleasantly surprised that conversations naturally continued to happen after the workshop ended.  “Since coming home from the class we have had ongoing chats with both girls about puberty and they are no longer shy about bringing the topics up with us,” one mom wrote in a Facebook review of the class.

Kids do not have a lot of opportunity to learn accurate information about their bodies.  Dr. Klein warns that “kids are often gathering misinformation from unreliable sources, such as the internet and their friends. “  Dr. Leff adds, “Schools only spend a few hours a year talking about puberty and sex.” This prompted these doctor moms to create Turning Teen workshops for girls ages 8-14, covering the topics of male and female anatomy, the physical and emotional changes related to puberty, how to care for a girl’s changing body, and reproduction.

One mom summed it up the best. “Turning Teen is a gift to moms and daughters! It's a comfortable way to discuss an often uncomfortable topic.”

The doctors have met with multiple local community education programs interested in incorporating Turning Teen into their class offerings, and Birmingham Community Education is the first to offer it starting in February 2016.

For more information, or to register for a workshop, visit www.turningteen.com

About Turning Teen

Based in Bloomfield, Mich.,Turning Teen was created by two pediatricians to start the conversation with girls (ages 8-14) and their mothers about puberty. Its founders are Dr. Lisa Klein, a practicing pediatrician at Child Health Associates, P.C., and Dr. Carrie Leff, a practicing physician at Novi Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, PLLC. Both doctors are affiliated with William Beaumont Hospital, Michigan.

Dr. Klein and Dr. Leff are both “Doctor Moms” -- the perfect combination of expertise to help other parents transition their child through adolescence.