MEAN GIRLS - On Social Aggression and Online Dynamics with Teen Therapist Christina King, LMFT

We call it the Mean Girls episode. Christina King's first note is that she does not really believe in mean girls. She believes in mean behavior, which is different and actually more useful to know. In this conversation, Christina walks through what healthy friendships actually look like for teen girls, where closeness tips into enmeshment, and what is really going on when social aggression shows up in middle school. She explains why the fastest route to social inclusion is sometimes exclusion, how girls use cruelty to climb a social ladder they did not build, and why the same behavior looks different depending on whether it is relational or social in nature. She also gives parents and teens practical tools: the TALK acronym for navigating conflict, the three C's (curiosity, connection, correction, in that order), and the front stage and backstage framework for understanding why you have to earn your way into the real version of someone before they let you in. The digital piece gets its own section. Texts, social media, phone calls, the AIM era that Asha and Keshiia both survived. Christina's bottom line: when in doubt, put the phone down. A conflict that is escalating over text almost always gets worse before it gets better. Face to face is almost always the move. And the hardest thing she tells parents: the way to protect your kid is by giving them the skills to protect themselves. Going scorched earth on Katie is not one of those skills. 🎙️ Meet Bridget | Season 6, Episode 167 Part 3 of 3 — Teen Mental Health Awareness Resources: NAMI.org | Call or text 988 @christinakingtherapy