advocates
Cheryl Dellasega, NP, PhD, is the author of several books on issues affecting women and girls: Forced to Be Family, Mean Girls Grown Up, The Starving Family, Girl Wars and Surviving Ophelia. She has been internationally recognized for her work on relational aggression (peer bullying) and other issues affecting adolescent girls.
Dr. Dellasega’s first book, Surviving Ophelia, shared stories of adolescent angst and the ways women can help their daughters deal with problems such as anorexia, depression, school difficulties and rebellion.
That publication prompted Girl Wars, a book on girls in crisis due to female bullying. Her third book, The Starving Family, describes the impact of anorexia, bulimia and cutting on mothers, fathers and siblings. Mean Girls Grown Up examines how girls who do not learn a better way grow into women who use bullying to hurt each other. Her latest book, Forced to Be Family, examines female family feuds.
As the founder of Club and Camp Ophelia™, programs that help teens confront and overcome relational aggression, Dr. Dellasega has worked with thousands of girls and their parents, and regularly speaks to students and parents in diverse settings.
As a professor of Humanities in the College of Medicine and professor Women’s Studies at Pennsylvania State University, Dr. Dellasega teaches and conducts research on psychosocial issues.
articles by author
Read Cheryl’s contributions:
Overly Competitive Team Sports
Saying No to Friendly Temptation
