Valerie Grison Blog

As parents, it is very hard to witness your teen suffer. Your reflex is either to build a shield around them or give them the solution. Think twice before letting your instinct take over. Wouldn’t it be better for your teenager to learn by himself/herself how to cope with life’s adversities? It is very difficult […]

  Are you aware of the power of “Not Yet”? I am afraid I wasn’t. Not enough, at least. A few days ago I watched a talk called “The Power of Yet” by Carol Dweck. It was a revelation to me. As parents, as educators, we need to be aware of the power of “Not Yet” […]

Every parent has had the frustrating experience of admonishing their teenager and getting the impression that, somehow, the lines of communication are broken. You know, they look at you, they don’t misbehave, but you suspect that what you say is not reaching their brains. Is it that they don’t care? Are they being absolutely rebellious? […]

My decision to recover did not come lightly, nor did I completely commit myself to it when I chose to do so. To even begin to start thinking about recovery you first need to acknowledge and accept the fact you have a problem, which I did not. Despite being dangerously underweight I still saw myself […]

  It was my mother who feared my death the most. She would cry in hysterics of a night after having woken up from the same nightmare she had been having for weeks: my dad carrying my body, which can only be described as lifeless, pale and brittle, down the stairs in our home, with […]

Part I “You are not a mistake. You are not a problem to be solved. But you won’t discover this until you are willing to stop banging your head against the wall of shaming and caging and fearing yourself.” – Geneen Roth I’m 17 years old and I’m a recovering anorexic, and have been for […]

I’ve had the privilege to interact with a lot of teenagers, mostly to listen. What struck me most was that too many of them lack self-confidence and feel awkward, even though every single one has a special, unique talent. I started Give Us The Floor to help create a society in which every teenager understands […]

Teenage boys are most often presented as sex-crazed. Well, according to a study recently published in the American Journal of Men’s Health, that stereotype is inaccurate. The study looked at 33 teenage boys between 14 and 16 who were mostly black and who came from an urban area which serves mostly low-income families. Although the […]

  The Thigh Gap: What is it? A thigh gap is a clear space or gap between the thighs. The thighs are no longer touching each other when the feet and knees are together. Origin of the phenomenon: the 2012 Victoria’s Secret fashion show. For many teens, the thigh gap symbolizes the ideal body. Some […]

The unspoken communication of colors is key. Companies are aware of it. This “science” is applied to position a product and advertise it. It is also used inside the walls of some companies to motivate and increase the productivity and the happiness of the employees. The colors used with companies logos as well as products […]