
If you've ever watched your daughter come home in tears over a friendship drama, an immediate instinct kicks in. You want to swoop in, fix it and somehow extract the pain. When they crumble, our entire world collapses with them.
But according to child psychologist Clare Rowe, that protective impulse might actually be hindering them.
As founder of Rowan Associates Child and Family Psychology, Rowe has spent years observing the intricate world of girls' friendships — and she believes most parents are making one critical mistake.
Watch: Season, Reason, Lifetime Friends. Post continues below.
"We know that girls develop social, emotional and verbal skills earlier than boys, and their friendships, even as adults, are so different. Our friendships are based on so much of a deep emotional connection," Rowe told This Glorious Mess podcast.
"Girls' friendships are based on secret telling, sharing feelings and personal stories. And that friendship, as we have with our adult female friends, is really powerful and beautiful, but there's a lot at stake when it goes wrong. There's a lot at stake for a girl if you lose a friendship."
When conflicts arise between girls, they rarely manifest as physical confrontations. Instead, Rowe points out, they take a different form entirely.