#119: Grace in Parenting: Raising girls: Perfectionism, body image, and true friendship with Michelle Nietert

How can we help our daughters when they struggle with perfectionism? Body image? Negative self-talk? How can we help our daughters set boundaries and identify toxic friendships?

We’re in our Grace in Parenting series, and we’re talking all about raising daughters with Licensed Professional Counselor, author, speaker, and podcaster Michelle Nietert. (We talk so much in fact, that this one conversation spans two podcast episodes!)

In this episode, Michelle:

How to help your daughter stand up to a culture of mean,
What to do when your daughter suffers from negative self-talk,
Tools to help your perfectionistic child.

Key Quotes

“When we speak truth in love, it’s not a mandate that we speak truth to every human.” – LPC, author, speaker, and podcaster Michelle Nietert
“You keep going even though your daughter rolls her eyes. She’ll probably sigh too.” – LPC, author, speaker, and podcaster Michelle Nietert
“Your daughter is watching you.” – LPC, author, speaker, and podcaster Michelle Nietert
“Wanting and needing your child to be an extension of you is narcissism.” – LPC, author, speaker, and podcaster Michelle Nietert
“When it comes to perfectionism, we first model excellence, humility, and transparency.” – LPC, author, speaker, and podcaster Michelle Nietert
“If it has to be perfect, it’s a problem. If you like it to be perfect, you might be made like that.” – LPC, author, speaker, and podcaster Michelle Nietert
“Our kids cannot be driven by the fear of failure.” – LPC, author, speaker, and podcaster Michelle Nietert
“The world is telling our kids you cannot afford a mistake. One thing on social media will destroy your career. One grade will destroy you. Those are lies. God can overcome anything.” – LPC, author, speaker, and podcaster Michelle Nietert
“The minute our girls start being critical of themselves, we need to teach them what God says about them and then we need to teach them how to retrain their brains against what the world is telling them.” – LPC, author, speaker, and podcaster Michelle Nietert
“The prayers of God’s people in the spiritual battle are so significant.” – LPC, author, speaker, and podcaster Michelle Nietert
“There are some things our daughters are not going to learn under our roof.” – LPC, author, speaker, and podcaster Michelle Nietert
“Be around people who are honest with their struggles.” – LPC, author, speaker, and podcaster Michelle Nietert
“We are not really great friends until both of us have messed up and we have forgiven each other.” – LPC, author, speaker, and podcaster Michelle Nietert

Mentioned in the Podcast

The FCC requires that I tell you that I’m an Amazon Affiliate, which means I earn a bit of commission on each sale. But don’t worry there’s no added cost to you!

Parenting with Love and Logic by Foster Cline and Jim Fay
Melissa Spoelstra
Raising Mentally Healthy Kids: Treating your child’s diagnosed eating disorder
Becoming a Friend and a Lover by Dick Purnell
For all Michelle’s media appearances + podcast episodes

About Michelle Nietert

Michelle has been a licensed professional counselor for over 25 years and is the co-author of the award-winning book Loved and Cherished: 100 Devotions for Girls and Make Up Your Mind: Unlock Your Thoughts, Transform Your Life.

She leads a team of counselors as the clinical director of Community Counseling Associates in the Dallas, Texas area. She is a frequent guest on national television and podcasts, including her own podcast: Raising Mentally Healthy Kids. Michelle and her husband Drew have been married for almost two decades and are raising two school-aged children.