‘One Worth’ sets out to teach girls self-worth

INSTILLING a sense of self-worth in young girls during their formative years to create grounded women is the focus of an Ocean Grove pilot program.

Mindset educator Kirsten Roberts and clinical psychologist Sandy Burnett have devised an evidence-based program called ‘One Worth’, aiming to instil girls with a strong sense of self-worth.

“Our beliefs are actually programmed into us in our former years so instead of waiting for negative beliefs to be instilled, we want her to see life through the lens of ‘I can do this’ and ‘I am worth this,'” Ms Roberts said.

During her previous work with women, Ms Roberts realised that problems associated with a lack of self-worth could be stopped through proactive measures.

“It just hit me – it’s all about girls. Instead of saving women lets come down stream and help girls and fill their self-worth at the source,” she said.

The pilot program will commence in early January with an initial focus on gathering evidence on how a girl’s life changes when you instil a stronger strength of self-worth.

“We want to take self-worth from being a fluffy variable and give it much more concrete evidence on what it means to a girl’s life,” Ms Roberts said.

“If you think of a tree that has really strong roots in the ground, it is not moved by the elements because it has a good anchoring.

“That is what it’s like when a girl has a good sense of self-worth, she knows who she is, she knows her worth and she will be grounded in that,” she said.

The program, which was released early last week, received 70 registrations in 24 hours with Ms Roberts stating that post-Covid-19 families are now more aware of mental health and self-esteem than in the past.

The first round will cater for two groups, a junior program for grades 5 to year 7 and a senior program from those in years 8 to 10.

Ms Roberts said she does not believe that young girls’ self-worth is worse than before but rather there is now more awareness into issues pertaining to low self-worth and the affects that continue into adult life.

“I think there is more pressure on young girls because they have so much more source of input and standards to live up to,” she said.

Each session includes an element of movement and creation that allows participants to embody the lesson of that week.

“We want them to feel it in their body so it is not just a talk-fest and so they know what it like to have this element of self-worth,” she said.

One Worth has already received positive responses from a range of organisations and educators with hopes of delivering the program both privately and in partnership with schools in the future.

To register interest in future programs head to: https://oneworth.com.au/.