Maria Clark Fleshood is a Licensed Professional Psychotherapist, Advanced Imago Relationship Therapist and a Fellow with the American Association of Pastoral Counselors. With a private practice in Virginia, she specializes in relationship therapy, helping parents and their adolescent daughters maintain meaningful and strong connections. Dr. Fleshood has been a parenting specialist, working nationally and internationally with adolescent girls, for more than 30 years. Her academic, clinical, and educational work arises from her belief that a new cultural response is needed for girls to achieve a successful transition into adolescence. In From Tweens to Teens she offers parents the tools to implement such a response.  Dr. Fleshood has taught in universities and public schools, developed curricula for parenting adolescent females, facilitated workshops and parenting groups, spoken to youth programs, lectured to large groups on parenting female adolescents, and facilitated Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction clinics for girls. She was trained as a psychotherapist, educator, and theologian. Her multidiscipline approach brings unique insight to her writing and to her parenting approach. This work is informed by theory, neuroscience, behavioral science, and research.  Maria Fleshood lives with her family in central Virginia. She and her husband have four adult children and four granddaughters. -