Professional Training Workshops & Community Information Seminars

My workshops and community information seminars are tailored to meet the specific needs of your community or organization. They can be designed around topics that are of particular concern to you. Half-day, full-day, two and three-day workshops are available.

Writing, Editing and Resource Development

I have many years of experience and highly developed expertise in writing, editing and in the creation of resources. I can develop and produce manuals and resources for you and enhance the ones that you already have.

Professional consultation is available in person or by telephone. If you would like more information about my work or would like to arrange an engagement or consultation, please email salal@salal.com or contact me by phone at (604) 885-5998. Please remember that we are in the Pacific Time Zone just like Seattle and Los Angeles — three hours behind New York and Toronto. 9 a.m. on the East Coast is 6 a.m. out here.


Workshop/Seminar Topics


Fabulously Female: How to Feel Good About Yourself in a Weight-Obsessed World!
Addresses what happens to girls in the process of growing up female that encourages them to define themselves by the number on the bathroom scale. Teaches girls skills to develop a strong sense-of-self as well as a BIG VOICE, how to deal with the grungies—what feeling fat really means, why it’s hard to change your body, and promotes Health at Every Size.

Celebrating All Shapes and Sizes: Helping Children and Youth Feel Good About their Bodies and Their Selves. This workshop shifts the paradigm of obesity from the current belief that fat is bad to the belief that fat in itself is a body type and not a measure of health or self-worth. Instead of asking what we can do to help our ‘over’-weight kids lose weight, this workshop will explore how we can help children and teens of all shapes and sizes accept their bodies, develop resilience and a strong sense of self, and become and stay healthy. Participants will develop an understanding of the current societal beliefs around size, shape and health, how these beliefs guide their practice and the impact of these beliefs on children and youth. They will develop skills to help children and youth build resilience and accept and celebrate their bodies at whatever size they are.

What a Guy! Broadening the Definition of Masculinity.
Addresses what happens to boys in the process of growing up male that encourages them to define themselves by how muscular, strong and tough they are. Teaches boys skills to develop a strong sense-of-self, emotional literacy, how to deal with whoppers (hitting out) and grungies (feeling fat and stupid and being a loser). Explores a broader definition of masculinity, and promotes Health at Every Size.

Still Seeking Self: Getting Back to the Basics in Developing Mental Health Wellness, Resilience and a Strong Sense of Self.
Addresses the female developmental process and the impact of societal conditioning and stressors. Provides an understanding of the relationship between loss of voice, powerlessness, the erosion of self and the development of eating disorders and other health-related manifestations such as use of alcohol, disconnected sexuality, etc. Teaches practical skills to empower girls to find, build and maintain a strong sense-of-self, to enhance their connections to each other, to decode the language of fat and to help girls find and express their voice.

Celebrating Resilience: Helping Girls and Boys Handle the Stressors of Adolescence and Beat the Body Image Blues.
Addresses both the female and male developmental processes and the impact of societal conditioning and stressors. Teaches skills to help girls and boys understand the myth of the ideal body and the body image blues. Teaches skills to help girls and boys identify and deal with the grungies and the whoppers and how to identify, express and manage anger and other intense feelings. Teaches practical skills to help girls and boys accept their bodies and become healthy at whatever size they are.

Strategies for Survival: A Skill-Building Workshop for Parents of Children and Teens with Eating Disorders.
Provides participants with an understanding of the dynamics of eating disorders, so that they can demystify these behaviours and respond to them in a healthy way. Teaches parents skills and strategies to support their child without losing themselves. This includes discovering the behaviours that scare parents, understanding what triggers their fears and reactions, and learning practical ways of recognizing and dealing with stress and with their own feelings.

Treating Preadolescent/Adolescent Girls with Eating Disorders in Rural Communities.
Provides participants with user-friendly skills and knowledge that they can easily incorporate into their practice. Builds a framework, provides treatment skills and strategies, provides strategies for working with parents and teaching the Maudsley approach (where appropriate) and helps participants build a team in their community or region. This is at least a full-day workshop.

Coaching Female Athletes.
Coaching girls is different from coaching boys even though the sport may be the same. This workshop provides an understanding of female development and the body image issues that affect so many girls. It takes you into the world of female gender culture and provides you with strategies that work with girls to bring out the best in them.

Developing Healthy Sexuality
Addresses both male and female development, explores the differing attitudes/experiences towards sexuality for each gender, and details the pressures and stressors that adolescents face. Includes practical suggestions and strategies for teachers, parents and adolescents.

Staying Connected: Surviving the Challenges of Adolescence.
Addresses both male and female development, the stressors that girls and boys experience during adolescence and the challenges they face. Includes skills and strategies for teachers and parents.

Understanding Our Differences: Building Healthy Relationships.
Develops an understanding of how gender can determine behavior and influence the relationships between the sexes. Contains practical suggestions for parents, teachers and adolescents to understand themselves and the other gender. Teaches communication skills that enable people to feel heard instead of criticized.

Nurturing girlpower: Preventing Eating Disorders and Other Social and Health Risks to Girls.
Provides an understanding of female development, a framework for prevention and practical skills and strategies for teachers and parents.

Restoring girlpower: Supporting Girls who May Have Eating Disorders.
Provides an understanding of female development, basic counseling skills to intervene with girls who might be at the beginning stages of an eating disorder, and suggestions and strategies for supporting girls who may have eating disorders.

Breaking the Diet Syndrome: Helping Women Get Off the Scale and on With their Lives.
Addresses what happens to women in the process of growing up female that encourages them to define themselves by the numbers on the bathroom scale. Addresses gender development, and societal pressures to be thin. Presents skills and strategies to break the diet syndrome, and to develop healthy self-expression and self-esteem.