Professional Development

As a part of our mission of connecting Canadians to care in their local communities, our team has created and delivered various professional development workshops to support providers across Canada in strengthening their capacity to recognize and act on early signs of an eating disorder. Our workshops aim to equip providers with strategies on responding in a compassionate manner; increase weight bias awareness; and provide more information navigating pathways to care. Recognizing that social determinants of health and other intersecting health challenges impact the ways in which people experience eating disorders, our facilitators can tailor our presentations to meet your specific needs and draw connections between the pivotal work you already do with eating disorder prevention.




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Workshop Details

We can deliver in-person presentations to clinics, teams, or organizations based in the Greater Toronto Area, and virtual presentations via Zoom to anyone across the country. 


Recognizing disordered eating and eating disorders - 1 hour

  • Eating disorders as a continuum
  • Demystifying diagnoses
  • Prevalence and severity
  • Risk factors, causes, co-occurring concerns, and perpetuating factors
  • Assessment tools


Diet culture, anti-fatness, and healthism - 1.5 hours

  • Exploring how narratives linking weight and health show up in our work
  • Weight science and the connection between body image distress, anti-fatness, and disordered eating
  • Strategies for taking a weight-inclusive approach to your practice, with a focus on messages around bodies, food, and health


Pathways to care - 1 hour

  • What treatment and support options exist for people experiencing disordered eating?
  • Learning how to utilize Motivational Interviewing or Harm Reduction approaches when caring for someone experiencing an eating disorder
  • Creating a web of support with external resources
  • Navigating care pathways for someone in need of further support
  • Resources for further learning


Cultural humility in eating disorder care - 2 hours

  • Understanding the differences between cultural competency, safety, and humility
  • Reflecting on structural barriers to accessing healthcare for people of colour seeking out support for a body- or food-related distress
  • Learning principles of cultural humility as applied to care for people with eating disorders
  • Utilizing tools to apply this philosophy in small group, scenario-based learning


Browse our webinars page to learn about sessions we've organized freely for public distribution. 

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We believe that money should never be a barrier to providing crucial education to communities in need. If your organization has an existing fund to bring in guest speakers, we provide workshop fees on a sliding scale to directly cover costs related to preparation of tailored content, staffing, and travel for each presentation. We are more than happy to work with you to determine a fee that makes our programming accessible to your context. 


Presentation Request Form
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Have More Questions?
Contact Ary Maharaj, Outreach and Education Coordinator

Phone: 416-340-4800 ext. 2660

Email: aryel.maharaj@uhn.ca

Educators

We offer two customizable workshop options for teachers and school support staff so that you and your colleagues can learn the skills and tools you need. One focuses on supporting students in need, while the other engages educators and administrators in a conversation about taking a whole-school approach to eating disorder prevention, including policies and curriculum. 

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Elementary & Middle School Students

Our interactive workshops for elementary and middle school students are appropriate for students in Grades 4 through 8. We’ll explore ways students can appreciate all that their body does, reflect on all the values food brings into our lives, shed light on pervasive media messaging, and converse about communicating care to themselves and the people around them.

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High School Students

Our workshops for students in Grades 9 through 12 dive deep into spotting (and then rejecting!) diet culture. We’ll reveal the sticky truth of many social media posts, engage in critical discussions about conversations centred around "health", share information about the importance of food, and share resources for students to help their peers if they notice a concern.

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Parent Panels

Our parent panels are designed for your local community, creating a safe space for caregivers to share their concerns while empowering them with resources to support the well-being of their children. We organize these in collaboration with partner organizations, such as school parent councils, local school boards, community organizations, and interested groups of parents. Panelists include youth with lived experience, fellow parents, and mental health practitioners arranged by our team to reflect the needs of the local community. 

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Post-Secondary

In line with national post-secondary mental health strategies and frameworks, our team has created two educational workshops and a social media campaign that have been delivered to post-secondary communities across eight provinces and territories over the last two years. Whether you are a group of student wellness ambassadors looking to relay information in an eating disorder-sensitive way, a team of campus counsellors looking for best practices, or coordinating a wellness summit on campus, our facilitators can tailor our virtual programming to meet your needs.

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Professional Development

Our workshops aim to help people recognize disordered eating, reflect on their internalized weight stigma, respond compassionately with someone experiencing disordered eating, and navigate to different pathways to care. For mental health providers, we share latest practices on assessment and time-limited strategies to support your work. We can deliver in-person presentations to clinics, teams, or organizations based in the Greater Toronto Area, and virtual presentations via Zoom to anyone across the country. 

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