We have never known more about food—yet feeding and eating struggles continue to rise. This presentation reframes nourishment as a relational and emotional experience, not a nutritional task alone. Participants explore what has been lost as food has been separated from caregiving, and how restoring the relational context of eating supports receptivity, emotional well-being, and resilience - at any age.
Dr. Deborah MacNamara is a developmentalist, clinical counsellor, educator, and author who has spent more than 25 years helping adults make sense of children beyond their behaviour. Having taught in both secondary and postsecondary institutions, and presented internationally—including at the United Nations, the Dalai Lama Centre for Peace and Education, and through the Neufeld Institute—her work reaches parents, educators, and helping professionals around the world.
She is the author of three books. Rest, Play, Grow, is a best-seller now translated into 17 languages and read by over 100,000 parents and professionals, worldwide, becoming a touchstone for understanding young children. The Sorry Plane, her children’s book, explores the roots of caring and remorse. Her award-winning book Nourished places feeding back into the context of relationship and emotional care, making the case that how we gather around food may be one of the most powerful ways to reclaim connection with our kids—at home and in school.
