Mental Health Professionals

Life knocks all of us down. The key is not to avoid every fall, but to stand back up each time that you hit the ground. From a debilitating depression and life-threatening eating disorder to a broken wedding engagement and her parents’ simultaneous battles with different types of cancer, Jenni Schaefer kept standing through it all. And, in the process, she surprisingly found true joy. This keynote is about resilience and happiness (even in the most difficult moments). As her song says, “It’s okay to be happy”—right now.

Is your client’s body a battleground? It doesn’t have to be. In this keynote, Jenni Schaefer discusses how to guide your clients to greater balance with eating and exercise. She also talks about learning how to love (yes, love) her own body and how you can help your clients to do the same. This presentation discusses transforming the perfectionism that keeps so many people stuck in unhealthy relationships with food and their bodies. Fully recovered from an eating disorder, Jenni knows firsthand how to end calorie counting and body loathing and, as a result, how to open life up to so much more. Learn what works and what doesn’t. And don’t be surprised if you walk away from this talk loving and appreciating your own body more!

The problem with perfect is that it doesn’t exist. So desperately seeking this mirage is a surefire way to suck the joy out of work, relationships, and the rest of your life. Not to mention, the height of perfectionism is absolute standstill and shutdown. Some might call it procrastination. Jenni Schaefer, a self-proclaimed “recovering perfectionist,” shares the tools and techniques that transformed her life. Learn how to harness the power in the perfectionistic trait: taken in a positive direction, perfectionism can become driven and detail-oriented. This keynote is about finding joy and balance in a perfectly imperfect life. And, as it turns out, there isn’t a right way to do it!

This presentation reviews what mental health professionals need to know about working with traumatized individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Author Jenni Schaefer, a recovered patient with a history of PTSD, will share her story of seeking professional help, an experience that encompasses misdiagnosis, uninformed treatment methods, and, ultimately, the importance of evidence-based as well as alternative approaches. Combining research and personal perspectives, this unique presentation addresses the critical issues involved in recognizing and treating individuals with PTSD.

Eating disorders and posttraumatic stress disorder are debilitating conditions that co-occur frequently. In this presentation, author Jenni Schaefer, a recovered patient with a history of both an eating disorder as well as PTSD, will share her journey of healing, an experience that encompasses misdiagnosis, uninformed treatment methods, and, ultimately, the importance of evidence-based as well as alternative approaches.

Redefining recovery, Jenni Schaefer believes that freedom does not just mean saying goodbye to Ed (a.k.a. “eating disorder”), but, more importantly, it means saying a big hello to life. And that includes connecting with people, passions, and inner peace as well. Discussing her personal journey and the steps that she took to fully recover, Goodbye Ed, Hello Me^® provides a firsthand account of getting your life back after an eating disorder. Guide your clients to not only recovering from their eating disorders but also to recovering their lives.

Jenni Schaefer often says, “I have never been married, but I am happily divorced.” As described in her bestselling book, Life Without Ed, Jenni reveals that she is “divorced” from her eating disorder. Treating her illness like a relationship—rather than a condition—Jenni actually named hers “Ed,” short for “eating disorder,” which is now a popular approach used by clinicians worldwide. In this keynote, Jenni discusses both why the externalization technique was helpful to her and also when it was challenging. She shares a lifetime of experience—from hearing Ed’s voice when she was only four-years-old to the absolute freedom that she experiences today.

Eat, eat, eat…but don’t look like you eat. Fast food restaurants encourage us to “supersize” it while billboards tell us to look like we never eat at all. And the confusing messages don’t stop there. In a society that clearly has an eating disorder, it is no surprise that disordered eating attitudes and behaviors devastate countless lives each year. While some ultimately develop full-fledged eating disorders, others live—possibly a lifetime—on the spectrum between normal eating and a clinical eating disorder.

Discussing topics in her new book with Harvard Medical School, Almost Anorexic, Jenni Schaefer describes how intense pain and suffering exists all along the disordered eating continuum. She explains how the techniques that guided her to full recovery from her own eating disorder can help others who struggle, including those who don’t have a full-blown illness. She discusses strategies for encouraging those with subclinical eating disorders to seek help. All who suffer deserve hope and healing.

“Does it ever get better?” people who struggle with eating disorders often ask. The road to recovery can be such a long one—with so many bumps along the way—that many feel hopeless and believe that they might never find freedom. But Jenni Schaefer offers hope to women and men across the globe by answering the question, “Yes, it does get better, really better.” This keynote provides not only boundless inspiration but also concrete tools for helping your clients to add that ever-important period to the word “recovered.” Assist your clients in identifying when they are settling for mediocre versions of recovery and guide them to pushing further—to complete liberation.