For more information on topics,
availability & fees
or
if you'd like
to
sponsor a
speaking/media tour email
speaker@barbaraniven.com
or fill out a Speaker Request
form.
Note:
Barbara just finished a speaking and media tour in
Michigan. She spoke to over 2,000 students at junior highs, high
schools and the University of Michigan. Thank you to all of you
who made it happen! Together we
are making a difference!
Keynotes & Workshops:
Eating Disorders & Pressures to Be
Perfect
Click above to watch her video
demo.
Click
here to see an except from
Barbara's appearance on "The Dr. Keith Ablow Show" talking about the
pressure to be thin in Hollywood. She was a celebrity guest twice.
Barbara offers this presentation in both Keynotes and workshops, and it
can be customized for your group. It is well-suited for junior highs &
high schools, colleges, women's groups and corporations who wish to
inform & help their employees.
Get ready, because this talk is a roller coaster
ride. I purge my "secret" so that others can understand what this
disease feels like, and know that recovery is possible. You will walk
away knowing warning signs and how to get help for yourself or someone
you love before it's too late.
We all have secrets. You or people you know are struggling right now, in
silence, with eating disorders, depression, mental illness, credit card
abuse, addictions, etc. We are screaming inside for help, but don't know
how to ask! My story and poem "Perfect" give us a bridge to start the conversation...and to start
the recovery.
When I speak, I like to have a white porcelain toilet on stage instead
of a podium. Like the proverbial elephant in the room. It's funny, it's
raw, and it puts it right out there for people to deal with. It makes it
okay for all of us to share secrets and not “be perfect”. I want people
to laugh, to cry and to change. After every talk I've given, people have
spoken up to reveal that they too need help.
Eating disorders are a raging epidemic in our culture. There are
incredible pressures on both women and men to look and be "perfect"!
We’re bombarded with messages in the media that say “skinny is the
ideal” and that you’re not a good person unless you’re a size zero.
Well, “zero” literally means you’re disappearing! Five year old kids
today are saying “I’m fat”. And that’s crazy.
I wrote the poem "Perfect"
during one of my worst times. I have since learned that "Perfect" is
an impossible goal and sets yourself up for failure. Please click on the
link to read it, and then if it strikes a chord, share it with someone
you love.
My own struggle started as an over-achieving, chubby little girl with
big dreams in Portland Oregon. Then I became a mother and a working
actress for over twenty years in a size zero Hollywood. Talk about
pressure. To deal with it, I spent thirty years with my head hanging
over a toilet, and nobody ever knew. When my daughter fainted in school
from her own E.D., I knew the cycle had to stop with me.
The hardest thing I ever did was to make the call and ask for help. But
once I told my “secret” and give up “perfect” my whole life opened up!
And that’s the best thing I could ever wish for you too. To live your
most amazing life!
Here's to giving up "perfect" and celebrating the perfection that we
already are.
Remember… every moment you have a choice. To go towards your dream or
away from it. Please don’t settle for less than wonderful in your life. And don’t
give up five minutes before the miracle!
Blessings...
Barbara
Testimonial from a 12 yr old girl "I think I'm getting help, with my ED! I
realized that purging every day isn't a good thing..I knew but i didn't
care. I am only twelve and I'm making a life or death choice. You are
the reason, my role model. ~ Loves Ya!" (name withheld)
Note: Barbara did a whirlwind speaking
and media tour in Michigan. She spoke to over 2,000 students at junior
highs, high schools and the University of Michigan. Thank you to all of
you who made it happen! Together we are making a difference!
