Fat Liberation Practice Lab

Fat clients deserve unbiased, dignifying, and empathetic care.

This is a rarity in our anti-fat world,

& no one teaches us how to provide it.

Are you a practitioner committed to inclusivity in your work with fat and larger bodied clients?

Are you also feeling the immense, anti-fat pressure of our current social, political, systemic moment?

Have you read a few books, followed social media accounts, and attended webinars on fat-inclusion, but still feel overwhelmed and unsure of how to move that learning into practice?

Our 8-week, closed group will provide practitioners of various disciplines the opportunity to broaden their understanding of anti-fat bias, identify and uproot their anti-fat bias, and both learn and practice ways of supporting fat clients that promotes their liberation instead of causing more harm.

You’re invited to…

The Fat Lib Lab!

8 weeks to practice incorporating fat liberationist ideas and approaches into your helping work.

What to expect:

Fat liberationist teachings are often so profound that we struggle sharing information with our clients/patients in clear, concise, and client/patient-centered ways.
This group will give you the opportunity to practice incorporating fat liberationist ideas into your direct work with clients. You’ll have the opportunity to both step into the centre with a facilitator to get direct consultation, as well as listen and reflect as a witness with other group members. Bring your most challenging growth edges - we’re ready.

After a few weeks of becoming comfortable with this contained way of working in the larger group, participants will get more direct practice time in smaller break-out groups. Your questions, stuckness, and needs will guide the content of the group.

We are not here to rush.

We will tend to you as a practitioner and a human in this work. We will take frequent breaks to somatically reset. We will choose kindness and care for one another as we dive deep into tricky topics. We will practice imperfection.

This consultation group also includes a relay book club! That means that each participants reads a book of their choice from our provided list, and we will spend our final session sharing our learnings. You’ll write up a 1-page “book report” with one impactful quote from each chapter to share with the group.
All of these books/authors are integral to our therapeutic lens.

Book Club titles:

  • Fearing the Black Body by Sabrina Strings

  • You Just Need to Lose Weight by Aubrey Gordon

  • The Body is Not An Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor

  • Belly of the Beast by Da’Shaun Harrison

  • Decolonizing Wellness by Dalia Kinsey

  • Decolonizing Therapy by Jennifer Mullan

  • Reclaiming Body Trust by Hilary Kinavey and Dana Sturtevant

  • Justice-Doing at the Intersections of Power by Vikki Reynolds

  • It’s Always Been Ours by Jessica Wilson

  • The Body Liberation Project by Chrissy King

  • Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Live attendance requested, recordings will be provided for a limited time

Meet your facilitators!

Ali S

Alli P

Alexandra Shewan, MC, RCC, and Allison Parker, MC, RCC, are fat counsellors and colleagues passionate about supporting fellow practitioners in uprooting anti-fat bias and making the world more equitable place. They have a combined 8 years experience in direct fat liberation client work, amongst many more years of experience working with youth, community social work, and anti-violence.

Join us in this intimate and safety-building space to deepen your understanding of anti-fat bias, identify where you’re stuck in your practice, and receive support from a group of values-aligned, interdisciplinary practitioners and your two, enthusiastic, grounded facilitators!

  • You work in one of the following professions:

    • Social Worker

    • Counsellor

    • Therapist

    • Supervisor

    • Psychologists

    • Dietitian

    • Coach

    • Massage Therapist

    • Physiotherapist

    • Acupuncturist

    • Kinesiologist

    • Osteopath

    • or student of any of these fields,​

  • You’re craving information, but also practice in a safety-oriented, contained way,

  • You want to learn more about the history of anti-fat bias and how it impacts us all in present day,

  • You’re dedicated to non-harm of your clients and want to uproot anti-fatness and diet-culture in your practice,

  • You want to learn experientially with other like-minded practitioners,

  • You’re committed to showing up for 2 hours each of the 8 weeks of group.

This is for you if:

Dates:

TBA

Investment

sliding scale options:

Can be made in 1, 2, or 3 monthly payments

A deposit of $440/$500/$565 is due when your registration is approved

Receiving:

$1750

Sustaining:

$2000

Giving:

$2250

Participants will also be required to watch Ali S’s recorded webinar
Anti-Fat Bias for Helpers 101 for a one-time, discounted fee of $45

Tell us who you are!

Let us know if you’re interested in upcoming offerings :)

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Yes, we will provide a certificate of completion for those who attend at least 7/8 sessions live. Note that this is not a credential.

    CE credits will not be available. Check with the continuing education requirements of your regulatory body to see if this group can count for peer supervision.

  • We created this offering with interactive engagement in mind, while we will have select parts recorded, we ask that people signing up commit to live attendance for all the sessions.

    We certainly hold compassionate consideration for emergency situations, please be in contact with us should something disrupt attending a session.

  • There are no geographical restrictions on participating in this group (other than time of day, which might not work for some time zones).

    Because this is a consultation group, not supervision, you can live anywhere in Canada, the US, or elsewhere and participate.

    Note that our experience is going to be most versed in Canadian and B.C. systems.

  • Deposits are non-refundable after March 1st. After that, refunds will be prorated, dividing the remaining cost by number of weeks left in the training.

  • Deposit is non-refundable, and the remaining cost will be pro-rated based on how many weeks are left in the group.

  • Yes! This is our inaugural group and we’re going to be trying out lots of new ideas. Prices for subsequent groups will likely increase when we’ve refined our process.

  • Yes, all pricing is in CAD.

  • We prefer e-transfer, but can also accept credit card if necessary.

  • Yes! Self-paced viewing will be available soon. Make sure you’re signed-up to my newsletter to get updates.

  • We have both trained with and are informed by the teachings of Vikki Reynolds, Carmen Spagnola, and Heart of Facilitation, whose styles of facilitation we’ve drawn on to develop this group.

    Our style is relational and anti-oppressive. You can expect us to show up as facilitators and participants, honour the knowledge that each person brings to the group, centre the lived experience of those most marginalized, and move at a slow, sustainable, somatic-focused pace.

  • No - everyone is welcome to apply. Participants will need to have a base-level understanding of anti-fatness. This is also why watching Anti-Fat Bias for Helpers 101 is required prep before first session - we want to make sure we’re all entering group with similar ideas.

    We need people of all body-sizes doing this work, especially to reach more straight-sized (not-fat) people, since anti-fat bias leads people to listen to not-fat people more than fat people.

  • Yes! You are welcome if you are a:

    • Massage Therapist

    • Physiotherapist

    • Acupuncturist

    • Kinesiologist

    • Osteopath

    • or other body-working profession

    While our training is in counselling/therapy, there is richness and applicability across disciplines.

    If you’re a body worker, consider…

    • How do I “talk” to my clients through bodywork?

    • How do I engage in embodiment narratives? What might be the impact for larger or fat bodies?

    • How is my physical space accessible to larger bodies?

    • How do I promote physical health in patients/clients without perpetuating anti-fat bias?