Speakers

Find out more about our amazing Sleeposium2020 speakers here.

Lyndsey Hookway

 

Lyndsey is an experienced London-trained Paediatric Nurse, Health Visitor, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, Holistic Sleep Coach and Birth Trauma Recovery Practitioner, with almost 20 years experience working with infants, children and families in hospitals, clinics, and the community. Lyndsey runs a busy International private practice offering one-to-one specialist support to families. She especially enjoys supporting families by bringing together infant feeding support, mental health and sleep optimization. Lyndsey is the author of Holistic Sleep Coaching and the co-founder of the Holistic Sleep Coaching Program – an international online program aiming to educate health, lactation, childcare and sleep professionals about the importance of evidence-based, gentle care of babies and children.

Gregory Hanley

 

PhD, BCBA-D. Dr. Hanley has been applying the principles of learning to improve socially important behaviors of children and adults with and without disabilities for just under 30 years. He worked and trained at the Kennedy Krieger Institute, was degreed at the University of Florida, was tenured at the University of Kansas, and directed the Behavior Analysis Doctoral Program and Life Skills Clinic at Western New England University (WNEU).

Dr. Hanley has published over 100 book chapters and articles in peer-reviewed journals in areas such as the assessment and prevention of problem behavior, teaching tactics for young children, and evidence-based values. Dr. Hanley is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (Div. 25), past Associate Editor of The Behavior Analyst, and past Editor of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and of Behavior Analysis in Practice.

He currently serves as a Research Professor at WNEU, an Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and CEO of FTF Behavioral, an international training and consulting group based in Worcester, Massachusetts. This group of researcher-practitioners supports professionals attempting to create meaningful outcomes with practical functional assessment processes and skill-based treatments for addressing emerging and severe problem behavior, intractable stereotypy, food selectivity and mealtime problem behavior, and sleep problems.

Heather Boyd

 

Heather is a private practice occupational therapist from Niagara, Ontario and the mother of three boys. She provides virtual consulting to families who are experiencing challenges with infant sleep, parenting, and infant development. Heather takes a developmental- and attachment-based approach to supporting families by helping parents change perspectives and change the sleep environment, rather than change the nature of the child.

Shannon Rolph

Shannon has enjoyed working with adults and children across the healthcare continuum since graduating from the University of British Columbia’s Master of Occupational Therapy program in 2010. She has experience in home and community settings, as well as hospitals and private clinics where she has worked with people of all ages toward greater competence and independence in their most valued activities.

Shannon’s greatest passion has always been pediatrics where she loves helping children and their families learn and grow in ways that help them to be their best at home and at school.

Kim Lockhart-McMahon

Kim is first and foremost a wife and mother of four, and understands the stress of navigating a family and a career. As a Registered Early Childhood Educator, Montessorian, and owner of her own Montessori school for the last 12 years, she has supported many families through various facets of early childhood. Kim also holds two certifications in infant mental health, and is a Certified Gentle Sleep Coach and NLP practitioner.

Having worked closely with hundreds of families, Kim is aware of the vast range of problems they face at all stages. Of course, the different areas of our lives have an impact on each other, and Kim recognized this and visualized an integrated and holistic approach to family services. Upon collaboration with like-minded practitioners from other fields, Family Routes was born.

Savannah Hepburn Penny ​

Savannah Hepburn Penny is Canadian through and through. Born in Ontario, raised in British Columbia, she earned her Bachelor's Degree in Alberta and has given birth to her six children in four different Canadian provinces. She and her family currently reside in the beautiful Hockley Valley of Southern Ontario, where she homeschools her kids (aged 4-16),  grows vegetables, produces maple syrup, teaches piano, bakes bread, reads far too much, and keeps animals. Savannah is deeply committed to motherhood, and strives to encourage mothers to truly thrive in their roles: to become educated, opinionated, confident, capable and celebratory in their unique exploration of what it means to be a woman.

Savannah stays busy running children's vocal and instrumental choirs, instructing high school students in scriptural education, and organizing literature study groups and events for children and families.  She is perpetually organizing community events that bring people together to celebrate her favourite things: great music, literature, and food. This focus on celebrating the good things of life together embodies Savannah's belief that "the world is forwarded by having its attention fixed on the best things" (Matthew Arnold).

Nikki Taylor

 

Nikki Taylor, RECE has been working with children and families for almost 40 years. She has been a childcare educator, supervisor, parent educator, and currently holds the role of Senior Manager of Early Years and Family Support at Oakville Parent-Child Centre. She is passionate about helping families to be the best they can be starting with understanding the importance of relationships for healthy child development. Using a combination of experience, research, and humor, Nikki strives to build on the strengths and curiosities of others and offers a perspective that is often new and unexplored. She is the mother of 3 grown children and grandmother of 4, loves gardening and nature, and looks forward every day to meeting new people and sharing stories and experiences.

Kris Pedder

 

For over 16 years, Kris has pursued her passion for assisting and counselling people through various life-changing events. Her colleagues say that people flock to Kris for advice and guidance because of her down to earth demeanor and wealth of knowledge. Her background as HypnoBirthing® and childbirth educator, doula, consulting hypnotist, and hypno-fertility expert inform her exceptional ability to be sensitive to and understand the needs of her clients and their families. Kris has an affinity for helping couples and parents navigate through their choices, possessing a strong understanding of their needs and how to ensure they are met.

As a parent of two grown children, she understands both the joys and the challenges of being a parent. Kris has a Diploma and a Master’s in Clinical Psychology (Queens U.). She has also trained with the Infant Mental Health Community program from the Toronto Sick Kids Hospital. A Goulding Process - SleepTalk® consultant since 2014, Kris has witnessed first-hand how this truly unique program can facilitate positive changes in a child’s life. She is driven to helping bring families closer together and fostering the ‘parent-delivered’ method to boosting emotional resilience and nurturing self-esteem in children. Her passion is to show parents how they can build the foundation for a brighter and healthier future for their children, where children rise to their potential.

Andrea Strang

Andrea is the mother of three, a trained Gentle Sleep Consultant, Educator, and author. She did her training in a variety of programs including;  Holistic Sleep Coaching, Gentle Sleep Coach, Naturally Nurturing, Infant Sleep Educator, Infant Mental Health Training, CBT for Insomnia, and Sleep:Neurobiology & Society.

She has spent the past 8 years training and mentoring Sleep Consultants and Night Coaches around the world and has written 3 books related to infant and child sleep.

Andrea started her sleep practice in 2004 after supporting families as a Birth and Postpartum Doula. In that time, she has helped over 10,000 families get better sleep. She also has extensive hands-on experience working with babies throughout the night which has given her unique learning experiences and perspectives that many sleep experts lack. Read more about Andrea’s training, experience and philosophy here. Andrea is the author of Gentle Night Weaning the Kinder Way, The Kinder Method, and co-author with Jen Varela of Loved to Sleep.

Tracy Spackman

Tracy Spackman is a trained and certified Gentle Sleep Coach for parents of babies, toddlers and children ages 4 months to 8 years old. She is featured as a Best Sleep Consultant in the US through Tuck and leads trainings for the Infant Toddler Mental Health Coalition of Arizona (ITMHCA). A compassionate and empathetic mother of five, Tracy has been helping thousands of families all over the world get better sleep since 2013. Using non-invasive, non-CIO (Cry It Out), evidence-based methodology and training, Tracy offers a blend of sleep coaching techniques that support infant mental health and has proven a 97% success rate. She specializes in alert temperaments and is highly experienced with singles, twins, reflux, sleep apnea and the pitfalls of sleep deprivation and postpartum depression.

Tracy is originally from Canada and currently loves the Arizona sun. Residing in Phoenix with her husband and five children, she has personally experienced most of the scenarios she consults, and can therefore empathize with sleep deprivation and the desire to offer your baby a gentle and responsive solution. Tracy is passionate about all things family and it is her goal to help mothers be the best parents they can be. After all, sleep is foundational to successful parenting.