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Bring developmental science to life – in your community.
When adults make sense of what lies beneath behaviour and emotion, they can step into the role every child needs: a safe, trusted guide.
A kid’s best bet.
Dr. Deborah MacNamara is a bestselling and award-winning author, counsellor, and developmentalist who brings over 25 years of research, clinical insight, and educational experience to her presentations.
speaker snapshot
Known for making sense of kids across all settings, her presentations equip adults to create the conditions children and teens need to grow and thrive.
Most approaches try to fix the child. What if the real breakthrough starts with how we see them?
It isn’t about coaching kids to behave better - it’s about decoding them.
70+ presentations annually across 30+ countries
Over 100,000 parents and professionals reached
Bestselling and award-winning author of three books, including award-winning Nourished
Gold Nautilus Award 2024 & Living Now Awards Evergreen Gold
Books translated into 14+ languages
Invited speaker: United Nations, Dalai Lama Center for Peace + Education, and Neufeld Institute
Through your heartwarming but hilarious examples, nobody will forget the power of a parent’s confidence or how attachment drives our relationships with our children - and extends into all relationships.”
- Parent Group, Vancouver, BC
“Your relaxed but professional style, combined with practical & current knowledge really resonated with the audience. Parents repeatedly raved: 'Excellent!' and 'Let’s have her back!'
Developmental Foundations: From Babies to Teens to Parenthood
Helping adults create the conditions kids need to grow—by meeting their irreducible developmental needs.
Emotional Well-Being
Today’s challenges—like anxiety, ADHD, or aggression—often signal emotional systems under strain. To foster well-being, we must understand what’s stuck and what’s missing for growth.
Gather to Eat: Feeding, Culture & Connection
Feeding is more than food—it’s relational and emotional care. A developmental lens helps us understand how children become eaters—and how connection is the key to whole nourishment.
Relational Teaching & learning
Learning grows from relationship.
A developmental approach builds school cultures rooted in connection, unlocking engagement and resilience.
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Each presentation draws from one or more of these four core pillars—a unified framework rooted in developmental and relational science, adaptable across homes, classrooms, and clinical settings. Each topic is tailored to your audience - so the message resonates deeply and leads to real change.
Four Core Areas of Developmental Science and Practice
Creating the conditions children and teens need to grow.
Developmental Foundations: From Babies to Teens to Parenthood
Helping adults create the conditions kids need to grow—by meeting their irreducible developmental needs.
Emotional Well-Being
Today’s challenges—like anxiety, ADHD, or aggression—often signal emotional systems under strain. To foster well-being, we must understand what’s stuck and what’s missing for growth.
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Keynotes in this pillar often explore:
- Attachment and relational foundations
- The role of play in human development
- Frustration, aggression, and the need for tears
- Understanding resistance and developmental stuckness
- Discipline without using separation-based strategies
- Supporting neurodivergent kids through a developmental lens
- Navigating preschool and adolescent transitions
“Excellent information for supporting Autistic children on the spectrum. A wonderful presentation and information! Your message is powerful and very useful!”
- Clinical Counsellor & Parent
Keynotes in this pillar often explore:
- Making sense of anxiety and attention problems
- From shutdown to aggression: Understanding emotional defences
- Dominance, peer orientation, and emotional immaturity
- The roots of resilience and the role of safe adults
- Emotional development and mental health through a relational lens
- Why calm isn’t enough—what kids and teens really need
“Amazing, I could listen to Deborah for hours. Normally I like it when people ask questions, but I really just wanted to listen to her. I was so inspired and I don’t believe that my child has a dominance problem, but so many things CLICKED!”
- Parent & Childcare Professional
Gather to Eat: Feeding, Culture & Connection
Feeding is more than food—it’s relational and emotional care. A developmental lens helps us understand how children become eaters—and how connection is the key to whole nourishment.
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Keynotes in this pillar often explore:
- Picky eating, food resistance, and mealtime power struggles
- Feeding as a relationship with attachment dynamics
- How feeding builds trust, not just nutrition
- The intersection of culture, emotion, and food
- Creating rituals of connection around meals
“The section on why we are losing our caring lead struck me poignantly... It led me to reflect on who I'm taking the lead from and how deep some wounds are. It was an incredible piece I'm still itching to explore.”
- Eating Support Specialist and Parent
Relational Teaching & Learning
Learning grows from relationship.
A developmental approach builds school cultures rooted in connection, unlocking engagement and resilience.
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Keynotes in this pillar often explore:
- School resistance and emotional shutdown
- Building student-teacher relationships that unlock learning
- Social and emotional development
- Bullying, belonging, and the role of adults in peer dynamics
- Reframing why teaching is getting harder through a developmental lens
- Supporting teachers to lead with insight and care, dealing with burnout
“I learned a whole new insight on the reason for bullies and how to be an adult who will provide safety and care for them. Very glad I was here today. Need to get this message out to schools and families.”
- Secondary School Teacher
Audiences Served
- Parents & Caregivers – Insightful, reassuring, and paradigm-shifting talks that restore clarity and connection
- Educators & School Leaders – Developmental insights to support emotional health, learning, and relational leadership
- Childcare Providers & Early Years Professionals – Relational tools and developmental strategies for supporting young children
- Helping Professionals – Practical integration of attachment science and emotion theory into clinical or support work
Trusted By Audiences Across Sectors
Her work is regularly sought out by school boards, government agencies, community leaders, and mental health professionals seeking a developmental approach to emotional and relational well-being.
- The United Nations
- The Dalai Lama Center for Peace + Education
- The Neufeld Institute
- Surrey School District
- Richmond School District
- Independent Schools Association of BC
- Indigenous Parent Support & Early Years Programs
- Hundreds of Early Childhood and Parent Education Conferences
Speaking fees vary by format and location. Contact for current rates
Keynotes
Half Day
Full Day
Offered in person and online
Includes audience handouts and implementation resources
Bulk book orders available for conferences and events
Custom presentations and workshop series are available on request.
Presentation Formats
What people are saying
“Deborah is organized, professional, knowledgeable, and easy to listen to. She had very practical information that was relevant to my work as a teacher.”
- Elementary School Teacher
“The absolute best presenter/workshop I have been to in my 17 years of child care.”
- Childcare Professional
“Thank you for validating our work and providing info to help us do the job better—both at work & in our own lives. You were inspiring!”
- Parent Support Professional
“I have been really reflecting on why dinner and meals in general were so special to me and still are... And the way you’ve explained everything has really opened my eyes to his world.”
- Parent and Spouse
“Excellent, inspiring, engaging… Thank you for providing information that is useful & inspiring for work & home & LIFE! Your words make the world a better place.”
Helping Professional
Nourished
published works
Rest, Play, Grow
The Sorry Plane
Gold Nautilus Award 2024, Living Now Awards Evergreen Gold
Bestseller, 14+ translations
Children's book, 3 languages
