Eating Disorders Speakers -

Making Weight

Presentations by Leigh Cohn, MAT, CEDS

Leigh Cohn

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"LET'S TALK ABOUT MEN'S BODIES (and women's, too)!"

This fast-moving, multimedia talk by Leigh Cohn, coauthor of Making Weight: Men's Conflicts with Food, Weight, Shape & Appearance, is an eye-opener for men and women. Drawing students from numerous disciplines, Cohn is both entertaining - with lots of TV and movie clips - and motivational. At a recent presentation, he split 400 students into male and female groups, engaged them in lively give and take, and held them spellbound for one-and-a-half hours!

About 80% of women have dieted, and Cohn explains why an equal number of men want to lose weight or put on pounds of muscle. He addresses the objectification of men and women, the resulting problems of eating disorders, poor body image, concerns over sexuality, and low self-esteem. He also provides solutions, including media literacy, understanding the influences of heredity, healthy eating and exercise, and much more.

He has given similar talks at Penn State, Notre Dame, Duke, California State University at Northridge, and the University of Calgary (see further list below), as well as presentations on men's issues at the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals, the Academy of Eating Disorders, the Renfrew Foundation, and the Elisa Project. Cohn also speaks about special concerns for athletes, eating disorders prevention, and likes meeting individually with counselors and students to address their unique concerns.

He and his wife, Lindsey Hall, wrote the first book on bulimia in 1980, and their company, Gürze Books, is the world's leading resource for information about eating disorders. He has coauthored many books on eating disorders and is Editor-in-Chief of Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention. For over twenty years, he has spoken at many colleges and universities, hospitals, community groups and professional conferences. He received an Honorary Certified Eating Disorders Specialist designation from the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals in 2007, and he and Lindsey were given an Award for Service in 2005 by the Eating Disorders Coalition in Washington, D.C.

Contact Leigh Cohn at Gürze Books: (760)434-7533 or leigh@gurze.net

Listen to Doris Smeltzer's interview of Leigh Cohn about males and body issues on Voice America

To download the interview right click this link and select save link(mac) or save target as(windows).

Feedback from talks by Leigh Cohn

"I don't feel that I adequately thanked you for your work in Edmonton last week. I was pleased with the two speaking engagements - they came off just as I had hoped. I admire your ability to share of yourself with your powerful messages of self-acceptance and love."

"Leigh opened my mind to issues I was somewhat ignorant of and I am grateful for his wealth of finely tuned information. I enjoyed his understated, self-effacing style. Wonderful keynote!"

"Very interesting and enlightening. The 'star' of the General Sessions."

"This was a good session, we'd love to have this man speak on our campus." o "Presentation was excellent and enjoyable. Wonderful delivery. I am excited about trying to reach the media on our campus."

"Eye opening. An interesting and dynamic speaker. Funny and informative."

"Excellent visuals. Mr. Cohn conveyed a very important message."

"Dear Leigh, Thank you again for taking the time to speak with my me and my husband at Penn State. You knew exactly what we needed to hear."

"Just wanted to drop you a line and let you know that when I was meeting with one of my students yesterday, she let me know how meaningful the discussion with you was for her and her peers. She and many of her friends also felt moved by the presentation and it really brought up a lot of unresolved, yet very repressed issues for her. A big thanks from us both."

"I sincerely wanted to thank you for your usual stellar presence at our meeting. Once again, Leigh, thank you for your love and generosity. People who encounter you are truly blessed!"

Leigh Cohn's Biography

Leigh Cohn is the Publisher of Gurze Books, a company which has specialized in eating disorders education and publications since 1980. Leigh, who received an M.A.T. from Northwestern University in English Education and a B.A. from the University of California, Santa Barbara, is Editor-in-Chief of EATING DISORDERS: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention and publisher of Eating Disorders Review, a clinical newsletter.

The co-author of several books (see list), he is best known for BULIMIA: A Guide to Recovery, which he co-authored with his wife, Lindsey Hall, and which has sold more than 130,000 copies. Their book, as well as Self-Esteem Tools for Recovery, and others have been translated into Japanese, Chinese, Italian, and French. Leigh also co-edited Sexual Abuse and Eating Disorders (with Mark Schwartz), and Eating Disorders: A Reference Sourcebook (with Raymond Lemberg). Making Weight: Healing Men's Conflict with Food, Weight & Shape (with Arnold Andersen, MD and Thomas Holbrook, MD), which was published in 2000, was the first book on men's issues with food, weight, and shape.

A publisher and editor, Leigh released such important titles as Father Hunger and Body Wars (Margo Maine, PhD.), Preventing Childhood Eating Problems (Jane Hirschmann, CSW and Lela Zaphiropolous, CSW), The Body Betrayed (Kathryn Zerbe, MD), Unlocking the Golden Cage (Joanne Bruch), and several others. He has negotiated rights sales with major paperback publishers, magazines, and foreign publishing companies. He has worked with authors, agents, and experts in every phase of book publishing.

Leigh is also a past president of Publishers Marketing Association (PMA), a non-profit trade association of 3000 publishing companies throughout the United States. An authority on publishing, he has been a featured speaker at conferences in New York, Alaska, Miami, Los Angeles, Denver, Arizona, and London.

Additionally, he has conducted lectures and workshops on eating disorders at Penn State, Notre Dame, Duke, University of Ohio, Shippensburg University, Kennesaw State, University of Georgia, Northwest Missouri University, Kansas State University, University of Nebraska, California State University at Northridge, University of Calgary, and numerous other colleges, high schools, and hospitals.

 

Partial List of Publications co-authored by Leigh Cohn

2001 Cómo entender y superar la bulimia (with Lindsey Hall) [Spanish edition of Bulimia: A Guide to Recovery]

2000 Making Weight: Healing Men's Conflicts with Food, Weight & Shape (with Arnold Andersen, M.D. and Thomas Holbrook, M.D.)

1999 Bulimia: A Guide to Recovery - Fifth Edition (with Lindsey Hall) also in Italian and Spanish

1999 Eating Disorders: A Reference Sourcebook (with Ray Lemberg, Ph.D.)

1996 Sexual Abuse and Eating Disorders (with Mark Schwartz, Sc. D.)

1990 Self Esteem: Tools for Recovery (with Lindsey Hall) also in Japan, France, and China

1988 Dear Kids of Alcoholics (with Lindsey Hall)

1988 Dear Kids Guidebook for Counselors, Educators & Parents

1987 Recoveries: True Stories of People Who Have Overcome Addictions and Compulsions (with Lindsey Hall)

1980 Eat Without Fear (with Lindsey Hall) [The first of 3 booklets which were the first publications ever written on bulimia.]

Editor-in-Chief Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention (International peer-review journal; on- going since 1993)

Publisher Eating Disorders Review (clinical newsletter; since 1995)

Publisher Eating Disorders Today (family newsletter, start 2002)