Presenters
Sophie Slade
Sophie Slade, Ph.D., has been deeply involved in the world of Imago since she did her Basic Clinical Training in 1992 with
Harville Hendrix. As a workshop presenter since 1996 she has travelled the world giving Imago workshops for couples and
singles in French and English. Sophie is a Senior Clinical Instructor on the faculty of the Imago International Training
Institute and has been active in creating new courses and re-writing the Imago Clinical Training manual, as well as
teaching internationally. In 2014 she received the Harville Hendrix Award for Clinical Excellence and in 2008 the Helen
LaKelly Hunt Award for Community Building. People describe Sophie as warm, funny and authentic and say she creates
an environment that is safe, respectful and supports personal sharing and learning. Her use of language and metaphor brings
the concepts to life.
Sophie was born and raised in London, England, and lived in Marseilles, France, for a year as an au pair, before emigrating to Canada at age 19. She soon felt unfulfilled in her original career as a secretary and studied psychology over the course of 18
years, completing her doctorate in 1992 - the topic of which was couple relationships. During that time she raised two
children from her first marriage, divorced, started a relationship with her current husband, David, with whom she has
been on her Imago journey for over 25 years, and raised their son together. They have five grandchildren. Sophie writes
poetry and has recently completed a book of short stories.
David Howarth
David Howarth is a retired electrician. He trained as an Imago Educator in 1996 and has been walking the talk in his
relationship with Sophie since that time. He co-presents the workshops - his role being to share personal stories to
illustrate the theory and practices. He brings a lot of humour and a “regular guy” perspective which has been much
valued by both men and women who attend the workshops. He is approachable and real.