Food 4 Thought Therapy

Food 4 Thought Therapy Welcome to Food for Thought Therapy! We specialize in treatment for pediatric feeding, Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, and speech and language needs.

In addition, Kelly provides coaching for therapists and parents, and is trained in hypnosis. This page is a forum to help you dissect your picky eaters "bad habits", offer new techniques to trial during meals, and determine when skilled intervention is appropriate for your specific needs. My goal is to avoid dinner disasters and alleviate the stress in getting the appropriate nutrition for your lo

ved ones. About Picky Eaters Online:
- I am a trained Speech and Language Pathologist with specialized training in behavioral feeding therapy.
- I will be posting general comments I have heard frequently from clients, and some suggestions to try with your little one.
- I will facilitate this group to initiate conversations about meal time woes, personal experiences and helpful hints.
- When "tips" may not be enough, and a feeding consultation is warranted by a board certified professional, I will be here to guide you each step of the way

08/26/2026

I guess I did something right. 🥹
I called my daughter during her first week of college.
New classes.
New roommates.
New room.
New routines.
Basically…EVERYTHING was new.
And of course, I worried. Because I’m her mom. 😂
I asked her if she needed to make any changes. Did she want to come home? Did she need to do something differently?
Her answer stopped me.
“No. If I never do hard or uncomfortable things, I’ll never grow.”

Well. Damn. 😂

Because isn’t that what we want for our kids?
Not a life without discomfort.
Not a life where we remove every hard thing.
But a life where they learn:
“I can do hard things.”
“I can be uncomfortable and still be okay.”
“I can figure things out.”
And honestly, this is a HUGE part of how I approach feeding therapy.
When a child is learning to eat new foods, my goal isn’t to make every uncomfortable feeling disappear.
Sometimes learning requires a little discomfort.
A new food might feel weird.
A new texture might feel uncomfortable.
A bite might not go perfectly.
That doesn’t automatically mean we stop.
Instead, we help kids learn that discomfort isn’t always danger-and that they are capable of working through it.
We don’t throw them into the deep end.
We don’t force them.
We don’t ignore their fear.
We support them while they practice doing something hard.
Because the goal isn’t just to get a child to eat a new food.
It’s to help them become a kid who believes, “I can handle this.”
Apparently, my daughter was listening all those years. ❤️
And maybe…just maybe…I did something right.

Sometimes our goal as parents becomes: “How do I make sure my child never feels uncomfortable?”Especially when it comes ...
08/24/2026

Sometimes our goal as parents becomes: “How do I make sure my child never feels uncomfortable?”

Especially when it comes to food.

But discomfort isn’t always something we need to eliminate. Sometimes, it’s something our kids need to learn they can handle.

Trying a new food. Sitting with uncertainty. Feeling nervous. Experiencing newness. Not knowing exactly what something will taste like.

These are uncomfortable moments-and learning “I can feel uncomfortable and still be okay” is an incredibly important life skill.

For kids with ARFID, this doesn’t mean forcing them through distress or throwing them into the deep end.

It means helping them build the skills to feel safe enough to experience discomfort without needing to immediately escape it.

That’s a big part of what I teach inside SPACE.

Because we’re not trying to create a child who never feels uncomfortable around food.

We’re helping create a child who learns:
“I can handle this.”

And THAT is where real change can begin. ❤️

If you’re ready for a different approach to ARFID-one that focuses on changing the environment and parent responses rather than trying to “fix” the child-SPACE is for you. Comment SPACE down 👇 below and send the link right to your inbox 👏👏

08/24/2026

Yes!!
While it can’t replace great feeding therapy, it CAN help guide both parents and therapists when making some decisions regarding food choices and what would be good logical steps.
Of course, all food ideas are then discussed with the patient and/or parents to determine what may be most appropriate.
Want to find out more? Comment “chat” 👇 below and I’ll send you my most helpful Chat GPT prompts that you can start using right away!

08/21/2026

No shade…but feeding therapy is NOT about “getting your kids to love a food they simply hate”.
It’s not going to take away their natural “want” to love sweets or candy.
It’s not going to get them to eat a new food at school (which is one of the hardest places for food exploration anyways) over night

Realistically, what CAN it do? Many things if it’s done well!
✅ Help your child feel confident and comfortable enough to explore new foods
✅ Help your child actually calmly taste and try new foods, so they can really determine if they like it
✅ Help your child understand that yes sweets are awesome! And you can always prefer them, but sometimes we need to eat foods we don’t love as much. And that is still OK
✅ Help your child learn what feels good to eat at school and what works best for them

08/21/2026

Dropping my daughter off at college for the first time hit me way harder than I ever expected. I knew I would be emotional, but I was not prepared for the heaviness of what felt like an “ending” to me.
An ending of a childhood I was lucky enough to share with her.

I know it’s off to happy and fun and amazing things for her and I am so grateful for that. But honestly going through it was harder than I thought it was going to be.

So taking a beat to feel all the feels and allow myself a moment to just..be sad. And be ok with that

Anyone else surprised by how they felt dropping their not so littles off at school?

Lookin for a great office space in Lake Nona? Affordable sublease in amazing location. Contact me to find out more!Near ...
08/21/2026

Lookin for a great office space in Lake Nona? Affordable sublease in amazing location. Contact me to find out more!

Near Laurette Park Publix 👏 convenient for all Lake Nona residents and surrounding areas

08/19/2026

Who feels me? Drop your villain origin story below in the comments so we can all support each other!

08/18/2026

Kids are small humans.

And most people are naturally drawn to foods that are sweet, familiar, easy, fun, or often packaged in very appealing ways. They make yogurt with tons of sugar and packaged in Mario and princesses for a reason!
They know kids love it. And so parents want to buy it 💰💰🤑

So yes-your child might LOVE cookies.
They might ask for dessert every single night.
They might choose crackers over broccoli every time.
They may insist on Cinderella yogurt and refuse all others(even though we know it’s the same!)
They will likely love food that is marketed to THEM!

That doesn’t mean you’ve done anything wrong.

And honestly? It’s not our job to make them love vegetables just as much as they love dessert.

Our job is to keep offering a variety of foods without turning preferences into a problem. ‼️. It’s our job to help them with flexibility-not help them love one food over another.

We can expose them to vegetables without demanding they eat them.
We can serve dessert without making it forbidden or “bad.”
We can let them have preferences without panicking about them.
We can have expectations without scarring them.
Because the goal isn’t a child who loves every food.

The goal is a child who can navigate food with flexibility-even when they don’t love what’s on the plate. ❤️

You’ve heard the advice before:“Just take one more bite! You will LOVE it. It’s amazing. So you ask your child to try i...
08/18/2026

You’ve heard the advice before:

“Just take one more bite! You will LOVE it. It’s amazing.

So you ask your child to try it.
They refuse. Or they try it and then never eat it again.

And suddenly you’re wondering..Why?What am I doing wrong?

Nothing..but you ARE setting your child up to very easily refuse just by the words you are using.
The fact is many foods are NOT amazing. Some are just “ok”, and that’s fine. We can totally eat those too.
And we need to teach our kids that.
We don’t need to convince them that a food is amazing for them to accept it.

Not every food is amazing. And that’s OKAY.

Don’t forget:

👉 A food doesn’t have to be AMAZING for your child to be able to eat it.

Maybe they think it’s just…fine.

Maybe it’s not their favorite.

Maybe they wouldn’t choose it first.

And that’s okay too.

Think about yourself. You probably have foods you eat that you don’t LOVE. You’re not obsessed with them. You’re not thinking, OMG I CAN’T WAIT TO EAT THIS! 😂

You just…eat them.

That is a perfectly reasonable relationship with food.

The goal isn’t to convince your child that every food is delicious.

The goal is to help them become comfortable enough with food to explore it, tolerate new experiences, and figure out what they like, what they don’t like, AND what they’re just…okay with and still able to eat.

So instead of:

❌ “Just take one bite. I promise you will love it!
Try:

✅ “You don’t have to love it. It’s similar to other foods you eat. It’s ok if it’s different and you don’t like it as much”

It’s totally fine to have any answer below:
“Yuck. Not for me.”

“Eh. It’s okay.” I’ll eat it sometimes but I prefer others.

“Wait…I actually like this!”

ALL THREE ARE OKAY.

Our goal isn’t to create kids who LOVE every food.

It’s to help them build the skills and confidence to explore food, tolerate foods they don’t love, and discover the foods they genuinely enjoy.

Because honestly?

Not every food is amazing. It doesn’t need to be. ❤️
Follow along for more practical advice and share with a family who needs to hear it! ! toddlereatingproblems

08/13/2026

Yep.👍 I’m not afraid to say it.
If your child is eating a very limited number of foods, refusing entire food groups, panicking around new foods, or struggling to maintain adequate nutrition…

here’s the hard truth:

They haven’t yet figured out how to choose foods and sustain their nutrition on their own.

And I know that can be hard to hear.

Because we’re constantly told that we should “trust our kids” and let them decide what and how much they eat.

And yes-children should have autonomy around eating.

But autonomy does NOT mean parents have to completely step out of the picture.

If your child had figured out how to navigate food successfully on their own, you probably wouldn’t be looking for feeding therapy in the first place.

So it’s okay to take some control back.

It’s okay to say:

“I’m going to help you with this.”

That might mean creating more structure around meals.

It might mean changing how foods are presented.

It might mean limiting accommodations that are keeping the cycle going.

It might mean introducing foods your child isn’t choosing on their own.

And it absolutely means doing it without shame, force, or turning mealtimes into a battle.

Your child’s autonomy matters.
But so does your responsibility as the parent to have boundaries and expectations.

You are not taking away your child’s voice by stepping in.

Sometimes, stepping in is exactly how we help them develop the skills they don’t have yet. Here is your permission to step in and help 😉💪

Address

Orlando, FL

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 6pm
Friday 8am - 6pm

Telephone

+13213882924

Website

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