Maintaining Progress After Feeding Therapy

Imagine this: You (or your child) are making strides during feeding therapy sessions and everyone is celebrating all of your successes (no matter what those are!). But then you get home and you’re back to eating the same 5-10 preferred foods and mealtime is still a struggle. You’re not alone!

Maintaining and continuing progress after feeding therapy is a challenge for many individuals and families. Here are some tips to help sustain and continue progress after feeding therapy, whether it’s for you or for your teen/child.

Read more about Pediatric Feeding Disorders and Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) on the American Speech-Language Hearing Association website.

Tips for Maintaining Progress After Feeding Therapy

Using a Schedule to Incorporate Newly Tried Foods:

Even if you’ve successfully tried a new food during therapy, many individuals find it challenging to incorporate this new food into their regular diet. Just thinking, “I’ll eat that new food now,” typically doesn’t work. One way to overcome this is to try maintaining a journal or record of the foods tasted and creating a schedule to include this food in your diet on a weekly basis. You’re more likely to see success when there’s a written plan to follow; it helps keep you accountable!

Prioritize Based on Preferences:

When faced with a variety of foods you’re attempting to add into your rotation, it’s helpful to write down and rank these foods based on personal preferences. Think about ranking them by taste and texture. Foods with a rating of “5” or higher should be prioritized on your schedule to taste and try again weekly, while those with a lower rating can be set aside. Even if it had a ranking of “4”, you can let it go and don’t stress about it! This approach prevents unnecessary stress and focuses on building a diet that aligns with individual preferences and comfort levels.

Incorporate Calming Techniques and Positive Reinforcement:

Eating habits are deeply intertwined with emotions and anxiety levels. Your therapist should be working with you on calming techniques and positive thinking or words of affirmation that you can integrate into your daily routines. To make the process more enjoyable and eating more fun, pair exposure to or eating some newer or challenging foods with activities that bring joy. For instance, watch the next episode of your favorite TV show after exposing yourself to a newer food. By associating positive experiences with food, the journey becomes not only beneficial but also enjoyable.

Transitioning from Therapy to Home Environment (For Children/Teens):

A common challenge arises when progress made in therapy doesn’t extend to home environments, especially for children. To address this, ensure that the last sessions of therapy involve the parent and child alone, with the therapist observing and intervening as needed. This step is critical for transitioning the learned skills from therapy to everyday life. Parents should actively participate in feeding, gradually taking over the responsibility and placing demands for eating with your child, or if needed, feeding your child. If your child never performed well for you at the feeding clinic, it will be almost impossible for it to generalize to home. As an example, in my last 2-3 sessions with a client, I have the parent and child engage in the session alone, with me watching and stepping in when needed. This is a crucial step practiced in therapy to ensure a smooth transition and generalization of skills.

Feeding journeys don’t conclude with the end of therapy; it’s the beginning of your independent journey to positive changes. Adopting structured plans, prioritizing preferences, incorporating positive reinforcement, and ensuring a smooth transition from therapy to home can help you or your child/teen maintain the progress and success achieved in sessions. The key truly lies in consistency and a positive approach! Not sure where to start? Kelly can help no matter what stage of the process you’re in.

Kelly is a Speech Language Pathologist who specializes in providing therapy and coaching from children to teens and young adults with feeding challenges. She prides herself on individualizing therapy sessions so that you meet your goals, whether that’s expanding your food repertoire, ordering something off a restaurant’s menu, or just appreciating your food preferences so that you can be present at social events. Contact Kelly at Food 4 Thought Therapy to get your questions answered and to take the first step towards your journey, You can contact Kelly and Food 4 Thought Therapy at kelly@food4thoughttherapy.com or visit https://food4thoughttherapy.com/contact/ to book your free consultation.

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