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What Past Students Have To Say:

  • "Both presenters were very knowledgeable and professional. The information presented was extremely useful and provided specific ideas/steps to implement into practice immediately. Great work!"

  • "The presentation went right to the point. It clearly emphazised the connection and the importance between emotions and feeding."

  • "I like how you address the issue from a multi-disciplinary perspective. I work in EI on a feeding team and it's not easy to find educational information that is helpful from multiple angles of an issue."

Course Description

Traumatic experiences can have a significant impact on a child’s development and a parent’s confidence and well-being. Many families who have children with feeding challenges have experienced trauma in the past or are attempting to manage feeding situations that feel chronically stressful.


This  webinar will help practitioners who support children with feeding needs identify signs of trauma in children and parents and implement trauma-informed practices in the context of feeding therapy. This session also highlights specific practices to buffer stress, prevent further trauma from occurring, and maximize a child’s developmental gains. Specifically, participants will be presented with strategies to enhance their ability to build strong relationships between the professionals on the team, with parents, and between parents and their children. A strong focus on identification of individualized areas of strength and need with consideration of a family's unique experience, as well as empowerment of parents and caregivers throughout the assessment and therapeutic process, will be part of this presentation. Short case examples and reflection questions will engage participants in applying concepts.

You will learn to:

1. Define trauma and PTSD, including identification of symptoms of PTSD.

2. Understand how specific medical events related to feeding have the potential to be traumatic

3. Identify signs of trauma in patients and serve as a buffer to prevent future trauma

4. Understand how to avoid trauma in feeding therapy

5. Prevent burn-out when working with patients who have experienced trauma

CEU Info

Certificates will be issued verifying participation in two (2) hours of continuing education once full attendance has been verified. Please allow 3-4 weeks for certificates to be sent. Check with your professional organizations licensing bodies to determine exactly what may be accepted for you. This course is eligible for ASHA’s professional development hour requirements. You will not require ASHA pre-approval for this. See here [https://www.asha.org/certification/FactDef/] for more information. This course is eligible for AOTA credits. Please check your state’s guidelines for specific information about this continuing education activity may apply to your state’s CEU guidelines.

Timed Agenda

Timed Agenda:

0:00-0:20: Introduction to trauma-informed care 

a. Definition of trauma 

b. What makes an event traumatic? 

c. How trauma can affect development 

d. Defining PTSD 

e. Examples of trauma that could occur in the context of feeding therapy

0:20-0:30:  Medical/physiological events that may be traumatic 

a. Children who have undergone trauma- who are 

    they? 

b. What is medical trauma? 

c. Therapists’ roles in identifying   

   families dealing with trauma 

30-1:00: Treatment/intervention that may be traumatic 

a. Learn and respect a child’s past medical history 

c. Force-feeding secondary to protocol-based program or 

    exposure therapy gone wrong 

d. Trauma associated with use of feeding tubes

e. Guidelines to have stress-free, trauma-free treatment 

f. Guidelines for treatment/intervention 

1:00-0:40: Working with families who have been through trauma

a. How can therapists intervene to support parents? 

b. Discussion and sharing regarding our practice with families dealing with trauma: identifying what worked/is working and how to improve 

c. Parent coaching

d. Building strong teams 

e. Preventing burn-out and compassion fatigue: self-care for providers 

1:40-2:00 Group discussion/Q & A debriefing topics listed above Discussion   

Questions to include (but not limited to): 

1. Have you experienced situations of trauma in your own practice? 

2. How have you seen chronic stress surface in families in your setting? 

3. How have you successfully partnered with parents and other treatment team members to reduce stress and help families cope with chronic stress and/or trauma?

     

Instructors

Founder and Senior Instructor

Stephanie Cohen, M.A., CCC-SLP, CLC

Stephanie Cohen is a speech-language pathologist and lactation counselor in private practice who has worked with children with complex medical needs and their families for more than 20 years. Stephanie has advanced training in feeding and swallowing disorders; she specializes in working with the 0-3 population and is passionate about helping families of children with feeding and swallowing disorders find ways to make mealtimes more successful and enjoyable. Stephanie has a bachelor of arts and a master of science degree from Northwestern University. She is a credentialed evaluator and provider in IL Early Intervention. Stephanie speaks about a variety of topics, including typical and atypical feeding development, responsive feeding, and trauma-informed feeding assessment and treatment. She enjoys mentoring, collaborating, and teaching. Stephanie also shares information and insight for families and professionals on Instagram (@Learntotalkwithme) and Tiktok (@Learntotalkwithme). She is the author of two board books, My First Learn-to-Talk Book and My First Learn-to-Talk Book: Things That Go (Sourcebooks). Stephanie lives in Northbrook with her husband, three children, and two dogs.

Founder and Senior Instructor

Karen Dilfer, MS, OTR/L

Karen Dilfer is an occupational therapist, feeding specialist, and food enthusiast. She has a strong pediatric background and loves to help children with motor, sensory, and mealtime challenges. A Chicago native, Karen enjoys discovering new restaurants and cooking with friends and family. She is a founding member of the Chicago Feeding Group, a non profit organization that seeks to support parents and professions who work with children who struggle to eat. Karen was recently featured in the Chicago Tribune. Karen has a bachelor of science degree from Calvin College and a master’s of science degree from Washington University in St. Louis. She is Neurodevelopmental Treatment (NDT) trained and has also completed post-graduate education in Sensory Integration. Karen trained under Marsha Dunn Klein at Mealtime Connections, LLC, in Tucson, Arizona. Karen is a contributing member to the Get Permission team and regularly teaches Get Permission workshops and webinars. She maintains a private practice and actively treats children with feeding challenges. You can learn more about her work here: www.eatwithkaren.com.

Audience

This intermediate level course is appropriate for occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, physical therapists, assistants, educators, early intervention providers, parents/caregivers, and other professionals (social workers, nurses, registered dietitians, etc.) working with children with feeding challenges. Please contact us at hello@getpermissioninstitute.com  with any needs regarding accommodations. 


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Cancellations

Cancellations must be in writing and will incur a $25 fee. We are unable to give refunds if more than 10% of the course has been viewed. If the Get Permission Institute or speaker should need to cancel, course fees will be refunded or transferred to another course at the discretion of the participant.