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“As a career SLP, I’ve seen firsthand how early food experiences shape a child’s lifelong relationship with eating—and how easily that relationship can unravel when trauma, neurodivergence, or complex family dynamics create disruption.

What may start as a pattern of selective eating, can quickly escalate into full-blown mealtime battles, impacting the gut-brain axis, fueling disordered eating patterns, and resulting in restrictive intake behaviors that feel impossible to reverse.

If you’ve ever felt stuck trying to treat ARFID or other feeding challenges with traditional approaches, you’re not alone—and it’s time for a change.

Join me and discover a cutting-edge, psychodynamically-informed framework that connects neuroscience and health behavior change to practical strategies for treating ARFID. Together, we’ll go beyond surface-level strategies and integrate real-world tools that help you identify and treat the emotional and behavioral components often overlooked in traditional feeding care.

As an experienced, trauma-informed, neurodiversity-affirming SLP specializing in autism, ADHD, and ARFID—I personally developed this training to help bridge the critical gaps between communication, mental health, and nutrition.

So, you can confidently learn how to:

  • Decode the social-emotional roots of disordered eating
  • Re-establish healthy food choices and preferences using theories of health behavior change
  • Recognize trauma responses that show up during mealtimes, or with specific foods
  • Understand the impact of labels like the “picky eater” on a child’s identity
  • Support families in building sustainable, connected feeding relationships

This isn’t just “another feeding training” — it’s a completely new lens for your practice. One that empowers you to show up as a change-maker in the lives of families navigating ARFID and beyond.

Join me, and take your feeding and swallowing practice to the next level!”

— Polina Shkadron, MA, CCC-SLP, MSNE, CTP, ADHD-RSP
The "Not So Picky" Picky Eater
Approaching Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder from a Health Behavior Perspective
Featuring: Polina Shkadron, MA, CCC-SLP, MSNE, CTP, ADHD-CCSP

Only $249.99!
Plus, earn up to 6.75 CE Hours. Click here for Credit details.
Register Today, and Here Is What You’ll Learn…
  • Mealtime foundations and what defines true nourishment

  • Theories of health behavior change and their impact on food choices

  • The nutritional, physical, and mental health aspects of ARFID

  • How stress and body signals influence appetite regulation

  • The gut-brain connection and its role in stressful eating triggers

  • How trauma shapes relationships with food—and strategies to reshape them

  • Key techniques to create supportive, pressure-free mealtime environments
Learn How You Can Bring Healing to Mealtime!

Only $249.99!

Plus, earn up to 6.75 CE Hours. Click here for Credit details.
100% Risk-Free Registration Guaranteed!
Training Outline

Mealtime Foundation: The Building Blocks of Nourishment
  • Define eating, feeding and the components of mealtime
  • Outline the foundational framework of a meal: environment, food choices, communication, values, and community
  • Nourishment and nutritional needs from toddlerhood into adolescence
Theories of Health Behavior Change
  • The social-ecological model and environmental impacts on food choices
  • The health belief model (HBM) in relation to perceived barriers to change
  • Constructs of the social-cognitive theory (SCT) and links to mealtime expectations
  • Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) in relation to attitudes and preferences
Exploring the Labels of Eating and Feeding
  • The picky eater, food neophobia and sensory processing of mealtimes
  • Pediatric feeding disorder: medical, nutritional, feeding skills, and psychosocial factors
  • ARFID etiology and presentations
  • Additional factors in autism and ADHD
Approaching the Worry Cycle
  • Exploring stress and the body with the role of neurotransmitters
  • An overview of the enteric nervous system and the role of the vagus nerve
  • The HPA axis and appetite regulation
  • How stress affects diet quality
Influence of Trauma on the Food Relationship
  • ACEs, hidden traumas and dysfunctional eating
  • ACEs and health disparities
  • Neuro deficits, executive dysfunction and eating disorders
  • Pediatric obesity and emotional regulation
Key Strategies for Enhancing the Mealtime Environment
  • Defining engagement as it pertains to mealtime: Praise vs. encouragement
  • Exposures and mealtime pressures: Changing the invitation
  • Building the food relationship through shared experiences
  • Healing the meal based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
The "Not So Picky" Picky Eater
Approaching Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder from a Health Behavior Perspective
Featuring: Polina Shkadron, MA, CCC-SLP, MSNE, CTP, ADHD-CCSP

Only $249.99!
Plus, earn up to 6.75 CE Hours. Click here for Credit details.
Meet Your ARFID & Feeding Expert
Polina Shkadron, MA, CCC-SLP, MSNE, CTP, ADHD-CCSP

Polina Shkadron, MA, CCC-SLP, MSNE, CTP, ADHD-RSP is the founder and owner of Play to Learn Consulting, a successful private practice in NY, offering unique, individualized support to neurodivergent children and adolescents. She coaches parents in the most current, brain-based research, offering guidance and practical strategies to enhance their relationships with their children and themselves. She maintains advanced certifications in trauma and ADHD, continuously integrating research in neuroscience, organizational psychology, and trauma-informed practices for neurodivergent populations.

Click here for information about Polina Shkadron
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NOTE: No additional discounts or coupons may be applied to this course.
This product is not endorsed by, sponsored by, or affiliated with the IFS Institute and does not qualify for IFS Institute credits or certification.
This course is not affiliated with EMDRIA and does not qualify toward EMDRIA credits or training.
This training is not affiliated with EMDRIA nor EMDR Europe and does not qualify towards EMDRIA nor EMDR Europe credits or training.
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