Hi, I’m Teresa, the Feeding Therapist!
I’m an Occupational Therapist working with children. I specialise in working with children with complex feeding difficulties.
I’m also a mum to three young children. One of my children has been a picky eater for years and another had significant feeding challenges as a newborn, so I have firsthand experience of these challenges!
I understand the stress, isolation and anxiety that come with parenting a child with complex feeding challenges.
I have worked with infants and children since I qualified in 2008. I have worked in specialist feeding services for several years. I am one of the only paediatric Occupational Therapists in Ireland & UK specialising in working with children diagnosed with ARFID.
I was fortunate to help establish the first multidisciplinary service in Ireland for children with complex feeding challenges such as ARFID. Now I help children and families with these challenges in my private clinic and I also train other healthcare professionals in this area.
Multidisciplinary team working is of vital importance in this area and I have built up a network of feeding professionals around the world, who I liaise with closely. For several years, I have walked the lonely road of problem eating and extreme picky eating with many families. However I know that with the perfect mix of science, clinical experience and individualised care, we can achieve great things with these children and their families.
My qualifications & titles:
MSc Occupational Therapy
Feeding Therapist
International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC)
Member of the Association of Occupational Therapists in Ireland (MAOTI)
CORU Registered Occupational Therapist
Lecturer-University College Dublin
My experience & approach:
I have been lucky enough to work as a Paediatric Occupational Therapist both in Ireland and Australia. In this time, I have worked with infants and children in many services including:
Early Intervention, Autism services, Physical Disabilities & Paediatric Neurology & Brain Injury Rehabilitation. I also spent a few years working in an academic setting at Trinity College Dublin.
In 2021 I established my own private practice in Dublin, Shooting Stars Occupational Therapy
Working with families dealing with these challenges for years, I became aware of the lack of information and support globally for parents of children with complex feeding challenges.
ARFID is still a very new diagnosis and so research and supports for this condition are still extremely limited.
The Feeding Therapist was created to help families find the joy in mealtimes again and make realistic and sustainable changes to eating together.
I have learned from experts in the feeding therapy field such as the Get Permission Institute, Ellyn Satter Institute and Responsive Feeding Therapy. My work is individualised to the needs of the family and always neuro-affirmative and trauma informed.
While I was working at the Central Remedial Clinic in Dublin, I worked as part of the Feeding, Eating, Drinking & Swallowing (FEDS) Team.
It was while working with this wonderful multi-disciplinary team, that I realised how massively important eating and drinking are to each of us in our daily lives.
When individuals cannot eat or drink in the way they want to, it has an unthinkable impact on their health and wellbeing.
I made it my mission to empower parents and caregivers with the most up-to-date, reliable scientific evidence in this area, coupled with the practical strategies I have gained from working in this area.
Helping families find the joy in mealtimes and making sustainable changes gives me endless joy.
Ready to make mealtimes magical?
We also recognise that you are the expert on your child.
Using the latest evidence-based techniques and clinical advice, we can help you reduce your child’s food anxieties and increase enjoyment of mealtimes.
Please note this course does not include information for children or young people who are tube fed currently. Course fees are health insurance deductible: receipts are provided immediately with payment