Exploring Food Restriction Due to Sensory Differences

In this episode, Susan Watson and I explore the challengespeople face when certain foods feel uncomfortable due to their sensory characteristics — such as smell, taste, or texture. Susan shares both her personal experience with sensory differences and the valuable insights she’s gained through her work in nutrition counselling, helping clients navigate foodrestrictions with understanding and self-compassion.Susan Watson is a registered dietitian and eating disorderspecialist, and the founder of A Little Nutrition and Therapy Services Winnipeg—a multidisciplinary practices that help individuals heal their relationship with food and body through a compassionate, weight-inclusive approach. With over 15 years of experience in nutrition counselling and mental health, Susan is passionate about bridging the gap between nutrition care and mental well-being.You can reach her at www.alittlenutrition.com or  [email protected].

Positive visualization can help us reshape the beliefs andpatterns that hold us back — yet creating personal audio recordings isn’t always easy. In this episode, we break down the process step by step, exploring how to write your own visualization script, record it with confidence, andweave it into a meaningful daily practice.Dr. Navidi is a licensed clinical psychologist andco-founder of GI Psychology, a multi-state center specializing in the treatment of GI disorders and chronic pain. He oversees training and outreach for the practice and is also a founder and past president of the Northern Virginia Society of Clinical Hypnosis, as well as a hypnosis trainer for ISSTD. Dr.Navidi has given talks about GI disorders and chronic pain to organizations around the country and has appeared on multiple podcasts, spreading awareness ofevidence-based psychological approaches to GI care.You can reach Dr. Navidi through his email: [email protected]

In this year-end episode, Wendy looks back onsome of the most powerful insights shared by her 2025 podcast guests—especiallyaround the theme of acceptance. Drawing from conversations with her guests, sheexplores how acceptance of symptoms, emotions, and lived experience can reducesuffering and support healing. Wendy also introduces a simple dailyvisualization practice to help listeners soften resistance and make space formeaningful change.

A parent/caregiver's food relationship impacts how their child's feeding relationship develops. For example, many children pick up food fear from a parent.  Jaclyn shares tips on how to turn these challenges into teachable moments with your child.   A parent/caregiver's relationship to food has a direct impact on their child's feeding development. As they develop, children learn from observation and may adopt similar habits or behaviours from the adults around them. For example, a child may not like a food because their parent/caregiver does not like it; this could even transpire into fear of the food altogether. Jaclyn shares tips on how to turn these challenges into teachable moments with your child. Jaclyn Pederson, MHI,  is the Chief Executive Officer of Feeding Matters. With more than a decade of experience in program development, Jaclyn Pederson's broad knowledge of programming in the public and social sectors includes program and strategic initiative design, fund development, special events, grant writing, and community engagement. A system thinker and positive team builder, she uses transformational leadership principles to develop energized and efficient workgroups that influence significant organizational and systemic change for all affected by pediatric feeding disorder –such as the development of the expanded PFD Alliance. Jaclyn also manages Feeding Matters' strategic partnerships with numerous professional associations, including the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), the American Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, and the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN). You can reach Jaclyn through her website and social media. https://www.feedingmatters.org  https://www.facebook.com/feedingmatters  https://www.instagram.com/feedingmatters 

Elimination diets are a primary risk factor for getting stuck in the Conditioned Food Avoidance and Sensitivity Trap. Julia Cassidy joined me for an insightful discussion on this topic. She highlights the key warning signs that you may have developed a fearful relationship with food and what to do if you notice these red flags. Julia Cassidy is a highly experienced dietitian with 20 years of dedication to weight-inclusive and nutrition-sensitive care within the behavioral health field. Her leadership roles have included Vice President of Clinical Nutrition and Senior Director of Nutrition and Wellness. She is a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist Consultant, a Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, certified in Nutrition Psychiatry, and a Licensed Body Positive Facilitator. Listeners can connect with Julia at [email protected] or www.thriving-nutrition.net

Watching other people eat foods you are restricting can be challenging. Janelle shares how she has come to a place of acceptance and compassion over the last 15 years of living with celiac disease. Janelle Smith, MS, RDN, CEDS (she/her) is a registered dietitian nutritionist and Certified Eating Disorders Specialist with lived and clinical expertise in supporting a peaceful relationship with food in the midst of gastrointestinal distress. She is passionate about educating other providers about disordered eating and GI diseases, so actively forms and leads initiatives with this mission, including the EDGI Training Project and the Dietitians in Gluten and Gastrointestinal Disorders subgroup with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. She is advancing eating-disorder informed care at her position with UCLA Health Digestive Disease Nutrition Program, speaks on the topic at conferences, and has published multiple peer-reviewed research articles on the overlap. You can reach her at janellesmithnutrition.com and edgitraining.com

Visualization is a powerful tool to rewire our brain's circuitry and create new pathways that lead to success. Visualization can change our relationship with food and help us move past conditioned food avoidance and sensitivity. Aaron Volpatti is a cognitive performance and injury coach, speaker, retired NHL player, burn survivor, and a graduate from Brown University- B.Sc Human Biology. He is also the author of Fighter – Defing the NHL Odds. A pioneer in Cinematic Visualization and athletic performance, Aaron's unique practice has helped athletes all over the world. You can reach him at AaronVolpatti.com

Beth Rosen shares her story of accepting that her digestive discomfort was chronic but also realizing there were many treatments she could explore to get back to a great quality of life. She shares her top tips on travelling this road with persistence and patience. Beth Rosen, MS, RD, CDN, is a weight-inclusive Registered Dietitian specializing in GI nutrition and disordered eating. With 29 years of experience, she runs a virtual practice helping clients manage conditions like IBS, SIBO, and Celiac disease. Beth also educates health professionals through webinars and peer mentoring. Currently the chair of the Dietitians in Gluten and GI Diseases subgroup of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, she's a co-founder of the EDGI Training Project and author of the upcoming book Gut Goals. Learn more at www.BethRosenRD.com.

Food and symptom journalling can be effective when used properly. However, it can also pull you into symptom hypervigilance and the Conditioned Food Avoidance and Sensitivity Trap (C-FAST). Join Wendy and Dr. Melissa Hunt for tips on avoiding these pitfalls. We will also discuss how the brain amplifies sensations in the body and how you can turn the volume down on this communication. Melissa G. Hunt is a licensed clinical psychologist and serves as the Associate Director of Clinical Training in the Department of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.  She is a Fellow and Diplomate of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy and a member of the Rome Foundation Psychogastroenterology working group. Dr. Hunt conducts research on the best approaches for stress management, and into the causes and treatment of depression, anxiety disorders and chronic GI disorders. As a clinical scientist, her emphasis is on translating basic psychological science into treatments that are effective, acceptable, and accessible to patient populations. Her work focuses on identifying the underlying patient factors (e.g. unhelpful beliefs and maladaptive avoidance) that lead to reduced quality of life, impairment and distress, particularly factors that exacerbate chronic health problems and make them harder to cope with, and on developing and disseminating evidence based, empirically supported treatments for folks with GI disorders.  In addition to her research, she maintains an active private practice in clinical psychology in which she specializes in cognitive-behavioral treatment with patients with chronic GI disorders, as well as co-morbid mood, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, and trauma disorders.  She is the author of two evidence-based, empirically supported self-help books that make CBT accessible to patients with IBS and IBDs, as well as an empirically supported treatment manual on CBT for IBD patients.  You can reach Dr. Hunt at [email protected].

Annie shares her story of how the bulimia she developed as a teenager morphed into food sensitivity restrictions while she was enrolled in a "wellness" program. She developed chronic health problems and believed that food was the cause and that a restricted diet was the cure. Annie shares how these restrictions impacted her life and how she broke out of the trap and is now enjoying freedom from food. Annie is a recovered trauma-informed eating disorder mentor and intuitive eating facilitator with a dedicated focus on addressing misinformation in wellness spaces. She connects individuals with vital resources and offers specialized eating disorder recovery coaching, collaborating closely with other treatment providers. Her mission is to guide individuals towards a healthier relationship to food and self, while also equipping them with the skills to navigate and discern accurate information amidst the challenges of misinformation in wellness environments. You can read more about her story here.