If you’re parenting a PDA child or teen and food feels scary right now, this episode is for you.

Many PDA kids experience food preoccupation, binge-like eating, weight changes, or rigid food preferences - often as a response to stress, loss of autonomy, or nervous system overload. In this episode, we explore food and eating through a nervous-system-informed, non-diet-culture lens, so you can respond with clarity instead of fear.

You’ll learn:

• Why binge-like eating and food rigidity are coping strategies, not character flaws
• How restriction, pressure, and “fixing” increase threat for PDA nervous systems
• Why felt safety must come before behavior change
• How dopamine, sensory regulation, and stress relief intersect with eating
• The subtle ways diet culture fuels parental panic, even when we think we’ve rejected it

This episode is especially supportive for parents familiar with nervous system parenting and concepts from Raising Kids with Big, Baffling Behaviors: A Course for Parents by Robyn Gobbel (the base of my now-open PDA parent program!) but who feel activated, scared, or stuck when food and weight concerns arise.

You don’t have to solve this today. Regulation, curiosity, and compassion matter much more than control or perfection.

Scope & Safety Note

This episode discusses eating patterns that can emerge as nervous system responses to stress and demand, particularly in PDA children and teens.

This conversation is not intended to diagnose or rule out eating disorders and is not a substitute for medical, nutritional, or mental health care. Some children do experience eating disorders and require individualized, professional support.

If you have concerns about your child’s physical safety, growth, or medical risk, please seek appropriate professional care alongside listening.

Resources Mentioned

• Ellyn Satter Institute – Feeding relationships & division of responsibility
• Katja Rowell, MD – Child feeding & body trust
• SOS Feeding Therapy – Nervous-system-informed feeding
• STAR Institute – Feeding therapy & sensory integration

Interested in deeper support?

Enrollment is opening next week for my 4-month nervous-system-informed program for parents of PDA children and teens. This is for parents who want practical guidance, regulation support, and low-demand strategies - without pressure or “fixing” their child.

The core of this program is Raising Kids With Big, Baffling Behaviors: A Course for Parents (created by Robyn Gobbel and adapted for PDA by Amy Kotha).

You can learn more and see if it feels like a fit by clicking HERE.

Traditional parenting programs often don’t work for PDA families - not because parents aren’t trying hard enough, but because the structure itself creates pressure.

In this episode, I share why I stopped offering a weekly parenting class and what flexible, PDA-informed support can look like instead.

What if the problem isn’t you - or your child - but the structure of the support you’ve been offered?

In this episode, I’m sharing why I stopped offering a traditional weekly parenting class for PDA families - and what I created instead.

After listening closely to PDA parents, it became clear that rigid schedules, fixed weekly meetings, and pressure to “keep up” often make support inaccessible - even when parents deeply want help.

Here, I talk about:

• Why traditional parenting programs often don’t work for PDA families
• How nervous system safety impacts a parent’s ability to access support
• Why flexibility and autonomy matter just as much for parents as they do for kids
• How I redesigned my parent education and coaching program to fit real life
• What it means to look at the environment - not the child or parent - when something isn’t working

The educational foundation of this work is the Raising Kids with Big, Baffling Behaviors: A Course for Parents by Robyn Gobbel, which I offer under license and integrate through a PDA-informed lens with coaching support.

This program is offered on a rolling enrollment basis, with space for up to 12 families at a time. When the program is full, families are invited to join a waitlist until an opening becomes available.

Whether or not this program is the right fit for you, my hope is that this episode offers reassurance, permission, and a reminder that needing a different structure doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong.

To learn more or check current availability, visit my website: www.amykcoach.com/parentcourse