Upcoming Presentations
Introduction to avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID)
Audience: Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists
Date: December 2, 2025
Summary: For pediatric occupational therapists, children can present with food refusal, picky eating, rigid eating, and eating a limited variety of foods. When is this a phase and when might it be avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID)? ARFID is a “new” diagnosis added to the DSM-5 (APA, 2013) that typically shows up in childhood, but it doesn't include the same preoccupation with weight as the more well-known eating disorders anorexia and bulimia nervosa.
This webinar will provide an overview of ARFID, potential causes, symptoms, and connection to autism spectrum disorder. There will be an exploration of the occupational implications of ARFID for the child and their family. The presenter will then discuss the current best practice occupational therapy interventions for ARFID and the relevant literature to support them.
Register: through CAOT.
Title: How To Provide Safe Care When a Client Has an Eating Disorder
Audience: Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists
Date: September 9, 2025
Summary: An overview of how to recognize when someone is affected by an eating disorder in any setting, including some of the medical complications. I also explore how clinicians can adjust their practice to better serve this population, using eating disorder-informed language and giving appropriate recommendations.
I will share ways occupational therapists can adapt their current interventions so that they are supporting safe practice and recovery for their clients with suspected or diagnosed eating disorders.
Watch the replay via the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT). Group access is also available.
Past Presentations
Title: A Day in the Life of an OT in Eating Disorders
Audience: Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists – Mental health & substance use practice network
Date: May 14, 2022
Summary: What it’s like to work as an occupational therapist in a private eating disorder service, what interventions I use, what role I play in my clients’ recovery, and what it’s like to experience an eating disorder.