Food Gratitude - A Crash Course in Positive Psychology for Parents of Children with Prader-Willi Syndrome
What is food gratitude?
Food Gratitude is a support system and coaching tool for families of children with Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS). As a mom and as a certified practitioner of positive psychology, I created this tool because there are few positively-focused resources tailored to the special needs community. Some people think that special needs is mostly trauma and stress. But that’s not the whole story and couldn’t be further from the truth! Food Gratitude applies what scientists know about how people thrive to our lives as parents of kids with special needs. We can rewire our brains to build resilience through our challenges and find even find grace and gratitude at the dinner table.
I created this tool out of love for my child and for all families with children with PWS. I hope you enjoy using it as much as I enjoyed creating it.
“It’s not about the cards you’re dealt, but how you play the hand.”
What Does Food Gratitude Cover?
· Brief introduction to positive psychology and the science of gratitude
· What gratitude does to our brains
· How to work with beliefs and mindset
· Using food-related habits, practices and rituals for family flourishing
· Gratitude journaling pages and prompts
Why Focus on Food?
Cooking and eating are rarely cause for savoring and celebrating in the PWS community. But savoring and celebrating are important life skills and mealtimes need not be stressful! By putting Gratitude into practice in our families, we find enjoyment in family time, and our kids learn important life skills that help build their character and resilience.
As parents, one of the most positive tools we have in our toolkit is to feed our children, engage with them and have positive interactions and experiences. All of these can take place at a meal with a little effort and a big dose of intention, even for families with PWS.
What Does Food Gratitude Do?
This program uses the latest scientific discoveries about personal agency and human well-being to dissolve limiting beliefs about disability, combat anxiety, retool our mindsets, and put intentional practices into place to enjoy and savor meals, life and our kids.
By practicing these skills, we naturally improve our health and well-being. And even though this program doesn’t deal with diet, exercise or nutrition, you’ll find that as you start feeling more positively you’ll be drawn to take care of yourself in those areas as well.
How is Food Gratitude Inspired by Science?
This program teaches application of the science of gratitude. Gratitude is not just for religious folks. Scientific studies show that intentional gratitude practices activate the medial pre-frontal cortex of the brain, which generates oxytocin and results in a sense of calm, safety and positive emotions. This in turn affects the decisions we make, the emotions that influence our experience and how we feel about ourselves.
Food Gratitude Citation: Food Gratitude: A Crash Course in Positive Psychology for Parents of Children with Prader-Willi Syndrome Workbook. By Emily Felt, MPP, CAPP. Prepared for the workshop at the California Prader-Willi Foundation Annual Conference in Sacramento, CA (Oct., 2018).