ARFID & Selective Eating Support

23/08/2026

These may look like pictures of food — and they are — but they’re also something far more meaningful.They’re photos of foods that someone I saw just over a week ago could not eat.

Not because they were “fussy”.
Not because they were being difficult.
But because their brain had learned to treat those foods as a genuine threat.

And now… they’re eating them. Happily. Confidently. Night after night.No force‑feeding.
No food exposure.

No long, drawn‑out therapy over months.Just one session that removed the fear response that had been blocking them for years.This is what happens when you work with the part of the brain that’s mislabelling food as dangerous — not the part that’s trying to rationalise it.

Real change.
Real freedom.
Real life opening back up.

Selectiveeating.com

21/08/2026

𝐀𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐃𝐫 𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐣’𝐬 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐏𝐡𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐜𝐬.
Everyone in this series was treated in one session — and every single person tried new foods by the end of the day.

Real change.
Real freedom.
Real hope for anyone living with food fear.

21/08/2026

This clip is taken from Dr Ranj’s Food Phobics, part of a full series of programmes where I appeared as one of the therapists helping people overcome their food fears. Everyone featured in the series was treated in a single session, and by the end of the day they were all trying new foods.

It was an amazing project to be involved in, and it shows what’s possible when you change the brain’s response to food rather than relying on slow exposure.

05/07/2026

Today is the day! It is ARFID Awareness Day!

Shout and share about ARFID today, it's about time ARFID is understood..

And don't forget to 🩵

27/06/2026

WHEN IS A SAFE FOOD NOT A SAFE FOOD?

👉 When the recipe is changed.For someone with ARFID, even a tiny tweak — a new oil, spice, or texture — can turn a trusted meal into something impossible to eat.
It’s not fussiness. It’s safety.

💛 Raising awareness helps others understand what “safe foods” really mean.
Learn more at SelectiveEating.com

16/06/2026

💬 Extended family often mean well — but good intentions aren’t the same as understanding.

When someone says “Leave him with us for a week and we’ll have him eating proper food,” they’re starting from the idea that ARFID is just fussy eating.But ARFID is so much more than that.

It’s fear, sensory overwhelm, and survival — not stubbornness.

Helping someone with ARFID starts from a place of understanding, not force‑feeding.Let’s change the conversation.

Learn more at SelectiveEating.com

12/06/2026

If food is a choice, why wouldn’t you.For most people, eating is simple — social, fun, automatic.For someone with ARFID, it’s not about being picky. It’s fear, overwhelm, and survival.

Let’s change the conversation.Learn more at SelectiveEating.com

10/06/2026

08/06/2026

ARFID Recovery Series – What Needs to Happen

Step 3: Bridging the Gap

In Steps 1 and 2, you identified your reason why — the motivation behind wanting life to feel bigger, easier, and less restricted. That clarity matters. It’s the anchor for everything that comes next.

Now we look at bridging the gap between where you are and where you want to be.

Why you shouldn’t have to do this alone:

You could try to figure this out through trial and error. Many people do. But it’s a long, exhausting path — full of anxiety spikes, setbacks, and confusion.

The better way is to find a guide: Someone who understands ARFID, has walked people through this before, and knows how to make the process calmer, faster, and more predictable.

A guide helps you move from “I don’t know why this is happening” to “Now this makes sense.”

Why traditional exposure‑based approaches feel so hard:

Many common approaches focus on trying new foods:

Food exposure

Food chaining

“You like this food, so add this one.”

“This food is similar, so try that.”

For people with ARFID, this often ramps up anxiety. Because the truth is:

If you could eat the food, you wouldn’t be struggling in the first place.

Exposure‑first approaches can work, but they’re slow, stressful, and often feel like being pushed into the deep end without learning to swim.

A different way: Changing your perception of food

My preferred approach — and the one used successfully thousands of times — is to help you change the way your mind understands food.

That means exploring:

Why your brain reacts the way it does

Where ARFID comes from

What your protective system is trying to do for you

How your mind created a strategy that no longer serves you

When you understand the why, something shifts. Your nervous system calms. Your fear response softens.Your relationship with food becomes less threatening.

And then — only when you’re ready — trying new foods becomes calm, gentle, and surprisingly easy.

No pressure. No forcing. No panic.

Just readiness.

This is how you bridge the gap

You don’t start by eating new foods.You start by changing the meaning your brain attaches to them.

That’s the bridge.

And once you cross it, everything else becomes possible.

SelectiveEating.com

07/06/2026

ARFID Recovery Series - What Needs to happen

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟮: 𝗜𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝘂𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲

With ARFID, new foods can feel frightening. Your body reacts before you even get close — and that’s a real, valid experience.

But recovery starts long before you try anything new. It starts with imagining what could be possible.

Think back to Step 1: the parts of your life you want more of — connection, confidence, freedom.

Now gently ask yourself:

• What foods would help me join in socially
• What foods would support my health
• What foods would make everyday life easier

Write them down without pressure.
You’re not committing to eating them.
You’re simply mapping the path forward.

Every journey begins with imagining the destination.

👇 SelectiveEating.com

#𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐀𝐧𝐱𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 #𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐄𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠