When people hear that I completed the Marsha Dunn Klein Feeding Fellowship, they sometimes assume that’s the finish line. That I learned the Get Permission Approach, earned the credential, and now I just… apply it. Case closed.
If only feeding therapy worked that way.
The truth is, finishing the fellowship wasn’t an ending. It was the beginning of a much longer, much more interesting conversation, one I get to keep having thanks to the community at Get Permission Institute.
Every Client Is a New Question
No two feeding clients are the same, and no two parent-child relationships play out the same way at the table.
A strategy that helped one anxious eater find their appetite might completely miss the mark with the next child. A parent who needs gentle encouragement to step back looks nothing like a parent who needs support to lean in.
Even after training and years of practice, every session asks me to look freshly at what’s actually happening right in front of me, each and every session.
That’s exactly why having a community of other professionals wrestling with the same questions is so valuable. In my GPI membership sessions, I get to bring real, specific, sometimes messy case questions to people who understand the nuance immediately. We talk through what’s working, what isn’t, and why a particular child or family might need something different. It’s collaborative problem-solving in real time, and it sharpens my thinking every single time.
There Is Always Something New to Learn
I used to think mentoring sessions were mostly for early-career therapists still finding their footing. I was wrong. Every mentoring session, we discover from each other things we hadn’t fully considered, subtle cues we might have missed, a way of reframing a parent’s fear, or a fresh angle on a stuck case. The Get Permission Approach is deep enough that even experienced therapists keep discovering new layers to it, and having senior instructors and peers to learn alongside keeps that growth going instead of letting it plateau.
From Needing Mentorship to Showing Up as a Mentor
I found real value in mentorship long before I ever imagined being on the other side of it. Now I’m one of the mentors who joins the monthly live sessions, and honestly, that shift has taught me almost as much as being mentored did.
Stepping into that role hasn’t meant I stopped needing guidance myself, if anything, it’s made me more aware of how much growing I still have to do. Every live session, whether I’m the one answering a question or the one asking it, reminds me that we’re all somewhere on the same learning curve. I love getting to offer what I’ve learned to other therapists working through hard cases, and I love just as much that the format still lets me sit in the room as a learner, not just a leader. Mentoring others has a funny way of showing you exactly where your own blind spots are — because someone always asks the question that makes you think, “huh, I’ve never quite looked at it that way.” That’s the real value of a professional community like this: it’s not a one-way pipeline from novice to expert.
It’s a living, ongoing exchange where the roles of mentor and mentee blur, because none of us, no matter how many years in or how many fellowships completed, ever fully arrives. We all still need to grow.
The Other Reason Membership Matters: It’s Sustainable
Here’s the part people talk about less: this work is demanding. Feeding therapy asks you to problem-solve on your feet, read subtle emotional cues from both child and caregiver, and stay fully present, session after session, with families who are often scared, exhausted, or grieving the mealtime experience they hoped to have. It is deeply meaningful work and it is also work that can quietly burn you out if you’re doing it alone.
Professional membership gives me somewhere to put that weight down for a moment. It’s a space where I can say “this case is really getting to me” and be met with understanding instead of needing to explain why feeding therapy is emotionally loaded in the first place. That kind of peer support isn’t a nice extra, it’s part of what makes this career sustainable long-term. Compassion and encouragement from people who get it are just as essential to doing this work well as any clinical technique.
More Than a Credential
The fellowship gave me a strong foundation in the Get Permission Approach. But staying connected through professional membership is what keeps that foundation alive, updated with current research, tested against real cases, and supported by a community that understands both the clinical complexity and the emotional toll of this profession.
If you’re a feeding therapist wondering whether membership is “worth it” once you’ve already completed your training: in my experience, that’s exactly when it starts to matter most.
Looking to get connected?
We would love to support you in your journey as a feeding therapy. Check out our membership options below:
