The PDA Parenting Podcast

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

What happens when learning shuts down - at school, at home, everywhere?
In Part One of this two-part conversation, I’m joined by educator and consultant Danielle Rodda to talk about why learning becomes unsafe for so many PDA and neurodivergent kids.
In this episode, we explore:
Why compliance-based education doesn’t work for PDA nervous systems
How school trauma and chronic pressure shut learning down
Why “more supports” still aren’t enough
The emotional weight parents carry when nothing seems to help
This episode is about context and permission - understanding that when learning stops, it’s not because you or your child are failing.
Note: This conversation continues in Part Two, where we shift into rebuilding safety around learning, unlearning harmful narratives, and what learning can look like once pressure is removed.

Support for Parents: 12-Week Course Now Open
If this episode resonates, I want you to know you don’t have to navigate this alone!
Registration is currently open for the 12-week parent course:
 Raising Kids with Big, Baffling Behaviors, created by Robyn Gobbel and adapted specifically for PDA families and led by Amy Kotha.
✨ Bonus Session Included:
Danielle Rodda, Neurodivergent Consulting, will join us for a bonus session focused on PDA + learning, unlearning, and the return to learning. 
🔗 Registration is open now:  Click HERE for details!

To connect with Danielle Rodda:
@danielleroddaconsulting IG
Substack
daniellerodda.ca

The holidays hit PDA parents harder - and it’s not your fault.
In this episode, we break down why judgment, comparison, overwhelm, and the “good mom” myth intensify this time of year - and what’s really happening inside your nervous system and your child’s.
You’ll learn:
 • why your child’s overwhelm triggers your own
 • how identity friction fuels shame
 • why holiday environments activate threat states
 • the parallel process between your nervous system and theirs
 • how comparison becomes a safety strategy
 • the difference between belief work and crisis work
 • how SOOTHE supports in-the-moment connection

And if you already know you want deeper support, the 12-week January program  (created by Robyn Gobbel) is the next step - where we get deeper, turn these nervous system tools into lived, everyday practice and gain parenting confidence.
Registration opens this week!  Limited enrollment.
Click HERE for Details + Registration!

* Mentioned in episode: 'Echolocation for worth' concept comes from the work of Kara Loewentheil