Meet Carol Elliott

Working with children who have a wide array of feeding difficulties is my specialty. In fact, that is all I have been doing for the past 29 years. And I’ve earned some special nicknames “The Feeding Whisperer”, “Feeding Angel” and the popular “Coach Carol.” Yes, that’s a lot of mouths to feed.

Some people ask, “How can you do that all day?” Well, I love it! Assessing kids, figuring out a plan, collaborating with other professionals, helping families who have had nothing but failure and frustration and seeing the child/family succeed is an amazing experience. No, it doesn’t always come easily and it does require hard work and consistency, but I have seen the success of the TR-eat® model and techniques time and time again.

I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to work with such great families and kids. Having been in this field as long as I have, I’ve had the opportunity to keep in touch with many of my past clients and have seen them grow – some of them into adults – (aging myself) eating well and enjoying life. It doesn’t get much better than that.

How did I get into this field?

I began my career as an Occupational Therapist after graduating with my BS in Occupational Therapy from Elizabethtown College in 1987. My initial work focused on adult psychiatry before I entered the world of pediatric rehab in 1990. Once I started working with kids I was hooked. My early pediatric practice areas included extensive work with traumatic brain injury, burns, splinting and casting. My first introduction to the feeding world was when I relocated to Virginia and began working at Children’s Hospital of Richmond. I developed the feeding program for the hospital with a small team of professionals including Elizabeth Clawson, PhD. As we continued to collaborate and find success in our treatment methods, Dr. Clawson and I co-founded Pediatric Feeding Institute and created the TR-eat® model. We have spent the last 15+ years training clinicians in the TR-eat® method, enabling them to start their own feeding therapy practices and improve their clients’ outcomes. The rest is history.

Feeding therapy became my specialty and passion. After 20+ years of clinical practice working with feeding disorders, I branched out on my own. I now bring the clinical experience into my clients’ homes and work directly with families in their natural setting.

What about when i’m not feeding kids?

When I am not “feeding kids” I am busy educating other professionals (Occupational Therapists, Speech Language Pathologists, Dietitians, Psychologists, BCBAs, nurses and doctors) and sharing my knowledge and the TR-eat® model techniques through my co-founded company Pediatric Feeding Institute. Through Pediatric Feeding Institute I co-teach courses, publish articles, and provide professional consultation, training and program development.

Professional certifications & qualifications

I am a member of American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), National Board of Certification in Occupational Therapists (NBCOT), Virginia Occupational Therapy Association (VOTA), International Association for Pediatric Feeding and Swallowing (IAPFS) and am TOTS trained.

I am licensed to practice in Virginia and Massachusetts (in person and Telehealth). For other states, I can offer consultative services only.