ABSTRACT
The name of the group, Ooey gooey group, reflects its acceptance of messiness along with the development of comfortable familiarity with the sensory aspects of eating. Many of these children have learned to associate discomfort and unpleasantness with eating and drinking. The group comprises toddlers and young children with feeding problems along with their parents, most often their mothers. The children come to the group with a history of complex medical conditions and are reliant on tube feeding for most of their nutritional needs. Children attend the group at a developmental stage often vexed with fussy, changeable behaviour. The group provides a place for the children to experience food and eating at their own pace within an encouraging and motivating environment. The group process offers the possibility of identification, self-reflection, generation of solutions and encouragement and support from the group. Parents develop an empathy with the other children and the mothers’ difficulties, and through that with their own child.
