Celiac disease can feel confusing and scary for children, especially when they are facing testing, new rules, or a recent diagnosis. In this post, I share our family’s journey, the lessons we’ve learned, and a gentle, child-friendly story inspired by my work with families at the CHOP Celiac Center. This simple storybook about Annie Grace is designed to help kids feel brave, supported, and less alone as they begin their gluten-free journey.

There’s a point in every new therapist’s journey when you realize something no textbook ever prepared you for: there are no coping skills powerful enough to override unmet basic needs. You can offer grounding tools, insight, and emotional support, but you cannot out-therapize hunger or talk someone into feeling safe when they’re not. And that isn’t a failure of your training or your clinical skills. It’s a reminder that human beings need food, rest, stability, and safety before they can access growth. In community mental health especially, this truth becomes impossible to ignore and often sits at the root of burnout. We try to treatment-plan our way through food insecurity and systemic gaps, when what clients really need is support far beyond the therapy room. The work becomes more sustainable the moment you release the pressure to fix what is fundamentally not a clinical problem, and instead meet yourself and your clients with grace.

To the mom crying in her black SUV between errands and pickup lines, you are not failing. You are carrying more than anyone can see and it makes sense that your tears finally found their way out. You are not invisible. You are worthy of support and softness and a life that gives you space to breathe again.