Cooking therapy takes place in a therapeutic kitchen which is a safe and familiar space where it is possible to move freely, open cabinets, search, and experiment with new flavors.
The kitchen serves as a primary point of reference for the inner, emotional, and social world.
Food, with all its flavors and aromas, accompanies each of us, evokes memories, and touches emotions.
The act of cooking allows the development of emotional, cognitive, and communicative components such as self confidence, social skills, optimism, openness, sharing, and enjoyment.
Cooking is an artistic field that produces immediate results, shared enjoyment of the process and the creation with significant and close others.
The materials used in culinary creation are especially diverse, yet accessible and available, and allow creative activity to continue at home as well. As in other therapeutic processes that integrate artistic tools, the creative process enables non verbal expression and provides an opportunity for emotional self expression in an easier way.
Part of the uniqueness of combining therapy and cooking lies in the engagement with food.
The theoretical foundation of cooking therapy is based on object relations theories regarding the ability to nourish and to be nourished, which explain the human ability to form relationships through the process of the initial bond between a mother and a baby.
The development of an infant personality was described as part of the mother ability to nourish the baby according to its needs.
In cooking therapy, themes related to examining relationship patterns, creating and maintaining connections, and the maternal bond based on nourishment and a basic sense of security are explored.
Food is connected to the most basic drives of human existence.
Therefore the need for food is placed at a very important level in the hierarchy of human needs.
Food and the need for food are part of the life drive, and engagement with cooking and food creates an active and optimistic positive feeling and succeeds in mobilizing motivation for action.
The setting of working in a kitchen, the creation, and the shared meal generate a feeling of home and an atmosphere of security.
This forms a foundation that allows meaningful emotional expression and processing within a therapeutic process.
Central elements expressed in cooking therapy include play.
Within the therapeutic kitchen, play is given a significant place.
Patients, both children and adults, are given the opportunity to play with food.
While other frameworks emphasize proper eating manners, during cooking and eating in the therapeutic kitchen there is room for breaking some of these boundaries.
It is allowed to eat with hands, mix ingredients that may seem incompatible, taste with fingers, and lick plates.
This play allows ventilation of suppressed desires that cannot be expressed in other settings and enables a different dialogue with boundaries and structure.
Creativity is a natural human ability and everyone is capable of creating meaningful art.
In the creative process, internal and external realities are organized together in a process that cannot be separated.
During creation, parts of the subconscious find expression and some may become conscious. Participation in a creative process can be a way for a person to declare existence and uniqueness, strengthening personal resources.
Creative work enables renewed connection between the emotional and spiritual world and the physical dimension, which is particularly meaningful for populations with special needs and contributes to growth in self image, self esteem, and social interaction.
The work in cooking therapy provides a powerful sensory experience that integrates all senses.
Taste and smell are central, alongside touch which is important for cognitive functioning and increases sensory awareness.
Many patients cope with difficulties related to body boundaries. Kitchen work allows experimentation with different textures and sensations.
Kneading dough, for example, directly stimulates the sense of touch and also improves motor abilities.
Motor and sensory motor actions are an essential part of kitchen work and include kneading, stirring, rolling, spreading, whipping, baking, frying, decorating, and crushing.
For some patients this can be a real challenge. Coping with success and lack of success is also expressed here, as well as repetition and working at an appropriate pace. Frustration may arise and the way it is handled can be addressed therapeutically.
Cooking therapy takes place in a therapeutic kitchen which is a safe and familiar space where freedom of movement, exploration, and experimentation is possible.
The duration of sessions depends on the abilities and needs of the patient and ranges from forty five minutes to an hour and a half.
The patient decides what to cook, sometimes in consultation with the therapist.
The dish preparation and conversation occur simultaneously, creating a shared language based on cooking metaphors for life situations such as growth, hope, and emotional processes.
Cooking therapy is suitable for a wide range of people coping with different challenges.
Adults and children dealing with illness who are required to make significant lifestyle and dietary changes.
Individuals on the autistic spectrum coping with social interaction and emotional regulation challenges.
People coping with obesity who seek an alternative process different from diets.
Individuals experiencing emotional difficulty or a challenging life period who seek balance and strengthening of personal resources.
Individuals with attention difficulties or motor challenges who can strengthen motor, cognitive, and organizational abilities through shared activity.
Children with special needs seeking non verbal emotional therapy with motivation to work with food.
Cooking therapy is first and foremost therapy and should be provided by a professional with appropriate therapeutic education.
It is a developing field that integrates artistic tools within therapeutic frameworks and allows personal growth, emotional processing, and strengthening of quality of life.