TRAUMA-INFORMED MINDFUL EATING
It was never really about the food.
TIME is a healing-centered framework that explores the intersection of nourishment, embodiment, and trauma. Not another diet. Not a set of rules. A pathway toward a more peaceful relationship with food, your body, and yourself.
DOES ANY OF THIS SOUND FAMILIAR?
If you've spent years thinking about food more than you'd like — you're not broken. And you're not alone.Â
What is Trauma-Informed Mindful EatingÂ
Why food struggles are so often less about willpower or information — and more about the body, the nervous system, and the stories we carry.
TIME is a healing-centered framework developed by CFTE that explores why our relationship with food is rarely just about food. Eating behaviors, body image, and our internal experience of hunger and fullness are shaped by trauma, stress, attachment, and the systems we live inside.
Why food struggles are so often less about willpower or information — and more about the body, the nervous system, and the stories we carry.
Rather than focusing on control or behavior correction, TIME emphasizes curiosity, compassion, and self-exploration. The goal is a more easeful relationship with nourishment — moving toward agency, where food can simply be food again.
TIME is built on four pillars — choice, agency, interoception, and awareness — and 9 core principles, all rooted in trauma-informed care.
THE GOAL ISN'T WELLNESS CULTURE, IT'S AGENCY.
What would it feel like to just eat?
We live in a culture that has turned eating into a moral act. Food is good or bad, clean or indulgent, virtuous or shameful. For many people — especially those who have experienced trauma — food becomes more than just food.
TIME doesn't replace one set of rules with another. It works toward something more subtle and sustainable: the capacity to eat, to feel hunger, to nourish yourself without the weight of what it all means. Not perfection. Not forced positivity. Just choice.
"Why it's often not about the food — it's about the mental load, the history, and the stories we've been told about what eating says about who we are."
— KRISTEN ZAPPONE, TIME CO-CREATOR
WHO IS TIME FOR
TIME is designed for both individuals and professionals.
Anyone who wants a more peaceful relationship with food
If you're tired of the mental noise around eating — the planning, the guilt, the constant recalibrating — TIME offers a different entry point. Not another program telling you what to eat. A framework for understanding why food feels the way it does, and how to find your way toward something more free.
Therapists, dietitians, coaches, and wellness providers
If you work with clients navigating eating challenges, body image, or food behaviors and want a framework that goes deeper — TIME gives you the tools. A trauma-informed, mindfulness-based lens that complements your existing practice.
THE FRAMEWORK
9 Principles of Trauma-Informed Mindful Eating
Built on four pillars — choice, agency, interoception, and awareness — and organized into nine principles that guide the work from the inside out.
Enhance interoception
partner with your bodyÂ
Establish safety with food
explore the relationship with food
Allow food
Let go of restriction and keep food on the tableÂ
Grieve loss and allow change
Healing from trauma and healing with foodÂ
Honor your expertise and share power
You are the expert on you
Untangle feelings and food
Identify emotions and food responsesÂ
Explore choice
Increase options
Build tolerance and endurance
Help the world get bigger so food fills less spaceÂ
Expand curiosity
Explore/experiment - TIME is not a prescription
YOUR LEARNING PATH
Not sure where to start?
Here's how to find your entry point.
O1
Free preview
Watch the short teaser clip below to get a feel for TIME's approach before committing.
 S T A R T H E R E Â
02
Intro Course
Coming soon. A one-hour introduction to TIME's core concepts. Perfect before the full program.Â
O3
Foundations Program
The full TIME experience. Live and pre-recorded over 8 weeks. Next cohort: September 2026.
O4
Advanced Practice
Coming soon. Deeper practitioner training for professionals who have completed Foundations.
NEXT COHORT SEPTEMBER 2026
TIME Foundations ProgramÂ
A comprehensive exploration of the intersection of trauma, embodiment, body image, and our behaviors around food. Five modules blending live and pre-recorded instruction — at your own pace, with the support of a live community.
Live sessions
Opening and closing sessions that build safety, community, and integration. All recorded.
 Self-paced modules
Video lessons, PDFs, interactive exercises, and guided embodiment practices. 15 hours of content.
- 8 weeks of access to all materials from opening session through close
- E-workbook included — learning objectives, reflection prompts, note-taking sheets
- Scholarships available — reach out if cost is a barrier
Fulfills annual TCTSY Facilitator CEU requirements
20.75 hours
Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR)
20 CE hours
Yoga Alliance
20 CE hours
International Assn. of Yoga Therapists (IAYT).
PENDING
19 CE Credits
Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB)
The Fall Foundations
Cohort is Forming
SEPTEMBER, 2026.Â
Exact dates are being finalized. Join the waitlist to be the first to know when registration opens — and to hear about early access and scholarships. No commitment required.
By enrolling, you agree to the Participant Consent and Liability Release and consent to your registration information being stored as a legally valid electronic signature.
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No Commitment.
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Meet The People Behind TIME
Helena Benton
TCTSY-F, EdD, YACEP, IE-PRO, ERYT
Helena Benton is an Intuitive Eating Professional Coach and TCTSY Facilitator. She holds a doctorate degree in Education from Hamline University, where her research focused on how complex trauma therapists use TCTSY. A Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider, Helena has taught yoga and meditation for decades, focusing on helping professionals incorporate mindfulness into their fields of practice. She has extensive experience helping people gain advocacy and empowerment with food in her work as a wellness case manager. Her volunteer projects include working with horses at an equine therapy organization that treats veterans and first responders, and leading a study to explore the effects of therapy dog programs on vulnerable youth. Helena is the co-creator of Trauma-Informed Mindful Eating. Â
Kristen Zappone
MS, RDN, LDN, IE-Pro
Kristen Zappone is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, Certified Mindful Eating Coach and 200 YTT certified. Kristen specializes in helping individuals get to the root of food and body challenges by untangling the development of their relationship with food. Kristen worked as a Clinical Dietitian with children and adults with Cystic Fibrosis before moving into work as a wellness and chronic disease case manager and supervisor. She has always been passionate about nutrition and its impact on our lives because of its essentiality. Her desire to create a refreshed approach to food and body stemmed from understanding the ongoing difficulty of connecting to one’s own body exacerbated by diet culture. Kristen is the co-creator of Trauma-Informed Mindful Eating.
Join the Community
Learn more about TIME
Stay informed about trainings & dates
Questions? Email us at [email protected]
Frequently Asked Questions
What is TIME?
Who is the TIME program for?
How is TIME different from traditional food or body programs?
What are the nine guiding principles of TIME?
What will I learn in the TIME Foundations Training?
Do I need to be a professional to take the training?
Do I need prior experience with mindfulness or trauma work?
Are these courses a replacement for therapy?
What can I expect from the Foundations course format?
Do I have to change my eating habits to participate?
What outcomes can I expect from participating in TIME?
How long will I have access to the course materials?
TIME Program
Participant Consent and Release
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I, ___________________, consent to participate in the TIME program, and to attend one or more classes or activities of this program. I understand that my participation in this program does not replace psychotherapy or medical treatment, but rather serves as an adjunct to my primary psychotherapy and/or any and all other medically necessitated interventions. I further understand the participation in the TIME program is conditional upon maintenance of all clinically necessary intervention services
I further acknowledge that I fully understand that the TIME program modules may contain some physical activity and that there may be some risk. I agree to obtain prior medical clearance for my participation in any classes or activities of the TIME program and understand that it is my responsibility to verify with medical professionals the appropriateness of participating and any potential risks involved. I agree to make full disclosure of any and all medical conditions or physical limitations to the director of programming or the designees prior to the onset of any and all program services. I also agree to update program staff as the changes in my medical or physical condition.
I understand that the TIME program maintains the right to modify, discontinue or deny program services to me at any time. I hereby waive any and all liability of the TIME program, the CFTE, and all associated program staff or consultants for any injury that I may incur as a result of participation in these classes. Finally, I understand that TIME facilitators are not medical providers nor psychotherapists and that any questions regarding my health concerns should be brought to my licensed medical provider.
I also agree to the storing of my registration information as a legally valid electronic signature, per the MA UETA and Federal UTA.
Signed: ________________________________________ Date: ________________________________
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