3-Day: Mental Health & Nutrition Certification Course

Credit

Program Information

All members of the PESI, Inc. planning committee have provided disclosures of financial relationships with ineligible organizations and any relevant non-financial relationships prior to planning content for this activity. None of the committee members had relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies or other potentially biasing relationships to disclose to learners.  For speaker disclosures, please see the faculty biography.

Speaker

Vicki Steine, DSc., LCSW, BCHN, IFNCP Related seminars and products

Your Healthy Structure

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Vicki Steine, DSc, LCSW, BCHN, IFNCP, has been a social worker for more than 25 years, working in both inpatient and outpatient settings. She works with children and adults with ADHD, anxiety, depression, OCD, Tourette’s syndrome, addiction, and trauma in her private practice in the Atlanta area. Dr. Steine received her master’s in social work from the University of Georgia and her Doctor of Science in holistic nutrition from Hawthorn University. She is board certified in holistic nutrition through the National Association of Nutrition Professionals, a nutrition certified practitioner through the Integrated and Functional Nutrition Academy and is a member of the National Association of Social Workers. Dr. Steine enjoys combining her skills as a social worker and nutrition educator to help her clients who struggle with staying organized, keeping focused at work or school, and overcoming the anxiety and depression that often prevents them from fully living their lives. She integrates nutrition, mind-body exercises, and traditional psychotherapy methods, like Cognitive Behavior Therapy, to help her clients get on with living their lives optimally. She has spoken at many conferences and delivered workshops providing education to professionals and lay people alike on the benefits of nutrition and improving mental health. Dr. Steine has had personal success using a holistic approach, including nutrition and supplements, to recover from a near death boating accident and an episode of debilitating depression.  

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Vicki Steine maintains a private practice. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Vicki Steine is a member of the National Association of Social Workers and the National Association of Nutrition Practitioners.

Additional Info

Program Information

For live CE credit, you must watch the live webcast in its entirety at its scheduled time and complete the CE quiz and evaluation within one week. You will have access for 90 days after the program for review.

Please note: Each day there will be a 70-minute lunch and two 15-minute breaks; one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Lunch and break times will be announced by the speaker and at their discretion. A more detailed schedule is available upon request.

Visit our FAQ page at https://www.pesicanada.ca/faq or contact us at https://www.pesicanada.ca/contact-us.

Objectives

1. Evaluate mood and behavior in clients using micro-and macronutrients. 
2. Justify how macronutrients and micronutrients affect mood and behavior in clients.
3. Determine how gluten and casein sensitivity may influence the presentation of depression, psychosis and ASD in clients.
4. Apply integrated and nutritional medicine safely and ethically within your professional discipline’s scope of practice.
5. Correlate assessments to differentiate between a clinical presentation of mental illnesses vs. nutritional and/or hormonal imbalances. 
6. Construct treatment plans through six unique nutritional methods for clients with mood lability. 
7. Determine key nutrients that support the function of both the brain and the gut, the “second brain”.
8. Implement evidence-based protocols for nutritional approaches for six DSM-5 categories.
9. Evaluate how client eating patterns may influence their mental health by using a food-mood assessment tool.
10. Develop a Cultural Formulation tool using the DSM-5 to inform your treatment planning process.
11. Apply at least one stage-specific nutritional methods to assist clients in all stages of life. 
12. Distinguish practical tools to assist clients in understanding comprehensive non-pharmaceutical treatment strategies and protocols and how they can use those to help manage their mental health. 
13. Evaluate nutrition-based alternatives to psychotropics for ADHD. 
14. Utilize at least one strategy to enhance digestion to decrease anxiety.
15. Inspect the presented research on how essential fatty acids can help clients diagnosed with mood disorders alleviate symptoms (as is within your scope of practice).
16. Design a plan to increase serotonin through nutrition and exercise. 
17. Evaluate the impact of blood sugar and genetic variation on mental health disorders.
18. Analyze the efficacy of comprehensive elimination diets in order to alleviate symptoms of depression, anxiety and fatigue.  
19. Create an integrative health team to improve clinical outcomes.

Outline

The Complex Relationship between Mental and Physical Health

Physiological Factors of Depression, Anxiety, Bipolar and ADHD

• Transcending mind-body separation: Understanding the complex relationships
• The factors that cause “chemical imbalance”
• Beyond pharmaceutical management
• Balancing circadian rhythm 
• Applying breathing exercises for mental health
• Enhance sleep and address insomnia 

How Foods Affect Moods

• Carbohydrates – A new way to think about cravings
• Effects protein may have on depression and anxiety
• Fats for mental health (depression, ADHD, bipolar)
• The connection between food, depression, diabetes and obesity
• Physiological causes of fatigue, depression and anxiety
• Vitamins: B-Vitamins, 5-MTHF, Vitamin D
• Minerals: Magnesium, calcium

Nutrition, Diet and Culinary Medicine

• Food as “brain-mind-medicine”
• Fats: Essential fatty acids, toxic fats, fish oil
• Protein: the building blocks of happiness 
• Nutrients to improve mental health and cognitive function 
• Vitamins, minerals, glandulars, and special nutrients for the non-nutritionist 
• Regulate hormonal imbalance
• Balance blood sugar to balance mood
• Cultural and genetic variations
• Enhance digestion for mental health
• Thyroid function and mental health 

The Truth About Popular Supplements and Herbal Medicine

• Seven major herbs for PTSD, anxiety, depression, sleep and cognitive health
• Endocannabinoid deficit theory
• Cannabis and psychedelic medicine
• THC versus CBD
• Evidence for medical cannabis for mental health, PTSD, and chronic pain
• Adaptogens: Ginseng, licorice, ashwagandha
• Melatonin
• Interactions with pharmaceuticals

Assessments and Evidence-Based Research

Recognizing When “Mental Illness” is Something Else

• Hormonal imbalance
• Anxiety vs. hypoglycemia
• Inflammation
• Digestion
• Depressed, fatigued or malnourished
• Side effects of medications

Symptoms of Nutritional Deficiencies and Co-Morbid Conditions

• Strategies to reduce inflammation
• The major factor in depression, anxiety, bipolar and ADHD
• Anxiety and digestion
• The Second Brain: Microbiome, probiotics and GABA, and anxiety
• Sleep, adrenal health, and rhythms 
• Alcohol abuse
• Genetics, depression and brain
• PTSD and auto immune, addictions and cognition
• ADHD, ASD and food sensitivities 
• Integrative approach recovery from addictions

Simple Screening Tools to Identify Nutritional Deficiencies Contributing to:

• Anxiety and PTSD
• Depression
• ADHD
• Fatigue
• Anger
• Bipolar disorder
• Lack of mental clarity
• Other mental health concerns 

Assessments Using Integrative Approaches

• Conduct a basic nutritional food/mood assessment
• Conduct an adrenal stress and biological rhythm assessment
• The Cultural Formulation Interview
• Basic lab tests for optimal mental health 

Clinical Applications – Non-Pharmaceutical Treatment Strategies 

Comprehensive Non-Pharmaceutical Treatment Plans and Protocols for:

• Depression & Seasonal Affect Disorder
• Anxiety, PTSD and complex trauma
• Bipolar
• ADHD
• Body dysmorphia
• OCD
• Bulimia
• Insomnia
• Addictions
• Obesity
• Psychosomatic symptoms
• Pre-menstrual syndrome and menopausal symptoms

Practical Tools to Accelerate Treatment Results, Improve Energy, and Gain Mental Clarity

• Food: The Good, the Bad and the Fake
• Sleep: The 4 habits critical to refreshing sleep 
• Exercise: Elevate serotonin and regulate stress hormones
• Stress: A holistic approach
• Feed your brain

Unique Issues Across the Lifespan

• Children: Supporting sleep, focus, mood and attention
• Alternatives to psychotropics for ADHD
• Preventing cognitive decline
• Nutrition and integrative methods to support people with dementia and their caregivers 

Build an Integrative Health Team

• When and where to refer clients
• How to find the right provider
• Questions to ask before referring
• Develop a niche practice as a certified specialist
• Professional organizations and more training
• Controversies and hot topics

Apply Techniques Within Your Scope of Practice

• Ethics, law and competency
• Nutritional therapies 
• Culinary medicine
• Behavioral medicine
• Nutritional supplementation 
• Herbal medicine
• Integrative detoxification for addiction

Target Audience

• Counselors
• Case Managers
• Psychotherapists
• Social Workers
• Dietitians
• Marriage & Family Therapists
• Psychologists
• Addiction Counselors
• Therapists
• Nurses
• Occupational Therapists
• Other Mental Health Professionals