Empowering innovative education in mental healthcare
The NP 100 Certificate is academically-oriented and designed to provide the evidence base necessary to build a solid foundation within nutritional psychology. In this Certificate, the theoretical and mechanistic underpinnings characterizing the diet-mental health relationship are explained. New language, terminology, concepts, and mechanisms are introduced. The NP 100 Certificate is comprised of three courses, including NP 110, NP 120, and NP 150.
The NP 200 Certificate is applied and focuses on developing guidelines for mental health and nutrition professionals to provide education to clients in the DMHR. These courses focus on facilitating the application of psychonutritional tools and education within the clinical and applied environments. Scope of practice guidelines are presented to facilitate appropriate inclusion of psychonutritional tools and education within the clinical environment. More information regarding this certificate will be available in the fall of 2022.
NP 110 is the foundational course in the study of nutritional psychology and is a prerequisite for all future NP courses. Provides conceptualization in NP, introduces key terms, language, concepts, and evidence-based findings. The six major elements defining the DMHR are explored, including the psychological, cognitive, behavioral, sensory-perceptual, interoceptive, and psychosocial. Enrollment is now open!
Coming May 2023!
NP 120 introduces the Microbiota Gut-Brain Axis (MGBA) and its interconnection with all six elements within the diet-mental health relationship (DMHR) and nutritional psychology (NP). This course presents the first evidence-based model linking the MGBA with the six elements of nutritional psychology.
Coming October 2023!
NP 150 explores how dietary intake influences all aspects of the diet-mental health relationship (DMHR) within nutritional psychology (NP). Factors like inflammation, oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, the microbiota gut-brain axis (MGBA), mitochondrial function, HPA-Axis, and neuroplasticity, among others are explored.
The process of receiving or giving systematic instruction
The science or study that deals with food and nourishment
The science of mind and behavior
Connecting what we eat with how we feel
Psychosocial
Explores the relationship between dietary intake and family, culture, community, society
Psychological
Explores the relationship between dietary intake patterns and our feelings, moods, and emotions (e.g., resilience, flourishing, creativity, happiness, depression, anxiousness, irritation, sadness, well-being)
Behavioral
Explores the relationship between dietary intake and reactions, actions and behaviors in which we engage in relating to dietary intake
Perceptual
Explores the relationship between dietary intake and senses involving sight, smell, sound, taste, touch, and how we make meaning of this information.
Cognitive
Explores the relationship between dietary intake and brain processes involving cognition, attention, memory, learning, reasoning, executive functioning, and decision making etc.
Interoceptive
Explores the relationship between dietary intake and our internal bodily sensations we experience because of it (i.e., the bi-directional signal processing between brain and internal organs that generates a representation of our internal state from the food we eat)
Take steps to develop your understanding of the relationship between diet and mental health. Together, we can build a new model of mental healthcare to include this important piece of the puzzle.