NUTRITIONAL PSYCHOLOGY EDUCATION
Empowering innovative education in mental healthcare
A Nutritional component to Mental Healthcare by 2030
There is a crucial need to deliver better education to the public and clinicians about the role of diets and nutrients in sustaining mental health (Huang 2019). CNP is the developer of the first university-based, accredited curriculum in Nutritional Psychology. The Certificate in Nutritional Psychology began in 2008 and evolved over a 12 year period to include a 7-course program dedicated to providing mental health professionals, educators, dietitians, health coaches, and counselors with formal curriculum in Nutritional Psychology. This long-standing program is currently being updated to account for the vastly increasing information in the field, and will be available through CNP or a partnering university in 2021.
NP Curriculum for University Students
This mini-curriculum is for college and university instructors who wish to introduce NP into their curriculum in a brief, modularized manner. Course content and materials are provided for one (or two) 50-minute class sessions. Presentation materials, background research, methodology, discussion points, experiential exercise, and quiz materials are provided.
NP Curriculum for Mental Health Professionals
This course introduces mental health professionals to Nutritional Psychology, and presents research informing the field, concepts, and client-oriented psycho-educational tools for understanding the Diet-Mental Health Relationship (DMHR).
NP Curriculum for Pediatricians and Health Professionals
This course introduces pediatric healthcare professionals to a quick set of tools that aid in increasing childrens’ perceptual and cognitive skills for selecting foods that are “mental-health supportive”.
NP Animated Curriculum for Kids (and their Parents)
This online animated curriculum is designed to help kids develop an intrinsic awareness of how what they eat can impact how they feel. The curriculum is designed to be funny while instilling kids with new cognitive and perceptual tools that increases their awareness of eating to support positive mental health.
The process of receiving or giving systematic instruction
The science or study that deals with food and nourishment
The science of mind and behavior
Diet Mental Health Relationship
Connecting what we eat with how we feel
Diet 
Mental 
Health 
Relationship 
Psychosocial
Examining the role that family, culture, community, society, and socioeconomic status play in determining our dietary intake patterns
Psychological
Examining the relationship between our dietary intake patterns and our feelings, moods, and emotions
Behavioral
Developing an awareness of the relatively predictable dietary behaviors we present in response to consuming a western dietary pattern, i.e., ‘cabinet surfing’ at night
Perceptual
Developing awareness of the physical and mental sensations we experience (Interoception) in response to our dietary intake patterns (discomfort, pain, irritation, relaxation etc.)
Cognitive
Using mental processes (cognition, attention, memory and learning) to gain insight into how the food we eat is affecting our mental health
BE A CONTRIBUTOR
Take steps to help us develop our understanding of the relationship between diet and mental health. Together, we can build a new future of mental healthcare to include this important piece of the puzzle.