Today we spoke with Christina Vesalak who is dedicated to saving and transforming lives through her work as a mental health nutritionist, specifically utilizing amino acid and nutrient therapy.In this conversation, Christina discusses her personal journey with nutrition and mood. She describes the mechanics of a starving brain and how to feed it to achieve optimal functioning, maximize therapeutic work and for relapse prevention. Chrisitina also shares about her training programs and the Certification in Amino Acid Therapy for Addiction Recovery and Sustained Mental Health, which is a 5 month training program starting in a few weeks.
Christina T. Veselak is the founder and director of the Academy for Addiction and Mental Health Nutrition. She has been a licensed psychotherapist for over 30 years, and currently provides on-line Relapse Prevention Coaching and Mental Health Nutrition to a wide variety of clients.
Christina consults for supplement companies as well as IV detox programs and residential addiction treatment, helping them integrate this life-saving nutritional approach into their programs.
She is an experienced public speaker, and has presented at conferences and trainings around the country. Christina is also a founding member and former Executive Director of the Alliance for Addiction Solutions, a non-profit organization which promotes the use of nutritional and other natural modalities to support repair of the addicted brain.
Christina is committed to staying abreast of the rapidly growing science of integrative psychiatry and functional nutrition & biochemistry for mental health, and is passionate about sharing her knowledge with both the general public and professionals in the fields of addiction recovery & mental health treatment.
As integrative mental health professionals, we firmly believe in the biopscyhosocialspiritual framework that includes multiple layers and meets clients where the are at. We understand that nutrition is not a cure all or one size fits all intervention, but often times mental health professionals are not sufficiently trained in the biological aspect of the framework, which includes nutrition and its effects on the brain and body. There is an abundance of research on nutrition and mental health and it can be very confusing to sift through. In our integrative clinic, we found that many of our clients were struggling to understand what to eat and not eat for their mood as well recognizing social -emotional factors that play a role in our diet; such as disordered eating, diet culture, food insecurity etc.
Check out our courses on nutrition and supplements for mental health. We compiled the most current evidence, case studies from our own practice and knowledge from a variety of integrative practitioners and tons of resources, handouts and guided practices that you can use and share with your clients. We also share a discount code, just for our listeners during the podcast.
Links from the show:
Academy for Addiction and Mental Health Nutrition - To contact Christina directly or for the early bird discount mentioned in the podcast call 303-888-9617
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