Many psychotherapists, psychiatrists, and addiction counselors are aware of the vital role biochemical and nutrient imbalances play in the etiology and maintenance of substance use and mental health disorders. However, we often don’t have the skills or confidence to effectively approach these issues with our clients without resorting to medication. Very often clients leave the treatment on more medication than when they started. We created the Academy for Addiction and Mental Health Nutrition to meet this need. We believe that many of these issues can be effectively be resolved without the use of medication, simply by accurately feeding the starving brain and identifying and addressing the underlying biochemical drivers of these disorders.
The Academy provides cutting-edge, in-depth, on-line and live education and consultation services for the purpose of thoroughly training mental health and addiction treatment professionals and volunteers in the skills necessary to identify and effectively address the biochemical aspects of client symptoms through nutrient interventions.
We teach clinicians, treatment providers and health/recovery coaches how to reduce relapse and improve the quality of recovery by using amino acid nutrient therapy and diet to effectively address the biochemical aspects of addiction and mood/behavioral disorders, thus providing a stable foundation to the recovery journey. We also welcome anyone interested in learning this powerful, life-transforming information.
The Academy is the only on-line school in the world that applies functional nutrition to recovery from addictive disorders, as well as from mental health and behavioral issues. Our instructors are highly trained, very experienced and passionate about saving and transforming lives. We are student-centered, and offer live on-line instruction, which is then recorded and accessible. We provide a variety of instructional approaches to support all learning styles. We help you apply this information to yourselves and your family members, as well as to your clients. We then come alongside you to support earning capacity, business growth and niche expansion. We strongly believe in the power of community and collaboration to change the world, and we invite YOU to join our community of changemakers.
The Academy for Addiction & Mental Health Nutrition believes that addictive disorders and cravings, as well as MANY MENTAL-HEALTH ISSUES, are driven by imbalances in the brain that create disabling symptoms, and may block the efficacy of other psychological, social and spiritual treatment approaches. Very many of these imbalances and symptoms can be effectively addressed through nutritional interventions available to all, without the need to resort to psychotropic medication. Our mission is to bring this life-saving information to the world.
We envision a world where people understand what it means to “feed their brains optimally” so that they can cope with stress gracefully; where mental health and addiction counselor training programs teach clinicians the necessity of a well-fed brain to support the therapeutic healing process, and where psychiatrists have a larger tool-box and always look for underlying, root causes! We see ALL addiction treatment programs addressing the biochemical leg of the recovery stool by educating their clients about WHY it MATTERS what they eat, how to feed their brains optimally using food, amino acids and other nutrients, and where post-acute withdrawal is a thing of the past.
Lead Instructor, Founder, Director Level 1 CORE & Level 2 ADVANCED
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 orthomolecular 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.
Mark Styles, CRNC2, has a lifetime of experience in marketing, sales and business expansion. He has over 20 years working in a variety of positions in the addiction treatment field. These positions include being co-owner of a residential treatment program; consulting with programs that were closing due to not enough clients and making them profitable; being treatment placement coordinator for a TV show on addiction; and creating the first women’s-and men’s-only groups in a mixed-gender treatment center program in the UK.
MJ administers to coordinate, and assist in engaging academy activities, events, and schedules. She works collaboratively with students, instructors, and external organizations. MJ handles the main correspondence of the Academy.
Pati Reiss is a certified holistic health coach/nutrition recovery coach, educator and chef. Her work focuses on teaching & coaching healthy lifestyle upgrades, addiction/mental health recovery and holistic gourmet cooking. This is done using nutrition, food, amino acid therapy, meditation and movement. Through her own healing recovery Pati has found that vibrant health, hope and recovery are possible and advocates this in all her teachings.
Builder, and Owner of Inside Out, a business focused on “helping build health from the inside out” since 1998. Debra is a Certified Recovery Nutrition Coach (CRNC). She is serving her 13th year as Council Member – City of Leawood, retired from a 30-year career with IBM and is past VP of the KC Celiac Sprue Association (CSA).
Charlotte Hammond is a Registered Dietitian, Licensed Dietitian Nutritionist, Certified Diabetes Educator, and Registered Yoga Teacher in Centennial & Boulder, Colorado (previously Chicago, IL). She owns Eating With Ease.
Dr. Hyla Cass is an internationally acclaimed innovator, speaker, and expert in the fields of integrative medicine, psychiatry, and addiction recovery. She is board-certified in psychiatry as well as in holistic and integrative medicine. She appears regularly on TV including The Dr. Oz Show, The View, and E! Entertainment, as well as numerous radio shows, and national magazines.
Child & adolescent psychiatry specialist in Denver, CO and has been practicing for 30 years. Dr. Braud incorporates functional medicine in her psychiatric and behavioral health practice.
Academy for Addiction & Mental Health Nutrition © 2021
All information and content on our website is informational and educational purposes only and is not to be considered a way to diagnose or treat disease. As such, it is protected under free speech. We teach how to use nutrition to support function, which is the permitted use of nutritional therapies. This information is not intended to replace medical care and advice from a licensed medical provider.