I recently had an opportunity to meet a resident at the women’s home I work at. She is not my regular client but I have known her to have many health problems and major mental health issues that she’s heavily medicated for. She has been in and out of treatment programs for over a decade and was shocked to hear that there were opportunities to address her addiction nutritionally. She recently experienced a “minor emergency “scare that made her realize she needed to consider meeting with me.

Her complaints were:

• Her medications for mental health are “not working “ for her
• She has been diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder and told her that there’s no treatment for it other than more medication to mask her symptoms. 
• She has other health issues that have escalated to the point that she’s realized that maintaining her sobriety is now a life-and-death issue.

She’s been gutting her way through the intense pull of addiction to drugs and alcohol for years but now knowing that sobriety for her is “do or die” had put her into a place where she felt hopeless.

As we discussed her eating habits, I was able to explain to her why her starve/binge eating habits and junk food diet was negatively impacting her mental health as well as likely the root problem as to why her medication doesn’t seem to be working. After a little over an hour conversing about the basics of how to eat to support her recovery, she had a new sense of hope, and a clear strategy to move forward. 

I heard from her accountability coach the next morning about how motivated she is now in her recovery and optimistic for her health just within that hour of our initial visit. 

This is such a powerful method for giving mental health and addiction clients tools that they can apply right away. What an honor to change lives with the information I have learned in the level one training with the AAMHN. Giving people hope, and making a difference is why I do what I do, and I love having these tools at my fingertips that make me better at my job!