Grow your understanding of the links between diet and mental health and explore strategies to use nutrition in treatment plans.
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Develop practical knowledge to use nutritional care for mental health management
Rapidly increasing evidence suggests dietary modifications have great potential for managing psychiatric conditions.
On this three-week course from Deakin University, you’ll develop an introductory knowledge in Nutritional Psychiatry, addressing the known links between diet and physical and mental health. You’ll also focus on building practical skills through activities to help you apply your newly acquired knowledge in clinical practice.
Explore the biological mechanisms linking diet and mental health
There are a number of closely linked physiological pathways potentially explaining why and how diet can affect mental and cognitive health.
You’ll explore these different mechanisms, from inflammation and the immune system to the gut microbiome and neurogenesis. With each system, you’ll examine both how they function and the studies linking diet to mental health.
Discover diet- and gut-microbiota-related treatments
When looking to treat psychiatric conditions, gut microbiota and nutrition options hold great promise for novel treatment targets.
This course will take you through a number of diet- and gut-related treatment options, such as probiotics, fermented foods, faecal microbiota transplantation, and restrictive diets. You’ll explore how they interact with the body and their therapeutic uses for a number of physical and mental conditions.
Learn how to implement nutritional psychiatry in clinical practice
When implementing dietary interventions, the strategies need to be tailored to the relevant communities and age groups that you’re treating.
You’ll look at practical ways of communicating diet-related messages, how to address barriers in treatment, and the importance of positivity and self-care.
What topics will you cover?
- Evidence on the role of diet in treatment of mental disorders.
- Biological mechanisms.
- Diet- and gut-microbiota related treatments.
- Implementation of principles of Nutritional Psychiatry in clinical practice.
When would you like to start?
Start straight away or join an upcoming start date.
Upcoming start dates for 2025:
27 January, 2025 (enrolment close 10 March)28 April, 2025 (enrolments close 9 June)- 21 July, 2025 (enrolments close 8 September)
- 20 October, 2025 (enrolments close 1 December)
What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to…
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Identify and discuss the current evidence and guidelines on diet and nutrition in the management of mental health disorders.
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Understand common comorbidities and explore the physiological mechanisms by which diet influences mental and brain health.
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Gain practical skills in the implementation of dietary intervention for the management of mental health conditions in your professional practice.
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Reflect and review your current practices and identify opportunities for quality improvement.
Who is the course for?
This course is designed for health practitioners working in mental health who wish to gain knowledge in nutritional psychiatry. It will also be useful to students in their final year with a special interest in diet and mental health.
The course addresses specific areas of diet and mental health care in various aspects of practice. A postgraduate-level knowledge in a health-related degree is desirable.
Who will you learn with?
You will learn from a team of experts led by:
Dr Tetyana Rocks APD, PhD, BNutrDiet, BSc (Hons), GCertHigherEdÂ
Dr Tetyana Rocks is Senior Research Fellow and Lead of the Food & Mood Academy at the Food & Mood Centre, Deakin University. Tetyana is Accredited Practicing Dietitian passionate about public health.
Distinguished Professor Felice Jacka, OAM
Professor Felice Jacka is Director of the Food & Mood Centre at Deakin University, and President of the International Society for Nutritional Psychiatry Research
