8:00 – 8:30 Virtual Networking and Introductions
8:30 – 9:00 Chapter Business Meeting
9:00 – 11:00 Virtual Presentation: “Feeding Recovery: Practical Nutrition for Reducing Cravings and Relapse” with Christina Veselak MA, LMFT, CN, Academy for Addiction and Mental Health Nutrition
Link to Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/162331194
Veselak will explore the concept that a well-fed and well-functioning brain is crucial to a successful recovery journey. She will share the foods and nutrients crucial to optimal brain function and describe ways to support your clients in achieving optimal intake of these nutrients. Finally, she will describe the scientific reasoning behind the concept that “missing a meal is probably the number one relapse trigger for all addiction” and show how this plays out in the lives of people struggling with addictive disorders, but also those with domestic violence and anger issues, as well as anxiety.
Attendees will be able to discuss the role of a well-fed brain in supporting pro-recovery behaviors, identify the top 3 foods crucial to an optimally functioning brain, and describe how missing a meal, or eating a high sugar meal contributes to cravings and relapse.
2 PDH’s - TBD
Christina Veselak, LMFT, CN, is passionate about reducing relapse rates and overdose deaths in people recovering from substance use disorders by using targeted nutrition to address the biochemistry of addiction and recovery. With 40 years of experience working as a psychotherapist and mental health nutritionist in the addiction treatment field, she brings an unparalleled breadth of knowledge and a wealth of compassion and expertise.
As one of the few people in the country who understands how feeding the brain with the nutrients it needs to repair itself and function optimally provides people with a much-needed foundation to be successful in their recovery journey, she has positively impacted the world of treatment and recovery through her online school for professionals, The Academy for Addiction and Mental Health Nutrition and her non-profit organization, Eating Protein Saves Lives, Inc. She is a co-founder and former Executive Director of a non-profit organization founded in 2007, The Alliance for Addiction Solutions. Like her current organizations, the Alliance was created to let the public know that medication is not the only option available to address the biochemistry of addiction. Along with healing from trauma and community connection, people in recovery (like children in school) also need a well-fed and functioning brain to fuel their efforts. This research has been done since the '60s but has been buried.
Christina Veselak is a dynamic public speaker with an enthusiastic following. Her vision as a global changemaker is to make this life-saving information available to all people, from a kitchen in a mud-house in Africa to the White House.