CPD VOD | Supporting adolescent mental health

This course...

is: As an online on-demand-video from a live course

is for: Nutritional therapy practitioners, nutritionists, dieticians, naturopaths, psychiatrists, medical doctors, mental health nurses, other health care providers and final year nutrition students interested in applying functional medicine approaches to health and well-being (i.e. exploring how nutrients, other foods and lifestyle factors influence the function of the body and how to apply findings in a person–centred manner that recognises individuals’ unique differences).

is led by: Belinda Blake

spans: 5 hours recording time

provides: BANT CPD 5 hours, NNA CPD 5 hours

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This course will explore factors contributing to mental health problems commonly experienced by adolescents, including social, environmental and dietary influences. We will look closely at the teenage brain and discuss the impact that neuronal changes and sex hormones might have on adolescent behaviour and mood. Finally, we will explore strategies to work effectively in supporting adolescent mental health and well-being in our practices.

According to NHS England, 1 in 5 children and young people were found to have a probable mental health disorder in 2023. This one-day course focusses on exploring the mental health problems experienced by young people during adolescence, a period which can extend from the age of 10 up into the mid 20’s and which involves an intensive period of brain and nervous system remodeling. We will explore the potential impact of diet and lifestyle on symptoms, via different body systems and mechanisms, and discuss different strategies, drawing upon case studies, to help support and empower these young people.

Working with adolescents can be challenging. This course aims to help us better understand the world from the perspective of an adolescent and their nutritional and emotional needs, as well as practical ones, helping to instill confidence in working with them in our practices. How many times have you heard a client say that their problems first started when they were at university? Working with adolescents provides a great potential to make a difference to their adult life ahead and can be hugely rewarding.

This course will discuss the prevalence and types of mental health problems affecting adolescents, with a special focus on depression and anxiety, and explore how neuronal and sex hormone changes might influence behaviour and mood during this period of growth.

We will explore the role that adolescent diet, lifestyle choices and social and environmental factors may play in impacting resilience and mental health, looking in depth at stressors, including poor sleep, caffeine, alcohol, smoking, recreational drugs, social media, ultra processed foods and … sugar!

Examples of the questions it will answer

- How to differentiate between normal adolescent behaviour and mental health problems, and what red flags to look out for
- What biochemical pathways are involved in mental health problems and how we might support these through diet and lifestyle strategies What biochemical pathways are involved in mental health problems and how we might support these through diet and lifestyle strategies

Finally, we will discuss what strategies are available to support adolescent mental health, the benefit of collaborative interventions and a practical, as well as a clinical approach. We will talk about client engagement, nutrients, food, movement, mindfulness, breath and sleep. Case studies will be used to explore different scenarios incorporating different perspectives from parents, teachers and other practitioners working with adolescents. Testing will be touched upon, and we will discuss the benefit of the Organic Acid Test (OAT) when working with more complex cases.

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

• Feel more confident in working with adolescent clients in your practice
• Apply new research findings in your approach to supporting young people with mental health problems
• Better understand the needs of working with an adolescent living in student accommodation and with a limited budget
• Create realistic, practical and effective diet, lifestyle and supplement programmes
• Provide your clients with useful resources, including recipes and meal plans
• Motivate and empower adolescents to make lasting changes

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About the presenter:

Belinda Blake, DipION, mBANT, CNHC reg

Belinda is an ION graduate and an experienced registered nutritional therapy practitioner, lecturer and clinical supervisor. Belinda has a passion for food and employs a creative approach to teaching, running hands-on workshops on a variety of health topics, for both health professionals and members of the public. She employs the same approach to working with children and young adults and has run cooking clubs for pre-school and school aged children to help gently educate about nutrition, plus teach valuable cooking skills and expand food choices. The Eat Yourself Fabulous teen workshops, were well received and ran both in schools and privately. These practical sessions were designed to help teenage girls make the connection between what they eat and how they feel and focused on providing nutrition and lifestyle advice to help manage menstrual problems as well as supporting mood (plus provided plenty of food to taste-test and play with along the way). In these workshops, Belinda has worked collaboratively with other health professionals, including a counsellor, psychotherapist and mindfulness instructor, which had added additional tools to her nutrition toolbox and approach. When she is not seeing clients in her Surrey clinic or in the kitchen, you may find Belinda in the hedgerows foraging for wild food and still managing to embarrass her 21-year-old daughter.

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This course originally took place on: 9th October 2024

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Upon purchasing a ticket you will be immediately granted access to the course materials and video.

To download the course materials, click the HANDOUTS button in the video player (situated between the VOLUME and QUESTIONS buttons).