FALL COURSE

Registration is Open FOR september 2025!

Integrative Wellness for Mental Health

A Review of Nutritional and Biomedical Treatment Options for a Happy, Healthy, and Focused Brain

Instructor: Jennifer Giustra-Kozek, LPC, Certified in Functional Nutrition for Mental Health

Body, Mind, and Spirit – Beyond Pharmacologicals

Email: healingwithouthurting@gmail.com

Class meeting times: Tuesday, 7pm ET

For administrative questions, contact info@ipak-edu.org

Recommended Book: Healing Without Hurting by Jennifer Giustra-Kozek (Find it on Bookshop.org)

Format: Live Q&A After Viewing Videos Sent By the Instructor

Description:

Attend this workshop and learn the latest research on nutritional deficiencies and the link to neurodevelopmental delays and mental health disorders. In addition, natural health expert and author Jennifer Giustra-Kozek, LPC, will provide you with gut healing protocols and strategies to heal intestinal permeability for those who have ADHD, Autism, ODD, and Anxiety. Walk away with a highly effective nutritional and integrative treatment plan, including:

• Assess nutritional deficiencies that contribute to neurological dysfunction, neurodevelopmental delays, and mental health disorders.

• Brain/Gut healing protocols and how to heal intestinal permeability

• Addressing other underlying conditions contributing to mental health disorders.

• Provide a menu of non-medication treatment options

Developmental disorders/delays Behavioral concerns and aggression

Emotional dysregulation Sensory issues

Inattention Hyperactivity and impulsivity

Sleep disturbances And more!

Using her candid experiences as both a mother and a mental health professional, Jennifer provides non-pharmaceutical solutions to implement tomorrow.

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe the link between our emotions and our intestinal system.

2. Explore gut healing protocols and how to heal intestinal permeability.

3. Assess for nutritional deficiencies that contribute to neurological dysfunction.

4. Summarize the most recent research in the area of genetic vulnerabilities.

5. Demonstrate how many symptoms can be remedied with nutritional balancing.

6. Discuss how food-sensitivities can contribute to behavioral symptoms and how "special diets" can be highly beneficial.

7. Explain the link between ADHD and autism; processed food, heavy metal, and environmental chemicals.

8. Incorporate Eastern Medicine & and bodywork practices and therapies.

9. Design and implement individualized nutrition and integrative treatment plan.

Syllabus:

Week 1: What's wrong with our current mental health paradigm? Natural solutions are often scrutinized. Let's talk about diagnoses and allopathic medication.

Week 2: What is functional & integrative medicine? What defines biomedical interventions for mental health. The gut/brain connection. Malabsorption & Leaky gut syndrome.

Week 3: Epigenetics and how our genetics are not the end of our story. What we eat, breathe, and inject directly influences our genetic code.

Week 4: How immune and metabolic health contribute to neuropsychiatric disorders—autoimmune system assaults.

Week 5: Brain Encephalitis: A leading cause of psychosis. PANS/PANDAS explained and remedied.

Week 6: Malnutrition and the Brain. Identifying essential nutrients for brain optimum brain health.

Week 7: Living in a toxic world. Electromagnetic field. Everyday household items & beauty products. Saying no to GMOs & pesticides. Why eating organic is essential. The effects of heavy metal. Ways to reduce toxic burden.

Week 8: What happens when we overeat sugar? The processed food connection - how neurotoxic chemicals destroy our mental health.

Week 9: Addressing food sensitivities and dietary modification. E.g., The Gluten - Mood Connection. Take a deeper look at what plagues us, including sleeplessness.

Week 10: Foods that heal the body.

Week 11: Detoxification Strategies from your kitchen and beyond.

Week 12: Who should we seek out to assist? What tests and testing options are available.

Week 13: 7 Steps for healing the gut, addressing yeast overgrowth, addressing intestinal inflammation leads to systemic inflammation.

Week 14: The role of neurotransmitters and how to increase them naturally. A nutritional treatment plan: the importance of protein & cholesterol.

Week 15: A nutritional plan continued… natural remedies for ADHD, OCD, Anxiety, Bipolar disorder, depression, anger, aggression, impulsivity, and sensory processing disorders. Eastern bodywork practices and holistic therapies to investigate.

Jennifer Giustra-Kozek, LPC, NCC, is a mother, wife, board-certified psychotherapist, and national speaker. Twenty years of clinical practice, she has seen mental health issues skyrocket and has watched the harmful effects of medication on many younger clients. The autism and mental health epidemic turned personal when Jennifer's children struggled. As a result, she plunged into the world of safe and natural healing modalities outside of the pharmaceutical model and found much success.

Jennifer is the author of a five-time award-winning book Healing without Hurting: Treating ADHD, Apraxia and Autism Spectrum Disorders Naturally and Effectively without Harmful Medication. She also co-authored Brain Under Attack: A Resource for Parents and Caregivers. Jennifer was featured in the HEAL documentary on many podcasts and news stories, and her articles appear in many publications. She consults and blogs with thousands of moms on social media to teach them alternative and natural solutions. To receive more information, you can find her at healing without hurting.com

Jennifer earned her Master's Degree in Community Counseling and a Bachelor's Degree in English/Criminal Justice. She has since become certified in Functional Medicine for Mental Health, EMDR, Reiki, and Hypnotherapy.

Seminar audience:

Parents • Counselors • Psychotherapists • Psychologists • Social Workers • Marriage & Family Therapists • Health Coaches • Life Coaches • Speech-Language Pathologists • Occupational Therapists • Occupational Therapy Assistants • Physical Therapists • Physical Therapist Assistants • Educators • School Counselors • School Psychologists • School Social Workers • School Administrators• Intervention Specialists • Behavioral Specialists • Teachers • Educational Paraprofessionals • Nurses • Nutritionists • Other helping professionals who work in the mental health field.