Beyond Conventional Mental Healthcare: New Frontiers in Plant & Food Medicines

About Event

Thursday, October 10th, 2024
5:00 pm – 9:00 pm (Dinner Served)

Join us to learn about: breakthrough treatment approaches for depression, anxiety, trauma, eating disorders, substance use disorders, and ADHD. Do not miss this evening, filled with enlightening discussions and expert insights on integrating plant- and food-based therapies into mental health practices. It’s time for a meaningful conversation about enhancing patient outcomes and fostering holistic well-being.

What is the Event? 150 mental health professionals for learning and networking in West LA. Hosted by Dr. David Wiss and a curated panel of expert mental health treatment pioneers.  

Who is it for? Mental health treatment providers looking to build community.

Topics include age-old medicines that are sometimes forgotten: food, nature, relationships, and emerging trends in psychedelic medicines. This event will be a breath of fresh air for anyone working in mental health settings, especially those facing burnout from the health care system:

• LMFT/AMFT
• LCSW/MSW
• PhD/PsyD (Psychologists)
• RDNs (Dietitians)
• MD Psychiatrist
• MD Addiction Medicine
• Drug/Alcohol Counselor
• Mental Health Techs
• Treatment Owner/Operators 
• Business Development

Schedule:

5:00 pm Networking and Appetizers

6:00 pm Program Begins

7:45 pm Dinner Served

8:00 pm Networking and Dessert

Discussion Questions for the Panelists:

• What is your opinion on the medicalization of mental illness and the monopolization of the pharmaceutical industry on mental health recovery?
• There has been an avalanche of research and a massive buzz in the popular press about ultra-processed foods. Please share your insight and experience running a food service operation in a treatment setting.
• It has been suggested that “food is medicine,” and we would love to hear your take on this adage. Specifically, do you believe that the quality of what someone eats profoundly influences their chances of achieving peak mental wellness?
• Speaking of medicine, there is a surge in interest in plant medicine and psychedelic therapies in mental health care. Please share your professional experience and opinion on this subject.
• Do plants have a place at the table? What kind of plants, what kind of tables?

Speakers

Carolyn Costin, LMFT, CEDS

Carolyn Costin Institute

Carolyn Costin has been a force in the eating disorder field for over four decades as a recovered clinician, speaker, and author. She is best known for filling a gap in treatment services by opening the first residential program for eating disorders in the US in 1996. Her programs combined standard evidence-based treatment practices with “alternative” therapies such as yoga, meditation, dietary supplements, equine therapy, and forest bathing. Her current passion is filling another gap by training and certifying eating disorder recovery coaches.

Kim Dennis, MD, CEDS

SunCloud Health

Kim Dennis is a holistic psychiatrist board certified in addiction medicine and an eating disorders specialist, bringing lived experience with long-term recovery from bulimia, alcohol use disorder, food addiction, and developmental trauma. She is the co-founder, Chief Medical Officer, and CEO of SunCloud Health, where she works tirelessly to improve care for those patients poorly served by currently available treatments. She incorporates biological, psychosocial, and spiritual approaches into nuanced treatments for each patient.

Shai Blakeney

Recover Integrity

Antedote

Yeshaia Blakeney is a father of four and husband, serving as the CEO and cofounder of the Recover Integrity treatment program and the Antedote wholeness program. He acts as an informal liaison between the psychedelic and recovery communities. An assistant Rabbi, Yeshaia is deeply interested in the intersection of mental health, psychedelics, spirituality, psychology, philosophy, and the arts.

Moderator

David Wiss, PhD, MS, RDN

Nutrition In Recovery

Wise Mind Nutrition

Dr. David Wiss is from West Los Angeles counter-culture and took a hard pivot at age 24, where he used nutrition and exercise to heal from physical and mental health challenges. Since that time, Dr. Wiss has dedicated his life to helping people recover from addictions, eating disorders, anxiety, and depression using natural medicines such as food. His groundbreaking work has been published in some of the leading peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Wiss is a thought leader in the field of nutritional psychology and the founder of the Nutrition in Recovery group practice and the Wise Mind Nutrition app.

Sponsors