Welcome from the Conference Chairs

Dr Simon Lewis, College of Medicine Council Member who is the lead for the Bodymind Faculty at the College of Medicine welcomes you to the Integrative Mental Health conference which aims to highlight some of the latest research and clinical examples of integrative approaches to address the mental health crisis that our healthcare system faces today.

An internationally recognised expert in nutritional and metabolic psychiatry, Dr Georgia Ede, will highlight the crucial connections between nutritional quality, metabolic health and mental health, and how our modern ultra processed toxic food environment directly contributes to the root causes of mental health.

Dr Uma Naidoo presents cutting-edge research about the ways anxiety is rooted in the brain, gut, immune system, and metabolism. Drawing on the latest science on the connection between diet and anxiety, Dr Naidoo shows us how to effectively use food and nutrition as essential tools for calming the mind.

Common and less common symptoms of the perimenopause and menopause, and the health risks associated with the low hormone levels will be explored in this presentation with Dr Louise Newson. The evidence regarding management of mood-related symptoms with hormones, including testosterone, will be discussed also with reference to clinical cases.

Dr Pratima Singh will share her clinical experience of using integrative and functional medicine to treat teenagers and adolescents with this autoimmune and inflammatory condition that can have a significant impact on a child's well-being.

Clinical EFT is an evidence based, manualised, stress reduction technique that combines elements of cognitive and exposure therapy with somatic tapping of acupressure points. In this presentation, Prof Elizabeth Boath will briefly introduce you to EFT, the evidence base and the Tapping points.

Dr Ajaz will provide an overview of the importance of the gut-brain axis in understanding the root cause and treating mental illness through sharing both the latest scientific literature and his own clinical insights of using evidence-based, non-pharmacological/natural treatments to help his patients end their mental illness.

Dr William Bird is a passionate advocate of the power of nature to benefit health, a concept now well recognised as Green Social Prescribing. Dr William Beharrell is a doctor specialising in psychiatry in the NHS and also the Founder and CEO of the Fathom Trust where they use traditional craft making and conservation to support those experiencing psychological distress;  Dr Carly Wood's research is on the the social and therapeutic benefit of using horticulture for the treatment of mental ill-health.  

As one of the few doctors in the UK certified to run the Harvard Stress Management and Resiliency Training (SMART) program, Dr Safia Debar will highlight techniques for empowering people to leverage their neuroscience and manage stress effectively through mind-body practices.

Dr Alberto Pertusa is a consultant psychiatrist with over 15 years of clinical experience specialising in the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD.  He will discuss the symptoms of ADHD and how it is diagnosed; the concept of neurodivergence and will give an overview of conventional treatments (medication & therapy) and the functional approaches for ADHD.

Several medicinal plants have shown promise in potentially alleviating symptoms or slowing down cognitive decline, but this presentation with Prof Kerry Bone will focus on two key leads, highlighting the growing clinical evidence. Ginkgo biloba, Curcumin, Bacopa and Saffron. The effectiveness & controversies will be discussed.

With psychedelics fast becoming an important part of 21st Century health and wellbeing, Dr Duncan Still will provide an update on the roll-out of psychedelic-assisted therapies in the US and Australia as well as notable increases in psychedelic use across the globe. He will also cover some important background on what psychedelics are (and are not!), how and why they work and then outline important recent advances in research and practice and the likely future developments in the UK.

Dementia can be prevented, and Dr Kat Toups knows this first hand. Dr Toups is a San Francisco Bay Area psychiatrist, but she is also an accomplished researcher who led investigations in 20 extensive clinical trials focused on Alzheimer's and MCI (Mild Cognitive Impairment). While working in this area, she developed dementia herself, and by using functional medicine, she reversed her own decline. Dr Kat Toups will show how dementia and cognitive decline can be prevented and reversed through a fundamentally new approach: by attending to factors that affect brain function, including diet, toxins, inflammation, infections, hormone deficiencies, and stress.