Fellowship in Integrative Psychiatry

A Course by James Greenblatt, MD (2 Hours)
Suicide is the observable result of what is often a complex array of problems.  Strong scientific evidence suggests that suicide risk is moderated by underlying biochemical abnormalities and environmental factors, which together can impact brain structure and function. Brain alterations that accrue as a result can place an individual along a path towards tragedy.  In being a phenomenon that science has shown to involve myriad endogenous and exogenous factors, however, suicidality – and psychiatric disorders that confer increased risk – invites an integrative approach that may offer at-risk patients the very best opportunity for recovery.

This three-module course will introduce an integrative model for suicide prevention, one in which the concept of suicidality as the result of underlying biochemical, nutritional, genetic, and environmental factors is explored.  Research illustrating the benefits of nutritional supplementation to mitigate risk factors will be presented; evidence-based interventions will be described; and a treatment approach centered upon objective biologic measurement and a concept of biochemical individuality will be presented.

A Course by James Greenblatt, MD (3 Hours)
This course offers an immersive look at one of the oldest elements in the known universe – lithium – through an orthomolecular lens, seeking to redefine its association with human health and illuminate its potentials as a treatment for neurologic and psychiatric ailments.  Over two modules, an empirically substantiated rationale for the incorporation of lithium into functional protocols for disorders ranging from depression to Alzheimer’s will be presented, along with guidelines for the safe and effective administration of low-dose nutritional lithium.

A Course by James Greenblatt, MD (4 Hours)
This course is intended for clinicians of all specialties who seek to redefine the model by which they characterize, assess, and treat depressive illness.  Through four separate modules, an integrative functional medicine model of depression will be introduced, one in which depression is understood to arise from underlying biologic abnormalities associated with nutritional, metabolic, genetic, and environmental factors.  Recommendations for the implementation of testing and augmentation strategies will provided alongside research elucidating the roles that key nutrients play in maintaining neurologic health, providing registrants with evidence-based, integrative strategies that can be incorporated into existing therapeutic protocols.

This Enduring Material activity, Integrative Medicine for Depression, has been reviewed and is acceptable for up to 5.00 Prescribed credit(s) by the American Academy of Family Physicians.  AAFP certification begins 09/01/2019.  Term of approval is for one year from this date.  Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

A Course by James Greenblatt, MD (2 Hours)
This course offers practitioners a functional medicine model for the reduction and elimination of side-effects in patients taking psychotropic drugs.  Registrants will be provided with an overview of pharmaceutical use in mainstream psychiatry, and the unprecedented steps some patients are now taking in order to get themselves off medication.  A rationale for the implementation of a slow taper, secondary to an integrative assessment per THE ZEEEBRA approach, will be presented as a protocol for discontinuation and the elimination of withdrawal effects.  Thereafter, nutritional and herbal interventions for the amelioration of medication-induced weight gain and sexual dysfunction will be reviewed. Gene variants associated with medication-induced weight gain will be discussed, and the clinical utility of gene testing for minimizing weight-related side-effects will be elucidated.  Finally, tardive dyskinesia (TD) will be explored: biologic factors linked to its pathogenesis, mainstream treatment options, and the demonstrated superiority of integrative approaches for symptom resolution.  Nutritional interventions with a proven track record of success in eliminating TD will be introduced, along with Dr. Greenblatt’s recommendations for dosing and titration.  The course will conclude with an open-minded discussion about the role medications can and should play in today’s functional medicine practice, and a clarification of psychiatry’s most fundamental objectives in addressing mental illness safely, effectively, and ethically.

A Course by James Greenblatt, MD (4 Hours)
This four-module course provides clinicians of all specialties with a comprehensive introduction to Dr. Greenblatt’s integrative model for the treatment of anxiety disorders.  Following an empirically substantiated rationale for the de-prioritization of symptom classification, and a step away from pharmaceutical approaches that overlook causality, the viability of a functional medicine approach will be elucidated through objective reviews of recent studies that show anxiety to be associated with nutritional deficiencies, neurotransmitter dysfunction, systemic inflammation, and other endogenous factors.  The mechanisms through which these factors affect changes in cognition and behavior will be explored, with an emphasis on the practical ramifications of biochemical individuality.  Guidelines for testing will be offered alongside specific nutritional interventions to address anxiogenic physiology, and complementary strategies to support integrative treatments – such as exercise, yoga, and herbal supplements – will be reviewed.  Upon completion, registrants will be able to implement evidence-based integrative methods into clinical protocols and maximize therapeutic outcomes for patients in need.

A Course by James Greenblatt, MD (3 Hours)
Scientific evidence confirms ADHD to be a neurologic, brain-based disorder represented by numerous biological abnormalities.  What is observable as atypical behavior is merely the tip of an iceberg that extends down to an individual’s unique biochemical makeup. Certain nutritional imbalances, which can profoundly impact cognition and behavior, are significantly correlated with this common disorder. Health-care practitioners, however, often overlook diet, micronutrient status, and individual biochemistry in ADHD treatment and assessment.

Fortunately, addressing nutritional imbalances with an integrative treatment plan has proven effective in treating ADHD.  This three-module course will introduce Dr. Greenblatt’s breakthrough Plus/Minus plan for ADHD and provide a comprehensive overview of the biochemistry ‘beneath’ the disorder.  Dietary interventions and augmentation strategies for the mitigation of specific nutrient deficiencies will be reviewed, as well as recommendations for going “beyond biochemistry” to enhance treatment outcomes.

A Course by James Greenblatt, MD (7 Hours)
This four-module course offers healthcare practitioners a unique opportunity to redefine their understanding and treatment of eating disorders, and introduces a powerful, empirically supported rationale for a biologic model of eating disorder pathogenesis.  Drawing upon scientific research and Dr. Greenblatt’s extensive clinical experience, the course presents effective, scientifically supported strategies for addressing the biochemical imbalances, nutritional deficiencies, and metabolic disruptions that characterize anorexia nervosa, binge-eating disorder, and food addiction.

A Course by James Greenblatt, MD (5 Hours)
Schizophrenia is a variable and multifactorial mental disorder producing a spectrum of symptoms ranging from odd but harmless behavioral abnormalities to full psychosis.  Such dynamic symptomatic presentations, in tandem with research supporting a biological model of schizophrenia pathogenesis and pathophysiology, invite functional medicine treatment approaches that emphasize biochemical individuality and the mitigation of etiologic risk factors.

This five-module course incorporates the classical theories of orthomolecular medicine into modern nutritional psychiatry, presenting decades of research evidence supporting the utility and efficacy of integrated approaches to the treatment of schizophrenia.  Micronutrient deficiencies, toxic neurochemical aggregations, systemic inflammation, and other etiologic factors will be elucidated in regard to the mechanisms through which they precipitate neurologic dysfunction, and addressed through comprehensive functional medicine protocols for use in clinical practice.

A Course by James Greenblatt, MD & Arwen Podesta, MD (4 Hours)
This course, co-taught by Dr. James Greenblatt and Dr. Arwen Podesta, examines the biology underlying the phenomenon of addiction and integrative functional medicine strategies for addiction treatment. It explores exogenous and intrinsic alterations to the brain’s reward pathway, the role of serotonin and dopamine in reinforcing addiction, genetic influences in addiction susceptibility, and the ways in which psychosocial factors can precipitate abnormal neurobiology. From this functional perspective, the course then explores evidence- based interventions to support addiction recovery, ranging from medications and targeted nutritional supplementation to meditation, yoga, and acupuncture.

A Course by James Greenblatt, MD (3 Hours)
This three-module course evaluates irritability, anger, self-injury, and aggression from an integrative functional medicine perspective, illuminating key biochemical imbalances that can exacerbate these destructive and potentially dangerous behavioral phenomena. Focusing on the biologic mechanisms through which intrinsic and environmental factors may precipitate aggression, it also explores evidenced-based strategies for testing and integrative treatments such as nutritional supplementation, mindfulness and meditation practices, phytochemicals, and yoga.

A Course by James Greenblatt, MD (1 Hours)
While belief in a higher power or adherence to spiritual tenets has long been accepted to benefit the human psyche, instilling hope, faith, and meaning in life, studies have shown that spirituality can cultivate healing in both mind and body. This one (1) module course explores fascinating research demonstrating measurable neurologic and biochemical effects of spirituality, effects that invite the incorporation of spirituality, mindfulness practices, and meditation into integrative approaches to the treatment of depression and other psychiatric disorders.

A Course by William Shaw, PhD (1.5 Hours)
Presented by William Shaw, PhD, the founder of Great Plains Laboratory and a board-certified clinical chemist and toxicologist, these four courses will delve into the exciting field of biomedical analysis, and explore how objective laboratory testing for metabolic, nutritional, and toxic factors can help clinicians maximize therapeutic potentials in integrative functional medicine practice.

Heavy Metal Testing will examine the growing threat to human health posed by environmental pollution, the physiologic and neurologic sequelae of toxic metal exposure, and the options currently available to practitioners for the testing and quantification of toxic metal burden.

A Course by William Shaw, PhD (1.5 Hours)
Presented by William Shaw, PhD, the founder of Great Plains Laboratory and a board-certified clinical chemist and toxicologist, these four courses will delve into the exciting field of biomedical analysis, and explore how objective laboratory testing for metabolic, nutritional, and toxic factors can help clinicians maximize therapeutic potentials in integrative functional medicine practice.

Mycotoxin Testing offers an in-depth look at the physical and neurologic ramifications of exposure to toxic fungal metabolites, and the variety of laboratory tests now available to clinicians for mycotoxin screening.

A Course by William Shaw, PhD (1.5 Hours)
Presented by William Shaw, PhD, the founder of Great Plains Laboratory and a board-certified clinical chemist and toxicologist, these four courses will delve into the exciting field of biomedical analysis, and explore how objective laboratory testing for metabolic, nutritional, and toxic factors can help clinicians maximize therapeutic potentials in integrative functional medicine practice.

Organic Acid Testing will explore biologic factors that can precipitate disruptions of intermediary metabolism, the pathologic ramifications of organic acidemia, and the clinical utility of organic acid testing in integrative functional medicine practice.

A Course by William Shaw, PhD (1.5 Hours)
Presented by William Shaw, PhD, the founder of Great Plains Laboratory and a board-certified clinical chemist and toxicologist, these four courses will delve into the exciting field of biomedical analysis, and explore how objective laboratory testing for metabolic, nutritional, and toxic factors can help clinicians maximize therapeutic potentials in integrative functional medicine practice.

Genetic Testing will bridge symptomatic presentation and genetic variability by exploring single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that have been identified as influential in psychiatric susceptibility and pathogenesis, and examine how information gleaned from pharmacogenetic testing can be utilized to steer the course of individually-tailored treatment.

A Course by Peter Bongiorno, ND, LAc (1 Hour)
Presented by naturopathic physician Peter Bongiorno, ND, LAc, and intended for healthcare practitioners, this two-part educational series devoted to adaptogens will focus on the history of adaptogens in medicine, the pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic properties of adaptogens, and recommendations for clinical intake and lab testing to inform adaptogen protocols for psychiatric illness.