Nutritional counseling is a relatively new area in the mental health care field, aiming to treat imbalances that lead to psychological problems through a therapeutic diet and supplements.
It is often offered in the context of general psychological counseling.
In the past, nutritional counseling was conducted almost exclusively in institutional health care settings, not in the community clinics and private practice environments where it is currently delivered. Registered dieticians, with a solid background in human physiology and a degree in dietetics or nutrition would advise dietary changes and create meal plans for “patients” to address chronic and other health conditions.
However, with mounting research on the impact of food and brain chemistry, nutritional counseling is being used more and more to treat mood imbalances and other mental health conditions, like depression and anxiety.
