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Areas of expertise
Ketogenic Metabolic Therapy for Mental Health Conditions
I have a PhD in Psychology, specifically on ketogenic diets and their effects on psychological well-being and depression. For the past six years, I have been working with people both 1:1 and in groups to implement the ketogenic diet and its supports such as MCT oils and intermittent fasting protocols in order to improve various health conditions. I have also personally been following this way of eating for nearly ten years.
Do you have a mental health condition that is being treated but isn’t improving as much as you had hoped? Perhaps you are experiencing side effects from your medications and would like to use this approach to reduce these negative effects whilst continuing your standard treatment. Or maybe you don’t have any mental health concerns but you would like to mentally feel sharper or have better concentration.
If your goal is to improve your mental health, the KetoMind programme at the London Psychiatry Clinic is a great place to start. KetoMind is a treatment programme that is medically supervised and designed for those who don’t experience enough improvement in their response to conventional treatments or medications. If you are living with bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder, depression, or anxiety, the KetoMind programme may help. It is followed alongside your current treatment plan and in collaboration with your mental health team. You can read more about the KetoMind programme here.
Most people find that after a few weeks of implementing the ketogenic diet, they already notice improvements both physically and mentally. This can look like weight loss, body recomposition, sleep improvements, increased energy and better concentration. Often, additional benefits over and above the primary focus are experienced. Alongside this, with the correct approach, you will find the diet easy to stick to and with time you will learn how to adapt the diet to fit your lifestyle making it easy to adhere to long term.
I am the programme’s ketogenic practitioner and my role is to guide you through the 12-week programme and support you indefinitely once complete. Post-programme, through regular appointments, we will ensure you maintain any improvements long-term. My goal is to help you overcome lifestyle obstacles, and support you in understanding how the ketogenic metabolic therapy works best for you so that you can easily maintain this lifestyle in the long term. I don’t provide medical advice but will support you in working with your psychiatrist and medical team.
If you are not quite sure if the KetoMind programme is for you, or if you feel you can’t follow the diet just now, I can support you in making smaller steps that may still produce improvements, over a longer period of time. I will meet you where you are, and we will go from there.
Behaviour Change and Support
For the past 15 years, I have been working with people to change their behaviours to support their lifestyle and health goals. Over the last six years, I have coached people regularly to implement the ketogenic diet and other positive lifestyle interventions for their long-term health.
For any lifestyle intervention, the first few weeks and months are focused on learning and implementation. This can be both a scary and exciting time. Starting a ketogenic diet can be difficult, especially when you don’t know if you have the correct information or support. Where do you begin? Maybe you have started a ketogenic diet but you are finding it difficult to follow. Perhaps you do well during the week but struggle at the weekends or during social occasions. Or maybe you can follow the diet for a few weeks but then come off and find it difficult to get yourself back on track leaving you in a cycle of being in and out of ketosis.
There will be obstacles along the way that you will need to overcome in order to maintain your new lifestyle. Knowing how to deal with these challenges and how to identify them ahead of time is crucial to keep you on track and happy. For most people, the diet itself becomes easy to follow with time, but it is navigating the social situations that are the most difficult. Situations such as how to make sure that your family respect your health decisions, how to navigate eating out without causing a fuss, how to travel and enjoy birthdays and other celebrations without compromising your health.
I am here to support you through this. I will help you to view this lifestyle intervention as part of your recovery, with equal importance, just like any other medical or non-medical approach you choose to include for your health. Having someone in your corner, who understands the diet, and the challenges that you are facing makes the journey a little easier. A problem shared is a problem halved.
Ketogenic Metabolic Therapy for Metabolic Health (MHP)
The main symptoms of metabolic syndrome are obesity, high blood pressure, and high blood sugar among others. Throughout the past six years, I have been working with individuals of all ages and backgrounds to improve their metabolic health and lose weight through fat loss using ketogenic metabolic therapy. With this experience and my training, I have competence in the practice of dietary and lifestyle interventions that address metabolic health.
Do you feel low in energy most days and struggle to get things done? Perhaps you feel you need to lose weight, particularly around your stomach. Maybe you have been told that you have high blood sugar levels and are pre-diabetic but you are unsure what to do.
If your goal is to improve your physical health, a ketogenic diet may help. As a metabolic health practitioner, I will provide you with the nutrition and lifestyle education and support you need to implement the ketogenic diet for goals such as fat loss and improved overall metabolic health. I use evidence-based nutritional approaches, such as therapeutic carbohydrate restriction, along with other interventions such as MCT oils, exogenous ketones and intermittent fasting protocols to improve metabolic health.
My approach to treatment
It is completely normal to feel overwhelmed by the idea that you may need to change your lifestyle and implement something new. Perhaps you feel that ‘diets’ have never worked for you, and so therefore, why would this? Maybe you feel like this is your last hope, or perhaps, you feel there is nothing left that can help you. Wherever you are, and however you feel, your feelings are valid and I am here to listen and support you.
I take a step-by-step approach when it comes to nutrition and lifestyle, working at a pace you are comfortable with. Maybe you want to jump straight into making these changes, or perhaps you are a little apprehensive and would rather take things slow. There is no right or wrong way to approach this, it is your journey. Small changes little and often can make the greatest impact, whilst still keeping you in control. This means that you will end up seamlessly fitting your new habits into your lifestyle with the least amount of disruption to your day-to-day. This is important as you might be wondering how you can do this with your children in tow, or with a busy career and demanding personal relationships. I will work with you, and together we will determine how these approaches will fit into your life.
To ensure that we can cover everything necessary in the first appointment, I will ask you to complete brief questionnaires before we meet. Our first appointment is then focused on your current needs. Whether you want to start the KetoMind programme or you are seeking information, guidance or support on your health journey, I am here to listen to your needs. As you share your needs with me, I will ask you some questions to help me understand how I can best help you. Once we have identified your goals, we will decide which to work on first, and then determine how.
As a metabolic health practitioner, I provide nutrition and lifestyle education and coaching for improving metabolic health which can impact both mental and physical well-being. Education on ketogenic metabolic therapy and its applications is always the first step as it is important to understand how and why it may work for you. I use a variety of different metabolic approaches to help you improve your health and I make sure that you have the correct information for your specific situation, as everyone is different. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to ketogenic metabolic therapy, which is why a personalised approach is so important. I also work closely with the in-house dietitians and psychiatrists to make sure that you are fully supported throughout your health journey. All treatment plans integrate multiple lifestyle interventions where possible providing you with a comprehensive approach to improving your health.
Medication
Although I’m not a medical doctor and do not prescribe medications, I work closely with the psychiatrists who are prescribing medication. I believe medication is beneficial for some people, and in certain cases, it is necessary, particularly in the acute phases of illness. I support combining medication with talk therapy, and other positive lifestyle interventions to provide you with a complete approach to your long-term recovery.
If you experience significant improvements using the ketogenic diet for your mental health condition, I will support you in working with your psychiatrist to taper the medications. It is important to note that this can take a long time, however, it is crucial for your well-being and recovery long-term.
Education & Training
I have a PhD in Psychology specifically ketogenic diets and depression from the University of East London. I have an MSc in Psychiatric Research from King’s College London and an honours BA in Psychology from Dublin Business School in Ireland. I am registered and am an associate fellow of the British Psychological Society and I am a member of the Society for Metabolic Health Practitioners.
Currently, I am the coordinator and ketogenic practitioner for the KetoMind programme at the London Psychiatry Clinic. Alongside my PhD, have completed the Keto for Mental Health Clinician training by Dr Georgia Ede and I have completed the Nutrition Network Advisor training. Previous to this I spent five years coaching and applying the ketogenic diet and fasting protocols with clients for goals such as weight loss, cognition and general well-being in both 1:1 and group settings. I also spent four years working in acute inpatient psychiatric units in Hackney, East London as a social therapist and an assistant practitioner in life skills and recovery.
Aside from clinical work, I have provided nutrition, mental health and ketogenic diet training to psychiatrists, and nurses both privately and within the National Health Service (NHS). I have also been invited to speak across the UK on these topics at HMRC, Ketogenic diet retreats, and through business employee wellness groups.
Personal interests
In my spare time, I enjoy travelling to new countries specifically to try their native cuisine as well as learn new languages. At home, I enjoy spending quality time with family and friends and supporting the Irish rugby team whenever they play.
