Complete Level 1

Nine lessons introduce psychonutrition and the Psychonutrition House™ framework. You'll examine clinical attunement, what an “-informed” approach means in nutrition care, CDR scope and flexible boundaries, and the Clinical Translation Guide. The module also covers referral decisions, ethical practice, and the dual-competence standard.

Study the gut–brain connection, neurovisceral integration, and heart rate variability (HRV). You'll examine interoception, the window of tolerance, dissociation and eating, and grounding in nutrition care. The module introduces the PACI–HFSC–WIS–MMP–PMCA–MRP clinical sequence for assessment and regulation.

Examine eating behavior through the framework's nervous system lens, including six nutritional domains of chronic stress and burnout. The module covers screening instruments (SCOFF, EAT-26, EDE-QS, PSS-10, MBI-HSS, PHQ-2/GAD-2), protocols for their use within scope, the BNIA Tool, and a longitudinal clinical case.

Look at how diet culture, internalized weight bias, and cultural context shape a client's relationship with food and their body. You'll examine the connection between appearance concerns and eating, cultural humility in sessions, and the course's Functional Body Framework and Body Distress Response Protocol.

Examine attachment patterns using the Bartholomew-Horowitz model and consider how they show up in a nutrition session. This module covers the secure-base RDN stance, session structure, co-regulation, and a five-pattern countertransference protocol for examining your own responses as a clinician.

Work through motivational interviewing, including OARS and change talk, and self-determination theory's focus on autonomy, competence, and relatedness. You'll also examine the function of an eating disorder as an attachment object and a clinical tool for distinguishing ambivalence from resistance tied to identity.

Examine meaning-based food practices, safety anchoring, and the MPNAT. The module covers radical acceptance, the DBT dialectic in recovery, and post-traumatic growth. It also introduces HEPAL and chrono-nutrition as ways to consider the structure of behavior change.

Bring the modules together using the Psychonutrition House™ Floor Assessment Protocol (PHFAP) and Prioritization Matrix. You'll examine the progression from co-regulation to self-regulation, document care across the framework, and work through a case from intake to discharge.