Brookhaven Retreat offers a unique voluntary residential program of mental health and substance abuse services designed to help women overcome depression, trauma, anxiety, personality disorders, and substance dependence among other diagnoses. How clients use food can either be helpful or harmful to their recovery, and education is a key component.
Nutrition and exercise are an inherent part of The Lily Program®, a 90-day individualized mental health treatment program offered exclusively at Brookhaven Retreat.
Registered dietician, Charity Coyle, is on staff to ensure clients are eating mindfully and intuitively rather than dieting, and focuses on women’s perception of food as a source of nourishment as opposed to entertainment. “If we can be healthy mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically, we are able to live a happy and vibrant life,” she says, adding the importance of eating fresh produce.
As Brookhaven Retreat observes June as National Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Month, founder Jacqueline Dawes, will provide each client and staff member with a one-page guide to mindful shopping as it pertains to buying fruits and vegetables in season at any given point.
Dawes says, “It’s quite easy to say that from now on we’re going to make a conscious effort to consume more fresh vegetables and fruit now that it’s come to our attention once again. However, it needs to become part of our routine, if it isn’t already. Perhaps having a guide to steer us properly, we can make more educated choices and get a bit more excited about buying produce knowing it will be more delicious as it comes into season.”
