Intro to Gut-Brain Psychology: Science and Practice that Applies to Every Patient
Why You’ll Love this CourseGut-brain psychology is everywhere these days, but how much do you actually know about it? This course will set you on the path toward clinical proficiency by introducing the essential concepts and biological basics of the gut-brain connection, as well as how to begin treating Disorders of Gut-Brain Interaction (DGBIs). With 40-60% of the population experiencing functional gastrointestinal (GI) issues, this course is essential learning.
Course description:
This course provides an introduction to the core concepts that are necessary for understanding and treating the gut-brain connection. It offers an overview on how the brain and gut communicate via the nervous system and how stress plays a major role in the development of Disorders of Gut-Brain Interaction (DGBIs). This course outlines the differences between structural and functional GI disorders, identifying more common DGBIs that present in clinical practice. Finally, this course teaches introductory methods for conceptualizing and treating DGBIs and provides recommendations for pursuing clinical competence in this specialty.
Who is this for:Clinicians who are interested in building expertise in gut-brain psychology and how it applies to their patients.
Instructional Level:
Beginner
Include: Handout:
Essential Gut-Brain Resources for Provider and Patient
Educational Objectives:
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Describe the biological bases of gut-brain interaction.
- Describe the differences between structural and functional gastrointestinal (GI) conditions.
- Name 3 interventions for treating Disorders of Gut-Brain Interaction (DGBIs).
Katie Arfa, Psy.D.
Clinical Psychologist
Co-founder
Chief Marketing Officer (COO)
Katie Arfa, PsyD. is a co-founder and the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of MindScience Collective. She is a licensed clinical psychologist in California (PSY31016), who specializes in using integrative, evidence-based treatments for health conditions. She is sought after for her particular expertise in the emerging fields of nutritional psychiatry,
gut-brain interaction, pain psychology, and lifestyle medicine.
In her
private practice, Dr. Arfa focuses on using ACT, CBT, and nervous system approaches to treat families and adults dealing with medical conditions, complex illnesses, or treatment-resistant cases. She provides supervision and consultation to trainees and professionals on the intersection of medical and psychological diagnoses, especially differential diagnosis of complex cases.
Dr. Arfa is the creator of
ACT for GI, a group treatment protocol for GI conditions; a psychology education program for fitness professionals; and a postdoctoral training program in integrative health psychology. She completed a fellowship in integrative psychiatry and has a background as a certified personal trainer through
National Strength and Conditioning Association. She has also served as adjunct professor at Antioch University.
Patients are referred to Dr. Arfa by some of the most notable healthcare systems in the country, including UCLA Health, Cleveland Clinic, and the Mayo Clinic.
Disclosures:
Dr. Arfa is a co-founder of MindScience Collective and will receive financial benefit from all course sales. Dr. Arfa is also the instructor of “Using Common S.E.N.S.E: Incorporating Lifestyle Factors for Optimal Patient Outcomes” and “Exercise as a Treatment for Mental Health”, both of which are offered on this platform.
Course History:
Created 2-15-2026
Exercise as a Treatment for Mental Health
Who is this for:Clinicians who are interested in supporting patient progress with lifestyle factors, specifically incorporating exercise into treatment.
Instructional Level:
Intermediate
Why You’ll Love this Course:
Exercise is one of the most evidence-backed alternative interventions for mental health, but most therapists aren’t able to access training that leaves them feeling confident in how to understand and apply it to clinical practice. This course provides strong, evidence-based content on the theory, science, and application of exercise so you can use it with your patients and incorporate it into your practice with confidence.
Course description:
This course provides detailed instruction on the profound ways exercise affects the brain, mood, and behavioral functioning. It includes an overview of the research base, scientific theory, and application of exercise as a nuanced treatment tool capable of improving psychological functioning for many diagnoses. Finally, this course offers practical tools for incorporating exercise into mental health care in a manner that is both skillful and consistent with a mental health professional’s scope of practice.
Featuring:
- “Mechanisms of Change for Exercise and Mental Health” Handout
- Movement Break: Exercise Demonstration
- Experiential Exercise: Your Health Beliefs as the Therapist
Educational Objectives:
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Describe at least three research-based biological and psychological mechanisms that make exercise a powerful treatment tool
- Identify at least three diagnosis-specific responses to exercise as an intervention
- Identify at least three psychological benefits of common types of exercise
Katie Arfa, Psy.D.
Clinical Psychologist
Co-founder
Chief Marketing Officer (COO)
Katie Arfa, PsyD. is a co-founder and the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of MindScience Collective. She is a licensed clinical psychologist in California (PSY31016), who specializes in using integrative, evidence-based treatments for health conditions. She is sought after for her particular expertise in the emerging fields of nutritional psychiatry,
gut-brain interaction, pain psychology, and lifestyle medicine.
In her
private practice, Dr. Arfa focuses on using ACT, CBT, and nervous system approaches to treat families and adults dealing with medical conditions, complex illnesses, or treatment-resistant cases. She provides supervision and consultation to trainees and professionals on the intersection of medical and psychological diagnoses, especially differential diagnosis of complex cases.
Dr. Arfa is the creator of
ACT for GI, a group treatment protocol for GI conditions; a psychology education program for fitness professionals; and a postdoctoral training program in integrative health psychology. She completed a fellowship in integrative psychiatry and has a background as a certified personal trainer through
National Strength and Conditioning Association. She has also served as adjunct professor at Antioch University.
Patients are referred to Dr. Arfa by some of the most notable healthcare systems in the country, including UCLA Health, Cleveland Clinic, and the Mayo Clinic.
Disclosures:
Dr. Arfa is a co-founder of MindScience Collective and will receive financial benefit from all course sales. She references Dr. Nikki Rubin’s mindfulness course in this presentation. Dr Rubin is also a co-founder and instructor for MindScience Collective.
Course History:
Created 10-22-2025
Is Complex Illness Hiding in Your Practice? A Patient Profile You Need to Recognize
Why You’ll Love this Course:Complex illness is a rapidly increasing phenomenon wherein a patient has multiple (often invisible) medical conditions that interact with one another and interfere with effective mental health treatment. Because clinicians typically miscategorize these cases as anxiety, depression, or trauma, they often prescribe the wrong treatments or interventions. Fortunately, complex illness has traditional hallmarks that providers can learn to recognize, making treatment more clear and effective and restoring hope to patients.
Course description:
This course provides an introduction to the phenomenon of complex illness by defining what complex illness is, how it presents in mental health treatment, and ways in which traditional interventions such as exposure and behavioral activation can actually be contraindicated for these patients. It leverages theory and emerging evidence to review common constellations of factors present in complex illness, including specific personality traits, patterns in onset and chronicity of symptoms, and crucial pivots in conceptualization and treatment approach. Finally, it offers an integrative, ACT-based intervention framework specific to complex illness that allows clinicians to improve their effectiveness for this “treatment resistant” population.
Who is this for:Clinicians who have complex, challenging, or treatment resistant cases on their caseload.
Instructional Level:
Beginner to Intermediate
Included:
Handout:
Clinical Framework
Educational Objectives:
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Define complex illness.
- Identify at least five common hallmarks of complex illness cases.
- List three traditional evidence-based interventions that can be contraindicated for this population.
Katie Arfa, Psy.D.
Clinical Psychologist
Co-founder
Chief Marketing Officer (COO)
Katie Arfa, PsyD. is a co-founder and the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of MindScience Collective. She is a licensed clinical psychologist in California (PSY31016), who specializes in using integrative, evidence-based treatments for health conditions. She is sought after for her particular expertise in the emerging fields of nutritional psychiatry,
gut-brain interaction, pain psychology, and lifestyle medicine.
In her
private practice, Dr. Arfa focuses on using ACT, CBT, and nervous system approaches to treat families and adults dealing with medical conditions, complex illnesses, or treatment-resistant cases. She provides supervision and consultation to trainees and professionals on the intersection of medical and psychological diagnoses, especially differential diagnosis of complex cases.
Dr. Arfa is the creator of
ACT for GI, a group treatment protocol for GI conditions; a psychology education program for fitness professionals; and a postdoctoral training program in integrative health psychology. She completed a fellowship in integrative psychiatry and has a background as a certified personal trainer through
National Strength and Conditioning Association. She has also served as adjunct professor at Antioch University.
Patients are referred to Dr. Arfa by some of the most notable healthcare systems in the country, including UCLA Health, Cleveland Clinic, and the Mayo Clinic.
Disclosures:
Dr. Arfa is a co-founder of MindScience Collective and will receive financial benefit from all course sales. She is also the instructor of “Using Common S.E.N.S.E: Incorporating Lifestyle Factors for Optimal Patient Outcomes” and “Intro to Gut-Brain Psychology: Science and Practice that Applies to Every Patient.”
Dr. Stephanie Sacks is the instructor of “Essential Relational Microskills for Treating Trauma Survivors”and Dr. Nikki Rubin is the instructor of “Treating Perfectionism: An ACT-based Approach to Move from Rigidity to Flexibility.” Dr. Sacks and Dr. Rubin are also co-founders and instructors at MindScience Collective.
Course History:
Created 2-16-2026
Using Common S.E.N.S.E.: Incorporating Lifestyle Factors for Optimal Patient Outcomes
Why You’ll Love this Course:You only see your clients one hour per week, on average. How can you improve clients’ progress beyond that? The science is clear: a healthy lifestyle is crucial to mental health. This course breaks down the powerful research on Sleep, Exercise, Nutrition, Stress Management, and Emotional Connection, and offers five easy applications for each domain to arm you with a simple and effective clinical approach for supporting your clients’ growth. Consider this course a cheat sheet on everything lifestyle and mental health.
Course description:
This course provides a condensed, curated overview of the primary lifestyle factors (Sleep, Exercise, Nutrition, Stress Management, and Emotional Connection) that influence brain and mood functioning. It focuses on key biological and psychological concepts for each domain, highlighting information that is notably relevant to clinical practice but often missed in education. Finally, this course bridges the gap between theory and practice by offering five simple and effective interventions for each lifestyle factor, in order to teach and cultivate “Common S.E.N.S.E.” in nearly any patient.
Who is this for:Clinicians who are interested in enhancing clinical outcomes by understanding how lifestyle factors contribute to mental health conditions.
Instructional Level:
Beginner to Intermediate
Included:
Handout:
Common S.E.N.S.E. Resources for You and Your Patients
Skills demonstration
Educational Objectives:
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Identify five lifestyle domains that significantly impact psychological functioning.
- List five lifestyle interventions that support brain and mood functioning.
- Describe three ways to incorporate the science of lifestyle factors into your clinical practice.
- Summarize the research demonstrating how loneliness is a risk factor for poor physiological health.
Katie Arfa, Psy.D.
Clinical Psychologist
Co-founder
Chief Marketing Officer (COO)
Katie Arfa, PsyD. is a co-founder and the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of MindScience Collective. She is a licensed clinical psychologist in California (PSY31016), who specializes in using integrative, evidence-based treatments for health conditions. She is sought after for her particular expertise in the emerging fields of nutritional psychiatry,
gut-brain interaction, pain psychology, and lifestyle medicine.
In her
private practice, Dr. Arfa focuses on using ACT, CBT, and nervous system approaches to treat families and adults dealing with medical conditions, complex illnesses, or treatment-resistant cases. She provides supervision and consultation to trainees and professionals on the intersection of medical and psychological diagnoses, especially differential diagnosis of complex cases.
Dr. Arfa is the creator of
ACT for GI, a group treatment protocol for GI conditions; a psychology education program for fitness professionals; and a postdoctoral training program in integrative health psychology. She completed a fellowship in integrative psychiatry and has a background as a certified personal trainer through
National Strength and Conditioning Association. She has also served as adjunct professor at Antioch University.
Patients are referred to Dr. Arfa by some of the most notable healthcare systems in the country, including UCLA Health, Cleveland Clinic, and the Mayo Clinic.
Disclosures:
Dr. Arfa is a co-founder of MindScience Collective and will receive financial benefit from all course sales. She is also the instructor of “Exercise as a Treatment for Mental Health,” and “Intro to Gut-Brain Psychology: Science and Practice that Applies to Every Patient,” which are offered on this platform.
Course History:
Created 2-15-2026
“MindScience Collective is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. MindScience Collective is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Psychologists (#PSY-0312). MindScience Collective maintains responsibility for this program and its content.“
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