About me
Hi, I'm Anna. I originally created this website to promote my private nutrition practice, Nutripsychology. However, four months in, my rare genetic condition — Von Hippel-Lindau disease — “gifted” me a second brain tumour and the need for another operation.
This second experience has been both traumatic and transformative. It led me to re-evaluate every area of my life and inspired me to use this space to share my journey of recovery — by being my own nutritionist and psychologist.
You can follow my day-to-day journey on Instagram at @Nutripsychology_uk, while this website is dedicated to my “Given My Life Back” blog posts: philosophical essays and reflections on what it means to have had my life given back by doctors on two occasions.
Alongside Clinical Psychology and Nutrition, I have a deep love for Philosophy, and I hope to study it formally one day. I hope you find what I share here both useful and, perhaps, inspirational.
My Philosophy
I am not a trained philosopher, so I am not following any particular school of thought at present. However, I have been interested in philosophy for quite a few years and can summarise my stance as follows.
My outlook on life is pragmatic: I do not care whether something is absolutely true or not, only how useful it is to human thriving — mine especially. Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory had a tremendous intellectual impact on me two years ago, providing an excellent roadmap for understanding the current state of human knowledge and the potential for human development.
Professionally, I am trained in the use of skills from Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) and fully subscribe to Marsha Linehan’s concept of a “life worth living.” This is precisely how I view my own life: imperfect, marked at times by pain and suffering caused by a genetic illness, yet filled with immense potential for meaning, purpose, joy, and contentment.
Professional background
2014
BSc Nutrition with Psychological Studies (St Mary's University, Twickenham)
2019
MSc Human Nutrition (University of Surrey)
2023
MSc Psychology (Birmingham City University)
2023- 2024
trained in the use of skills from Dialectical Behaviour Therapy and Compassion Focused Therapy for Eating Disorders
2014-present
worked in Dietetics & Psychology both in NHS & private healthcare in general & psychiatric hospitals and community mental health settings. You can check my published academic work at The Journal of Mental Health Training, Education and Practice: Vol. 19 Iss. 6 | Emerald Insight
2017-present
Association for Nutrition Registered Nutritionist (Public Health) reg. 9279