Integrative Mental Health & Wellness – Exclusive Interview With Diane Akkad
- Brainz Magazine
- Jun 11, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 14, 2023
Diane Akkad, is an innovator in the field of coaching as she has forged a different path based on her own experience trying to navigate the medical system after being diagnosed with Cervical Dysplasia. Diane wasn't comfortable with the standard of care offered (surgery), so she went to work researching everything written on Dysplasia and charted her own healing path. One year later she had completely reversed and healed her Cervical Dysplasia. As part of her healing, Akkad enrolled in some Integrative Health programs leading to her new found passion. Diane is the owner of Integrative Mental Health & Wellness where she helps others navigate the medical system and their new diagnosis to healing THEIR way.
Diane Akkad, Integrative Mental Health & Wellness Coach
Introduce yourself! Please tell us about you and your life, so we can get to know you better.
My name is Diane Akkad, I am from Ottawa Ontario Canada, and I have been married for 17 years with two children and two cats. I also work in a preschool with 32 four-year-olds. I find children’s conversations fascinating! My passion is learning about human health and all aspects of it from abnormal psychology, the power of thought and beliefs, pushing physical limits, how directly our body reacts to what we eat and drink, how even our smallest actions impact so many around us profoundly and we usually do not even put a thought to it or realize we have that ability. I love reading, coffee, and rain, together or separately!
Can you provide an overview of your business and the services or products you offer on Integrative Mental Health & Wellness?
I guide women in reversing and healing disease by focusing on training the mind to heal mental, emotional, and physical illnesses. I use interwoven evidence-based aspects of mindfulness, cognitive-behavioral techniques, neuroscience, health psychology, positive psychology, energy psychology and behavioral nutrition. As well as healing aspects of spirituality and the power of perception, insight, awareness, thoughts, and words.
What inspired you to start your business 'Integrative Mental Health & Wellness'? Is there a particular problem or need you aimed to address?
The reason I became an Integrative Wellness practitioner was because I was diagnosed with cervical dysplasia and was told I needed to have surgery to cut out part of my cervix. They did not care what had caused it or how to prevent it from coming back. If I had opted for surgery and it came back in another area, then what? So, I did my own research and spoke to others with the same diagnosis as well as natural/alternative healing practitioners and naturopaths. I was then able to reverse it and heal naturally. My oncologist was not happy. This opened a whole new world to me. It was not easy but if you put the work in, healing is possible! It took almost a year to reverse and heal completely. I realized then that every woman in that waiting room was probably as scared as I was but did not know what other options they had. I wanted to share with everyone that there were other options!
How does your business differentiate itself from competitors in the same industry? What makes Integrative Mental Health & Wellness unique?
What makes Integrated Mental Health & Wellness unique is that the bio-psycho-social-spiritual model of care considers all aspects of a person's life in relation to their wellness.It focuses on holistic mental health and mind-body-spirit connections. I am not a nutritionist specifically or a weight loss coach or a life coach. I do provide a wraparound service that supports all aspects of wholeness and wellbeing. Tell us about a pivotal moment in your life that brought you to where you are today.
I feel the most pivotal moment in my life was the Fort McMurray, Alberta Canada wildfires of May 2016 where 80,000 people were evacuated. We lost everything. We stayed in Edmonton, Alberta while they rebuilt. I took the down time to do some self-care and that is when I discovered I had cervical dysplasia and so my journey began. It took so long to rebuild that we never went back. We had found a new home by then, the kids needed to start school, and I had started a new job. My husband still had his business located in Fort McMurray, so we have been commuting back and forth ever since.
