Te Puna Toiora: Mental Health and Nutrition Research Lab

Research interests are in the conceptual, applied and experimental analysis of behaviour, with the emphasis currently on conceptual and applied aspects. Conceptual work has focussed on two long-term projects. One project has involved developing a bio-behavioural model of the processes which engender, maintain and reverse infant sleep disturbance. The second project has been to view the current widespread criticism of null-hypothesis statistical tests and other standard research practices from the perspective of single-case research design. Applied research has a wider focus, and includes behavioural interventions for infant sleep disturbances, behavioural family therapies, special education interventions, and various projects in Health Psychology, including a specific interest in safety, especially road safety.

Professor Julia Rucklidge, a clinical psychologist, is the Director of Te Puna Toiora, the Mental Health and Nutrition Research Lab at the University of Canterbury. Originally from Canada, she's a renowned clinical psychologist focusing on nutritional interventions for mental illnesses. With over 160 publications and 100s of global talks, she advocates for healthy eating to enhance mental health. Notable achievements include co-authoring "The Better Brain," a TEDx talk with over 5 million views, >100,000 learners on her popular edX course "Mental Health and Nutrition: and receiving awards like the University of Canterbury's Innovation Medal 2024, the Ballin Award from the New Zealand Psychological Society, and being named one of New Zealand's top 100 influential women.

 

She has supervised over 60 PhD and Masters theses.