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NEW ADVANCED CONCEPT FOR HMA STARTING AT THE END OF JANUARY 2026
To learn more, email me at bitten.jonsson@bittensaddiction.com. Scroll down for more information.
Join us — and become part of the future of addiction treatment!
“If you want to know medicine, know addiction.” Source unknown, USA, 1987.
HMA 2026 — Holistic Medicine for Addiction
Pioneering sugar & carb addiction treatment since 1995
Holistic Medicine for Addiction (HMA) began in 2018 as an English-language training program after several colleagues asked me to share the clinical experience I had gathered treating sugar addiction since 1995. The Swedish HMA program started in 2012, at a time when my clinical caseload had become enormous and unmanageable, and there was no one in Sweden I could refer my patients to. I considered leaving the field altogether. Instead, I chose to build the professional community I desperately needed.
That’s how HMA was born.
Birth of the SUGAR® Diagnostic Instrument
In 2013, after many years of using ADDIS (Alcohol & Drug Diagnostic Instrument) for sugar and carb addiction, I simply replaced the words alcohol/drugs with sugar/carbs.
The diagnostic criteria for addiction are identical — and no one had done this before. This evolution became SUGAR®, the world’s first structured diagnostic tool for sugar and carbohydrate addiction.
As a nurse, I believe firmly:
We cannot treat what we haven’t diagnosed.
I treat only sugar/carb addiction – not emotional eating or other maladaptive eating patterns. Accurate diagnosis is the foundation of effective treatment.
Today, SUGAR® training is modern, evidence-based, and delivered in collaboration with Nutrition Network.
Next cohort begins January 20th.
Apply here – welcome aboard!
A Global Movement in Treatment
These trainings led directly to the development of many professional treatment programs now active around the world.
It has been a wonderful journey: teaching, training, supervising, and sharing both knowledge and decades of clinical experience. I was the first to do this work anywhere — and I still answer cries for help daily from people who find me through podcasts and interviews. Today, unlike in 1995, there is a global network of trained professionals I can refer clients to. HMA has changed the landscape.
The Missing Piece: Biochemical Repair
The contribution I added to the field is what I call biochemical repair — the essential foundation modern treatment has largely ignored. Sugar and carb addiction damages the body and the brain. Before we ask clients to change behavior, they must restore their energy, mitochondria, and neurological function. Without this repair, recovery becomes nearly impossible. This is why “eat less, move more” fails. Patients must heal before they can recover. Most professionals only treat the consequences of addiction — not the addiction itself. But unless the addiction is addressed, healing remains temporary.
HMA 2026: Taking the Next Step — From Knowing to Doing
There’s now an extraordinary amount of science on detox and food plans for sugar addiction.
What professionals lack is hands-on, practical, clinical know-how. HMA 2026 teaches exactly that. #implementation, #connectthedots
You will learn:
1. Assessment & Diagnosis
How to perform a complete diagnostic assessment — and how to communicate the diagnosis so clients accept it. Without acceptance, nothing changes except another detox, another food plan, and another failure. Addiction is progressive; each failed attempt makes the patient sicker.
2. Motivation & Compliance
How to increase commitment and adherence in a toxic food environment where the “drug” is everywhere.
3. Understanding Denial, Shame & Stigma
Biochemical denial is real. Shame and stigma prevent clients from seeking help. You will learn how to safely guide them into treatment.
4. Craving Management
Cue-induced cravings, addiction memory, and euphoric recall never disappear completely.
Your clients need a big toolbox — and you will learn how to build one.
5. Relapse Prevention & Relapse Treatment
Working one-on-one with addicted patients is often like “chasing a slippery soap in a slippery bathtub.”
We teach you a structured, effective way to handle relapse.
6–8. The Power of Group Treatment
Addiction is the only illness that tells the patient:
“You don’t have a disease. You just need to try harder to be normal.”
Group treatment breaks denial, builds identification, and creates sustainable recovery.
You will learn:
Patients don’t recover by reading, thinking, or talking.
They recover by doing.
Behavior change is the #1 factor in successful treatment.
9. Preventing Practitioner Burnout
Working with very sick clients requires resilience.
Before you guide others, you must learn to care for yourself.
HMA includes tools to build internal strength, energy, and long-term sustainability.
10. The Work the World Needs Most
Sugar and carb addiction is escalating worldwide — affecting adults and children.
The clock is nearing midnight.
This work is vital, urgent, and incredibly rewarding.
Why HMA?
Because I know how to do this work — and I love teaching it. As my colleague, dietitian David Wolfe, SugarX Global, says:
“You can bring a horse to water, you can’t make it drink —
but you can make the horse very thirsty.”
This is our job:
Create the conditions that make recovery not only possible, but desirable.
HMA 2026 Curriculum
A new cohort begins with a live lecture on January 28th.
A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement. She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!”
The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied,
“Well, I made a difference for that one!”
Join us — and become part of the future of sugar-carb addiction treatment.
It’s been nearly 40 years since I was first introduced to addiction medicine. For the past 31 of those years, I’ve specialized in the treatment of ”food addiction,” which I now call sugar/carb addiction (referring to sugar as any type of sugar, sweetener, carbohydrates, processed and ultra-processed foods). In that time, I have treated thousands of clients and trained hundreds of professionals in sugar addiction treatment. In 2012, I created a one-year training program on Holistic Medicine for Addiction® (HMA®) for professionals who counsel people affected by sugar, carbohydrates, and processed foods. Initially taught only in Swedish, but since 2018, I teach HMA® in English, drawing students from across the globe.
What is Holistic Medicine for Addiction® (HMA®)?
Holistic Medicine for Addiction® is an online course which integrates multiple addiction treatment paradigms necessary to see and understand the ”big picture” of addiction. It prepares professionals to treat their clients as whole people while addressing all aspects of their disease. HMA® covers topics of traditional medicine, neuroscience-based addiction medicine, metabolic medicine, low-carb, high-fat/keto eating patterns, integrative/orthomolecular medicine, relapse prevention, support groups and more. I call it connecting the dots – addiction is a very complex and confusing brain illness.
In this course, you will learn about the American Society of Addiction Medicine’s definition of addiction, which is based on neuroscience and the central roles that nutrition and the brain play in this disease. You will learn how to build a successful treatment plan based on neuroscience, and you will receive tools to help you lead your clients on the path to lifelong recovery.
Here you will acquire unique knowledge and a holistic view of addiction. The main focus of this course is on sugar/carb addiction because those substances are usually the starting point of all addiction development. However, the training also includes Addiction Interaction Disorder and screening for alcohol, subscription drugs, street drugs, and gambling addiction.
Who is eligible for this course?
Healthcare professionals, SUGAR® and ADDIS® certified/licensed professionals, doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, addiction counselors, obesity and nutritional counselors, dietitians, health educators, naturopaths, personal trainers, coaches, social workers, psychologists, and other mental health therapists, etc. If you have another background and want to expand your knowledge in addiction medicine, please submit an application or email me at info@bittensaddiction.com .
Registration process
If interested, please complete and submit a training registration form to apply for participation in this program. The application will ask for information on your addiction knowledge, educational background, professional skills, and work experience. Similarly, recovering addicts wishing to participate are asked to complete this same form, detailing their recovery experience and professional background. Acceptance to the course will be determined by application information and a personal interview. As soon as I receive the registration, I will contact you for a live Zoom meeting to discuss details and answer questions.
Topics covered in 2026
The new training offers an extensive library of lectures from leading experts. You’ll receive a detailed curriculum that combines online recorded lectures with live sessions led by me, focused on applying the knowledge in practice and learning how to treat this illness.
Biochemical repair
- Detoxification/withdrawal from sugar and other addictive food substances
- Biochemical repair of the brain: What it is, and how to provide this key service
- Mitochondrial fatigue and restoration
- The addicted brain – disease concept
- Addiction memory circuit and euphoric recall, craving management
- Knowledge of the brain and the brain’s nutritional needs
- Nutrition from A to Z, including a food plan for the addicted brain and a discussion of the similarities and differences between different “abstinent” food plans. We work with LCHF/ketogenic food plans for sugar addicts.
- PUFA and how they act in the boty and how to remove them and heal
- Understanding and treating hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, and metabolic syndrome
- Sugar’s effect on the brain, ”cerebral glucose hypometabolism”
- Sugar’s effect on every organ in the body
- Treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes
- Sugar sensitivity; harmful use vs. pathological use
- Addiction interaction disorder: One illness, many outlets
- Various expressions of sugar addiction, such as volume eating, bingeing, purging, dieting, excessive exercise, restriction, etc. (process addictions)
- Oxytocin’s role, especially with respect to volume eating
- Cue-induced cravings versus stress-induced cravings
- How to stop loss of control and destructive coping strategies
Relapse prevention
- Lifelong treatment, by stage
- Why professional group and support groups
- The role of conscious breathing in recovery
- The role of shame, stigma, and denial in addiction
- Relapse prevention, assessment, and treatment
- Behavioral changes, thoughts, feelings, urges and actions
- Recovery skills
- Why group work with addicts is more effective than to one-on-one
- Risk situations and hidden warning signs, how to manage and create strategies
Case management
- Effective screening and assessment of consequences
- Initial evaluation, treatment planning, and monitoring
- Transition planning and follow-up evaluation
- Strategies to avoid burn-out when working with this challenging client population
- Guidelines for setting up a practice to begin working with clients
- Knowledge, skills, and competencies necessary to effectively care for clients and maximize their success
- Stress-coping strategies
SUGAR® certification training and licensure is highly recommended as the foundation of comprehensive client treatment. Click here for detailed information on SUGAR® certification training, the only diagnostic tool based on ICD-10 and DSM-5.
HMA faculty
Director: Bitten Jonsson, RN, addiction specialist, ACRPS with CENAPS, SUGAR® and ADDIS® certified.
Lecturers and guest lecturers
Biochemistry
- Paul Earley, MD, former president of ASAM, FASAM, author of Recovery Mind Training and Recovery Skills Manual. paulearley.net
- Börje Dahl, Bachelor of Science in social work, CEO at Dahl & Dahl, a specialist in addiction and synthetic drugs sold via the internet. ADDIS®, GAMES® certification/licensing. www.addis.se www.dahlochdahl.se
- Kerstin Uvnäs Moberg, Professor, MD, oxytocin specialist, www.kerstinuvnasmoberg.se
- Birgitta Brunes, MD, a specialist in multiple sclerosis and neuro nutrient therapies, brunes.se
- Anna Fruehling, sugar/processed food addiction specialist, Primal Health Coach, SUGAR® C/L
- Georgia Ede, MD, metabolic psychiatry. Specialist in keto for mental health, www.diagnosisdiet.com
- Julie Clark, certified carbohydrate addiction specialist, SUGAR® C/L, HMA®, Addiction and Bariatric Surgery, www.bariatricbreakthrough.com
- Peter Delannoy, PhD, health coach, specialty fructose, gout, and diabetes
- Sandra Palavecino, MD, metabolic and obesity specialist.
- Evelyne Bourdua-Roy, MD, specialist in metabolic health, sugar addiction, and diabetes.
Guest lecturers
- Professor Tim Noakes, The Nutrition Network, The Lore of Nutrition
- John Cripps, ophthalmologist, Nutrition Network practitioner
- Sophie Rolland, neuroscientist
- Peter Wilhelmsson, naturopathic doctor
- Hayde Bolouri, senior neuroscientist
- Several former students of HMA share their knowledge
Relapse prevention and recovery
- Roger Nilson, MD, certified addiction interaction disorder specialist, sex and relationship addiction specialist, and more. SSRI/SNRI detox.
- David Wolfe, Reg.dietitian, sugar addiction coach, SUGAR C/L www.triggerfreenutrition.com
- Paul Earley, MD, former president of ASAM, FASAM, author of Recovery Mind Training and Recovery Skills Manual.
- Roland Williams, MA, Master Addiction Counselor (MAC), Advanced Certified Relapse Prevention Specialist (ACRPS), LAADC, ICAADC, CADCII
- Judy Wolfe, certified food addiction and HMA® counselor, SUGAR® C/L
Enjoy access to a growing video library of in-depth lectures, with new content added all the time.
Case management
At the end of your training there will be an oral exam of a chosen case.
Bitten Jonsson, RN, addiction specialist, SUGAR® and ADDIS® certified, ACRPS with CENAPS together with certified HMA/SUGAR professionals.
References HMA® & SUGAR® C/L
Judy Wolfe, judywolfefacoach@gmail.com, Worcester, USA
Shun Foreman, shunforeman@gmail.com, Texas, USA
Julie Clark, julie@julieclark.net, Virginia, USA
Sandra Palavecino, sandrapalavecino@yahoo.com, Delaware
Wendy Moore, wendy@keto-retreat.ca, Canada
Carlos Zumaragga, carloszumarraga992@gmail.com , Yucatan
Annica Strandberg-Schmidt, strandbergannica@gmail.com , Sweden
Karen Edwards, kestudio07@gmail.com, Canada
Märta Rydbeck, marta.rydbeck@hotmail.com, Sweden
Kiera Jennings, kieraei@live.co.uk, Scotland
Format
This online course is held via a combination of live Zoom sessions, pre-recorded lectures, and a closed Facebook group, with self-study and homework assignments between sessions. It includes video and workbook resources that will prepare you to launch your own private practice or join an existing practice. All live webinars are recorded for 24/7 student access afterward.
Class schedule and reading list will be provided on request.