Specialist services
I have extensive clinical experience in working therapeutically people who live with various skin conditions. In 2006 I have set up and lead a pioneering, psychology-dedicated service for patients with skin conditions in a teaching hospital (Royal Free Hospital NHS Foundation Trust) in London. The clinic is recognized as an innovative and world-leading service in managing skin conditions with psychological therapy as an adjunct to medical treatment.
If you suffer with a chronic skin condition, I can help you with:
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Reducing stress that might exacerbate your skin condition.
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Improving the way your skin condition affects your self-esteem and body image.
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Learning to adjust and live with a chronic skin condition.
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Developing tools to cope with uncertainty and sense of uncontrollability that living with a chronic skin condition can create.
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Developing tools to deal with social anxiety and improve your confidence in your social relationships etc.
Evidence why the combined approach works.
The role of psychological (di)stress in the onset, exacerbation and perpetuation of symptoms in skin diseases such as psoriasis, atopic eczema, acne, vitiligo, alopecia is now well established. Clinical observations have suggested that stress often precedes the onset or exacerbation of many dermatological conditions that share both psychosomatic and immunological components.
The experience of the adult dermatology patient varies a lot. It is well-established that anxiety and/or depression affects at least 30% of dermatology patients and when untreated impacts adversely on the outcome of standard dermatological therapies. Skin conditions such as psoriasis, atopic eczema, alopecia areata, acne and chronic idiopathic urticarial are frequently associated with mental health concerns and there is strong stress-related neuroimmunomodulation that might affect the course of the disease.
There is also increasing awareness and recognition of the psychosocial effects of skin disorders. The unseen impacts of living with a skin condition can include a negative body image, low self-esteem, sexual and relationship difficulties and a general reduction in the quality of life.
The efficacy of psychological therapies in the management of specific dermatological conditions such psoriasis, atopic eczema, vitiligo and acne is established. A recent review showed that psychological interventions are hugely beneficial to the patient.
Schema - Focused Therapy
Schema-focused therapy (SFT) has been extensively researched to effectively treat a wide variety of typically treatment-resistant conditions. SFT has shown remarkable results in helping people to change negative (“maladaptive”) patterns which they have lived with for a long time. The Schema-Focused Therapy model was developed by Dr. Jeff Young. It is an integrative, unifying therapeutic model deriving techniques from previously existing therapies, including cognitive behavioural therapy, experiential, interpersonal and psychoanalytic therapies.
SFT is designed to help the person to break negative, repeated patterns and to develop healthier ones to replace them. It can help with:
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Personality problems
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Dysfunctional relational patterns
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Trauma
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Chronic depression/anxiety
I have been trained and certified by the ISST (International Society of Schema Therapy) at the advanced level and have employed SFT for many years in my clinical practice.
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
Cognitive Behaviour therapy is a psychological treatment that is typically brief, directive and solution-focused. It examines the relationship of emotions, behaviors and thoughts.
The rationale behind CBT is that the way a person thinks affects how he or she behaves, the choices he or she makes and emotional reactions (feelings). In treating a person who is experiencing psychological difficulties, the most effective point of intervention according to CBT is at the level of the person’s beliefs, and that if changes are made in thinking (automatic thoughts, assumptions and core beliefs), changes in emotions and behavior will follow. Furthermore, behavioural techniques and strategies are employed as needed to enhance the treatment outcome (i.e., anger management, relaxation training, graduated exposure to feared situations, assertiveness training etc).
CBT is evidence-based and has broad evidence as a powerful intervention for mental and clinical health problems in adults.
CBT can help individuals with problems such as:
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Anxiety and depressive disorders
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Adjustment to change
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Relationships problems
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Poor self esteem and body image
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Lifestyle choices and career decisions
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Assertiveness