Medical psychotherapist
Medical psychotherapy will interest those with a curiosity of the mind. It involves sitting in a room with a person or people in mental pain, psychological confusion, conflict and distress and trying to make sense of what is going on.
The video and information below explains what a medical psychotherapist does, what makes the specialty different from others in psychiatry, and why it might be a great career choice for you.
Why is medical psychotherapy a great specialty to choose?
As a medical psychotherapist you are trained as a medical doctor, a psychiatrist and a psychotherapist.
You are uniquely placed to offer a holistic approach towards understanding mental distress, to offer a range of psychological treatments and to support colleagues across psychiatry to think psychologically about their work.
Through the provision of supervision and reflective practice to different clinical teams you contribute positively to the culture of the workplace, deepening clinical understanding and supporting staff with the emotional impact of the work.
These activities place relationships, emotional factors, and healthy team functioning at the heart of compassionate care and offer a deeply rewarding career.
What makes medical psychotherapy unique?
As a medical psychotherapist you are trained to understand how the mind develops, the central role of relationships, and the power of our emotional lives in determining how we function and behave, in sickness and in health.
You develop expertise in how experiences such as trauma, loss and attachment patterns are central to shaping personality, and vulnerability to psychiatric breakdown and are able to offer an advanced level of clinical understanding across psychiatry.
You have a key role to play in training the psychiatrists of the future to become psychotherapeutically informed clinicians. Your training in three different forms of psychotherapy provides the opportunity to lead in the development and provision of psychological treatments promoting healing and development within mental health services.
Why would you recommend a career in medical psychotherapy to others?
If you are interested in people’s stories, the person behind the illness and how to understand the underlying issues contributing to psychiatric breakdown, then training in medical psychotherapy offers an intellectually satisfying and clinically rewarding career. I feel privileged to work in such a fascinating and stimulating area of psychiatry.
After many years I continue to learn and to develop and feel fortunate to have trained in a specialism which places the therapeutic relationship at the heart of clinical care, and to have the opportunity to enhance psychological thinking within psychiatry through training and working with colleagues across the mental health trust.