Faculty of Medical Psychotherapy Conference 2024 Resources 

Welcome to the Conference 2024

We look forward to welcoming you to Leeds

View the latest conference programme 

View the Conference Booklet which contains the programme, speaker abstracts and biographies, poster abstracts, and upcoming events

 

 

Dr Dasal Abayaratne is a dual medical psychotherapy and general adult speciality trainee in
South Yorkshire. Alongside this he is a member of the RCPsych Planetary Health and
Sustainability Committee and Sustainability representative on the Medical Psychotherapy
faculty executive.

Professor, the Lord Alderdice FRCPsych
John Alderdice has followed careers in both psychoanalytic psychiatry and politics. After qualifying in medicine in 1978, Dr John Alderdice worked in the NHS and in private practice for over thirty years - for most of that time as the first consultant psychiatrist in psychoanalytic psychotherapy in Ireland.  He developed psychotherapy training in Northern Ireland, including a Specialist Registrar post and training, as well as Master’s degree courses in psychotherapy and established the Centre for Psychotherapy in Belfast providing training, research and treatment.  He was also from 2006 to 2010 a Visiting Professor in the Department of Psychiatric Medicine, at the University of Virginia, and from 2016 to 2020 a Clinical Professor, in the Department of Psychiatry, at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, mentoring final year psychiatry trainees in community aspects of psychiatry. 
From 1987 to 1998, he was Leader of Northern Ireland's cross-community Alliance Party and was one of the negotiators of the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. He was then the first Speaker of the new Northern Ireland Assembly until 2004 when he was appointed one of the four members of the international Independent Monitoring Commission charged with overseeing security normalization in Ireland.  In 1996 he had been appointed to the House of Lords and at that time was one of the youngest ever life peers.  In the almost three decades since then, he has served as an active Liberal Democrat member with various roles and responsibilities at Westminster including from 2010 to 2014 as Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party in the House of Lords during the Conservative/Liberal Coalition Government.  Long active in international liberal politics he was from 2005 to 2009 the President of Liberal International - the global network of over 100 liberal political parties and organizations - and is now a Presidente D’Honneur.  He is currently a member of the House of Lords Select Committee on International Relations and Defence.
From 2013 to 2022 he was the Director of the Centre for the Resolution of Intractable Conflict (CRIC) at Oxford until, when he became Executive Chairman of The Changing Character of War Centre at Pembroke College, Oxford, CRIC was absorbed into CCW.  He has recently been elected an Honorary Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford and continues as a Senior Research Fellow at Harris Manchester College, Oxford, and as a Professor of Practice at the University of Wales Trinity St David.  He lectures, writes, and consults on the psychology of fundamentalism, radicalization, and terrorism and has been recognized with many national and international prizes, honorary doctorates and fellowships for his contributions in the field including the Award of the International Psychoanalytical Association for Extraordinarily Meritorious Service to Psychoanalysis, the Ettore Majorana Erice Prize of the World Federation of Scientists, for the application of Science to the cause of Peace and in 2022 the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.  

Lord Alderdice is the Founding Chairman of The Concord Foundation.

Professor Philip Banfield has been working as an obstetrician, nationally recognised educator and researcher in North Wales for over 25 years, winning the overall Welsh Clinical Teacher of the Year Award in 2012. He describes himself as an academic clinician and is an Honorary Professor in the School of Medicine at Cardiff University. His past research includes computerised analysis of electronic foetal monitoring, breast cancer in pregnancy and capacity to consent in obstetric emergencies. His MD thesis was on the use of clinical data to alter practice, when he collaborated with the WHO European Office to design an obstetric database that was subsequently applied to 10 million pregnancies across Europe. He led national quality improvement work for Wales in recognition and management of sepsis in pregnancy and the deteriorating critically ill pregnant woman and established the national stillbirth collaborative that preceded the current Welsh national maternity network. He is a trained trainer in human factors, has a special interest in teaching and training for obstetric emergencies and has been a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Educators since 2013. A relative latecomer to medical politics when the need arose to fight discrimination, bullying and injustices he saw around him, he was elected to BMA Welsh Council in 2011 and was its chair 2012- 17. On UK Consultants Committee since 2017, he chaired the Welsh Consultants Committee from 2019-22. A member of BMA UK Council since 2012, he was elected its chair in June 2022. Married to a GP partner, Phil has 5 children, 5 grandchildren, 3 cats, 2 leopard geckoes, chickens and a polytunnel that keep him busy outside work, too.

Heather Barford, Art Therapist, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Heather works as an Art Therapist for Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. She studied Fine Art in Coventry and then Art Psychotherapy at Goldsmiths University of London in 1997. She has practiced as an Art Therapist in adult mental health, acute care, with carers/families of people with mental health needs and in community arts and health settings. Her current clinical practice is with a specialist recovery support service for people with Complex, Emotional and Relational needs. She has contributed to a number of publications,  Art Therapy Race and Culture (1999) and the International Journal of Art Therapy: Inscape (2015) Heather is currently training as an MBT (Mentalisation Based Therapy) practitioner.

Dr Rosemary Clarke MBChB DipMedSci MRCPsych. Consultant Psychiatrist in Psychotherapy at Gaskell House Manchester. She did her intensive training in DBT  2001-2002 in Washington and Minneapolis. Was a founder member of DBT North and has run a full programme DBT service in Manchester since 2007. She has been a Psychotherapy Faculty Committee member and was on the College Public Education Committee promoting service user involvement 

Within the Faculty and College. She has served as North West Regional Representative for Psychotherapy and recently stood down. After 12 years as a Medical Manager in Community and Specialist Mental Health Services. 
Her core training was specialising in psychoanalytically informed psychotherapy which she continues 

to offer in addition to DBT. For many years she was a Schwartz Group facilitator and mentor and has an interest in supporting staff through Inquests and incidents.

Dr Deyra Courtney completed dual training in Medical Psychotherapy and Adult Psychiatry with an Endorsement in Liaison Psychiatry in 2013. Since that time she has worked in Belfast Health and Social Care trust as a Consultant Psychiatrist. Her initial post was between the Self Harm Personality Disorder Service (MBT) and Psychotherapy Service (psychoanalytically orientated). Since 2016 she has been based solely in the Psychotherapy Service and has led on developing this along similar lines to the Fitzjohns Unit in the Tavistock, i.e. offering a combination of individual and group psychoanalytically orientated therapy to patients with complex mental health needs. 

In addition to this she held the post of Patient Safety Lead for Community and Partnerships from June 2020 to March 2023 when she made the transition to the role of Clinical Director for Community Mental Health Services in BHSCT. 
Outside of the NHS she trained with the Northern Ireland Psychoanalytic Society as a Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist (2016) and subsequently completed the New Entry Scheme training with the British Psychoanalytical Society as a Psychoanalyst (2019). She is a training therapist for the Association for Child Psychotherapists and maintains a small private practice alongside her NHS work. 

Mario Eugster trained as a pianist and organist in Switzerland and completed his training as a music therapist at Nordoff Robbins in London. He is currently working for CNWL (Central North West London Mental Health Trust) in adult mental health providing music therapy in both acute inpatient and community settings. He has multiple roles, including principal music therapist in acute and clinical lead for arts therapies in acute inpatient settings. He holds managerial responsibilities as well as leading on service development in the arts therapies in CNWL and is a trainer for ICAPT (CNWL - International Centre for Arts Psychotherapies Training). Mario is currently conducting PhD research into the role of culture in music therapy with people affected by psychosis (Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy PhD programme, Goldsmiths University of London). He is also a free-lance musician.

Dr Roger Kennedy is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and Chair of The Child and Family Practice, London. Training Psychoanalyst and Past President of the British Psychoanalytical Society. Consultant Family Unit Cassel in the NHS for nearly 30 years until 2011. Author of 15 books, the most recent being The Power of Music (2020) and The Evil Imagination (20230, as well as many papers on psychoanalysis, child psychiatry and interdisciplinary studies.

Dr Diana Menzies is a Medical Psychotherapist and Group Analyst who has worked in the NHS for over 35 years. As a consultant, she worked for 12 years in the Henderson Hospital Democratic Therapeutic Community until its final closure in 2010. She currently facilitates reflective practice groups for forensic and other services and is involved with training higher trainees. She has co-edited a book and published several papers.

Dr Susan Mizen is a Jungian Analyst and an Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist in Psychotherapy in Exeter. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists where she chaired the Psychotherapy Faculty Executive between 2014 and 2018.and is currently chair of the Talking Therapies Task Force. She developed a psychotherapeutic day and outpatient programme in Exeter as an alternative to locked placements for patients with severe Personality Disorder. Her Relational Affective Model is an analytic, neuro-scientific approach to therapeutic work with this patient group. She has investigating the model in a neuroscience PhD at The University of Exeter. She also works in private practice in Exeter as an Analytical Psychologist.

Dr Stirling Moorey is a retired consultant psychiatrist specialising in cognitive behaviour therapy. He has many years experience of working in leading integrated psychological therapies services in East London and at the Maudsley and in training psychiatrists and other mental health professionals in CBT. He is President Elect of the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy.

Dr Jo O’Reilly is  the Chair of the Medical Psychotherapy Faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists. She is a  Consultant Psychiatrist in Medical Psychotherapy in Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust and a member of the British Psychoanalytic Society. She has written and presented widely and is the co-editor of the RCPsych text book Seminars in the Psychotherapies. 

Dr Florian Ruths is a Consultant Psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital in London. He is also a trainer and supervisor in Cognitive Behavioural Therapies (CBT, Schema Therapy). As lead for the Maudsley Mindfulness Service he has been delivering Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy Groups (MBCT) for patients with chronic depression and anxiety problems for 17 years. He is running an MBCT-based program to improve compassion, well-being and resilience in doctors at the Maudsley and Kings Hospital. During the pandemic, Florian initiated the Mindfulness-for-All (M4ALL), a live-online program for health staff support which is ongoing. Florian is the London-lead of a randomised-controlled multicentre trial investigating mindfulness on patients with CBT-resistant depression (Response). The study is in publication stage. Florian teaches Cognitive Behavioural Therapy & MBCT on an MSc Courses in London. He has published in the areas of MBCT, anxiety and depression.

Dr Vic Sedlak trained as a psychoanalytical psychotherapist at the Tavistock Clinic and then as a psychoanalyst at the British Psychoanalytical Society of which he is currently President.  He worked at University College  Hospital in London before moving to Leeds where he has a private psychoanalytical practice.  He has been Visiting Professor of Psychoanalysis in Kyoto University in Japan and has published papers on the use of the countertransference, supervision and the emotional development of the clinician.  In 2019 the New Library of Psychoanalysis published "The Psychoanalyst's Superegos and Ego Ideals.". 

Sue Storey is the Principal Lead for Art, Drama, Play, Dance and Music Psychotherapies in CAMHS at Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. 
She is also a senior social worker. 
After an English Degree she went on to do a Masters in Sociology and Women’s Studies before training as a Social Worker specialising in attachment trauma and looked after children. She completed postgraduate study at the Tavistock Centre in Advanced Adolescent Mental Health and in Social Work before training as an Art Therapist. 
She has just completed a diploma in Eco-Psychotherapy in the Emerging Adolescent Mind and has undertaken further study in Environmental Arts Therapy.

Music Therapy workshop - Mario Eugster

This experiential workshop will explore the theme of conflict in relation to music and music therapy. I will share musical examples to illustrate how psychological and emotional conflicts are explored and worked through in music (for example in the music of Beethoven), and how this relates to music therapy practice when working with conflicts. I will also invite participants to participate in simple musical exercises to explore some foundational principles of music therapy and different ways to relate and engage in musical dialogues and expression. No previous musical skills or knowledge is needed.

Large Group - Dr Diana Menzies

The Large Group is an unstructured, facilitated space to reflect on and share thoughts and feelings that have arisen through the experience of attending the conference.

Using research in national discussions about psychotherapy services for people with severe mental illness - Dr Sue Mizen

I will be talking about how the frustration of being a clinician with a minimally resourced psychotherapeutic service led down the road from my analytic training and clinical interest towards understanding NHS commissioning and how to make the case for investment. In turn this took me back to my clinical roots to find a psychotherapeutic approach to work with hospitalised PD patients (The Relational Affective Model). Having established this could be done, there was a case to be made for an intensive psychotherapeutic service of this sort in every Trust and so a health economic research study and report were commissioned making the case for investment in a national programme of psychotherapy for patients hospitalised with severe PD. The most recent leg of my journey was a neuroscience PhD investigating the mechanism of somatisation in severe and complex PD patients. For me this was an iterative process which developed both my clinical and research skills. I would like to consider with the audience how the MP Faculty can facilitate this ongoing development of clinical and research skills to enrich the working life of Medical Psychotherapists and promote innovation and investment in psychotherapeutic services.

Posters can be viewed in the online gallery as well as in-person at the conference

 

The poster abstracts can also be viewed here

 

This session aimed to offer an interactive space for people interested in or concerned about the climate emergency and how it might relate to us as medical psychotherapists and psychiatrists. We introduced the work that the working group, faculty, and allied groups are already doing around climate action and sustainability, and some things we are planning. 

We wanted to hear from participants what questions you have, what you would like to see more of from the faculty, how you want to get involved and what support you might need to take action personally and professionally. 

The session was be facilitated by members of the Faculty Working Group on Climate Action and Sustainability: Marion Neffgen, Dasal Abayaratne, Nora Gribbin, Josie Fielding, Pamela Peters, Louise Robinson. 

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  • On Wednesday, the conference is eligible for two CPD hours per day, subject to peer group approval.
  • On Thursday and Friday, the conference is eligible for up to six CPD hours per day, subject to peer group approval.

Certificates of attendance will be emailed to all registered attendees within one week of the conference.