Faculty of Medical Psychotherapy Annual Conference: Body-Mind Integration - Conference Resources 

The Faculty of Medical Psychotherapy welcomes you to our annual conference, taking place at Lady Margaret Hall in Oxford. We look forward to welcoming you to Oxford on Thursday 3 and Friday 4 September.

Thank you for attending the conference.

We'd really appreciate it if you could spend a few moments completing the feedback form/s and letting us know what went well and if there were any aspects that could be improved.

All comments received remain confidential and are viewed in an effort to improve future events.

Please note that the presentations are the intellectual property of the speaker and the College and any unauthorised broadcasting/copying of the material is strictly prohibited. Presentations are only available where speakers have kindly provided permission.

View the list of our successful authors and their posters, which will all be on display at the conference. Digital versions of some of these can be viewed below:

  1. Ghosts in the nursery in Singapore - how repressed memories shape familial relationships and influence mental health through generations
    Dr Helen Chen, Consultant
  2. Institutional Trauma and the Body-Mind Interface: Psychological Barriers to Clozapine Bowel Care in a Medium Secure Forensic Unit
    Dr Inshal Imtiaz, SAS Psychiatrist, Aishah Anjum, Faiza Nadeem, Salina Bartley, Seo Won Olivia Park, Jens Foell
  3. Quality Improvement Project - Psychodynamic aspects of forensic care
    Dr Ioana Toma, CT 1-3, Dr Sean Jacobs
  4. Adapting Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Substance Use Disorder in a Non-Western Cultural Context: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial
    Prof. Abrar Hussain Azad, Professor of Public Health, Dr Furqan Shahid
  5. Psychotherapeutic Challenges in Delivering Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Substance Use Disorder within a Non-Western Cultural Context
    Prof. Abrar Hussain Azad, Professor of Public Health, Dr Furqan Shahid
  6. Ethnicity and Gender Representation in Referrals to a  Tertiary Psychotherapy Service in South London
    Ismaeel Ahmad Ayoob Syed, Medical Student, Dr Trisha Ang, Dr Eleanor Breen O'Burne, Dr Caroline McCurrie
  7. Explaining Psychological Therapies: Evaluation of a Communication Skills Simulation for Undergraduate Medical Students
    Mohammed Aasim Mazhar, Medical Student, Dr Richard Bramley
  8. Quality Improvement Project for Supporting Supervised Psychotherapy Experience for Higher Trainees in a Large Mental Health Trust in Northwest England
    Dr Indu Surendran, ST 4-6, Dr Giles Story
  9. Preparing and Supporting Core Trainees for their Psychotherapy Long Cases: A Multi-Site Quality Improvement Project (QIP)
    Dr Gabriella Bernstein, ST 4-6, Dr Katherine McGinn
  10. Beyond the Autonomous Self : Cultural Models of Selfhood and Their Implications for Psychotherapeutic Formulation
    Dr Manikandan Dhanabhal, CT 1-3
  11. Filling the Gap: A Resident Doctor-Led Reading Group to Enhance Engagement with Psychotherapy Literature in Psychiatric Training
    Dr Olga Karkanevatos, CT 1-3
  12. Clear, practical, instructive, and cut through the mystery that often accompanies psychodynamic teaching
    Dr Emma Flint, CT 1-3, Dr Parveen Bains

You will automatically receive a certificate of attendance 1 week after the event has taken place.

This course is eligible for 1 CPD point for each hour of educational activity, subject to peer group approval, to a maximum of 8 per day.

Dr Gwen Adshead has worked as a forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist in the NHS for nearly three decades. She spent most of her career as a consultant at Broadmoor Hospital, a high-security psychiatric facility in the south of England, where she treated people referred to by the media as "the violent insane,” but whom she described as "not mad or bad, but sad.” 
Understanding and treating the psychological mechanisms that give rise to violence and life-threatening behavior towards others has been the focus of Gwen’s career. It is her guiding belief as a practitioner, writer and advocate that the most vilified and socially rejected members of society need and deserve psychiatric care and rehabilitation.
Since qualifying in medicine in 1983, Gwen trained in general psychiatry, then in forensic psychiatry and psychotherapy. She is a qualified member of the Institute for Group Analysis and has also gained two Masters Degrees and an honorary doctorate. She regularly gives lectures, both nationally and internationally, including recent professorships at the Yale School of Law and Psychiatry and at Gresham College. In 2013, she was honored with the President’s Medial by the Royal College of Psychiatry. 

Gill Attwood, Psychodrama Psychotherapist
Gill is a psychodrama psychotherapist and mental health nurse. She is currently the service lead for Oxfordshire Complex Needs Service. She has been working clinically for the past 20 plus years in the service delivering care to those diagnosable with personality disorder. In addition, she is a director and trainer at Oxfordshire Society of Psychodrama and Integrative Psychotherapy.

Dr Sophie Atwood, Consultant Psychiatrist in Medical Psychotherapy, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust; RCPsych Medical Psychotherapy Faculty Executive Committee Member and Joint Academic Secretary. Dr Sophie Atwood is a Consultant Psychiatrist in Medical Psychotherapy and is Psychotherapy Tutor in Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. She trained in Medical Psychotherapy at the Tavistock Centre, London. Prior to studying Medicine she completed an MA in Social & Political Sciences at Cambridge University. 
She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Medical Psychotherapy Faculty, is a joint Academic Secretary for the Faculty and is a member of the Specialist Advisory Committee - contributing to national training and curriculum developments. 

Dr Parveen Bains is trained in Medical Psychotherapy and is currently working as a Consultant Psychiatrist in Adult Eating Disorders in Oxfordshire and holds the Psychotherapy Tutor post in Hertfordshire. She is BPC registered and has a clinical interest in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy in working with Eating Disorders. She has a keen interest in Medical Education and training and is currently Academic Co Chair for the Medical Psychotherapy Faculty exec. 

Dr Alpana Bose, Psychiatrist, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Georgina Corbet Burcher, is a dual trainee in General Adult Psychiatry and Medical Psychotherapy. She has an interest in the interface between pharmacological and psychological approaches to mental health treatment. She is interested in how biological, psychological and relational components of treatments can be understood and integrated within psychiatric practice particularly in the potential translation of psychedelic treatment models. Alongside this, she is interested in the challenges and opportunities of bridging clinical and academic psychiatry and psychotherapy, and in using evidence-based approaches to meaningfully evaluate and develop clinical practice.

Dr Anne Cooper, Consultant Medical Psychotherapist in CBT,  accredited CBT therapist. 
Dr Anne Cooper is a Consultant Medical Psychotherapist, specialising in CBT and working at Leeds and York Partnerships Foundation Trust LYPFT in the Medical Psychotherapy Department, where she is also Psychotherapy Tutor and joint TPD for Psychotherapy. She particularly enjoys working with severe OCD and psychosis. Dr Cooper also has a wider interest in education and is passionate about ensuring that medical students have a comprehensive training in mental health, such that this is seen as an integral part of their training. She is the LYPFT Director of Undergraduate Medical Education and Psychiatry Integrated Core Unit Manager at the University of Leeds. She is a co-opted member of the Medical Psychotherapy Faculty Executive Committee and one of the current Academic Co-Secretaries for the Faculty. She is also Treasurer and unofficial Events Coordinator for BABCP CBT Medics SIG.  

Dr Rageshri Dhairyawan, Barts Health NHS Trust
Rageshri is a doctor, researcher and author. She is an NHS Consultant in Sexual Health and HIV Medicine based in London. Her clinical work, research, writing and advocacy focus on improving health equity and she is a sought-after speaker on this topic. Rageshri’s own experiences of being unheard as a patient and her work with minoritised communities, have inspired her to speak up about injustice in healthcare. Rageshri is the author of Unheard: The Medical Practice of Silencing and has contributed an essay to the anthology No One Talks About This Stuff.  She is an inaugural Wellcome Collection x Spread the Word writer awardee. Rageshri has written for The Lancet, BMJ Leader and Media Diversified and has appeared on The Victoria Derbyshire Show, Channel 5 News, BBC Woman’s Hour, BBC World Service and BBC Sounds, among others. 

Dr Philip Davison, Consultant Psychiatrist

Dr Alexis Economou, Consultant Psychiatrist and Medical Psychotherapist
Alexis Economou is a Consultant Psychiatrist and Medical Psychotherapist whose work sits at the interface of medicine, psychiatry and psychotherapy. After training in General Adult Psychiatry, he completed specialist training in Medical Psychotherapy, developing particular interests in medically unexplained symptoms, functional disorders, trauma and the role of therapeutic relationships in helping previously unspeakable experience find language. For many years he worked in the Oxford Community Psychological Medicine Service (OCPMS), where he combined clinical practice with teaching, supervision and service development. OCPMS became an important training environment for medical students, Foundation doctors, GP trainees, psychiatry trainees and multidisciplinary clinicians, reflecting his commitment to fostering reflective practice and psychological thinking across professional boundaries. His current clinical and academic interests centre on how distress becomes embodied, how clinical encounters shape what can and cannot be spoken, and how therapeutic relationships create the conditions for psychological change. More recently, this work has developed into an interest in body-focused repetitive behaviours (BFRBs), exploring how experiences of shame, concealment and interpersonal recognition influence whether distress becomes embodied, spoken or remains hidden. At the conference, Alexis joins colleagues to reflect on the birth, life and closure of OCPMS, exploring what the story of a clinical service might teach us about medically unexplained symptoms, parallel processes, institutional memory and the enduring legacy of therapeutic thinking.

Dr Alasdair Forrest, Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist and Medical Psychotherapist to the Royal Cornhill Hospital. He is a Group Analyst.

Professor Guy Goodwin, University of Oxford
My research interests are in the treatment of bipolar disorder and the application of neuroscience and technology in understanding the neurobiology of mood disorders, with a focus on developing new treatments.  I was formerly W.A.Handley Chair of Psychiatry and head of the University department of Psychiatry (1996-2011). I am a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, and have previously held the positions of President of the British Association for Psychopharmacology (2004–2005) and of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP, 2013-2016). I am an Emeritus Senior Investigator on the faculty of UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).

Dr Nora Gribbin
I am a Consultant Adult Psychiatrist and Medical Psychotherapist specialising in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). From 2021, I have served as the Psychotherapy Faculty’s Sustainability Champion, leading an active working group and collaborating with the College’s Planetary Health and Sustainability Committee and champions’ network. Trained in facilitating Climate Cafés, I have developed workshops using dialogue, creativity and art to explore emotions, ecological responsibility and connections among mind, body and nature. I am co-opted member of the Medical Psychotherapy Faculty Executive from Chair of the CBT Medics Special Interest Group within the BABCP (British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies).

Dr Huma Khan, is a Higher Trainee in Forensic Psychiatry at Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (MPFT). Alongside her clinical training, she is a Medical Leadership and Education Fellow at MPFT, with a particular interest in medical education. She also serves on the Institutional Review Board as an Ethics Advisor for Includovate, where she reviews research proposals from NGOs, educational institutions and Government organisations. Her wider interests include improving equitable access to mental healthcare for minoritised communities.

Dr Vikram Luthra  
Consultant Psychiatrist in Medical Psychotherapy (dual trained) at Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Psychoanalyst (Member of Institute of Psychoanalysis). He is Clinical Lead for the Take Time (doctors and dentists in difficulty) service which covers the Yorkshire and Humber region. He is the Joint-Training Programme Director Medical Psychotherapy in Yorkshire and Humber. He is Vice- Chair of RCPsych Medical Psychotherapy Faculty. 
He is an educator and trainer for undergraduate and postgraduate learners in Medicine and holds an Honorary Senior Lecturer position at the University of Leeds. He is an examiner for the RCPsych.  His other interests include supporting the development of reflective skills in doctors and furthering psychotherapeutic skills within psychiatry. 
 
Dr Jonny Martell, Consultant Psychiatrist.

Susan Mitchell, Group Analyst.

Anna Motz, Consultant Clinical and Forensic Psychologist, Adult Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist 
Anna Motz is a Consultant Clinical and Forensic Psychologist with expertise in the assessment and treatment of women who commit violence, against themselves and others. She is based in the EOS service under CNWL NHS Foundation Trust, based at HMP Bronzefield where she works with high risk and complex women and the workforce. She is the author of A Love that Kills: Stories of Forensic Psychology and Female VIolence and has written widely on this topic, as well as lecturing and speaking internationally.

Dr Marion Neffgen, NHS Medical Psychotherapist
Consultant Medical Psychotherapist, member of Psych Declares

Dr Philip Osborne, Tees Esk and Wear Valley NHS foundation Trust
Consultant Psychiatrist in Medical Psychotherapy, working in a Psychoanalytic Psychotherapies Service, and a general community mental heath team setting.

Chris Palmer, Study Participant
I am a 64-year old professional who, at various times in my life, have been an IT consultant, Company Director, Journalist, TV Presenter and Musician. I now run a small software development company. For the majority of my adult life, I suffered from and lived with persistent depression.

Jackie Pearce, Art Therapist, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust.

Dr Pamela Peters, Consultant Psychiatrist in Medical Psychotherapy, Clinical Director, ASMH, Psychotherapy Tutor Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Beena Rajkumar is a dual trained Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist.  She works as Consultant Psychiatrist in the CMHT and she also works as a Medical Psychotherapist for the NHS.  She is also the Director of Medical Education for Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.    
She has worked with people who have Complex Trauma for the last 15 years both as a Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist.  Complex Trauma is her passion and area of clinical interest.  She is also passionate about teaching and fostering experiential learning.  She is tutor for medical students from Lincoln Medical School and she is honorary associate professor (clinical) for Nottingham University. 

Dr Lousie Robinson, ST7 Medical Psychotherapy, Berkshire NHS

Dr Padakkara Saju, Consultant Medical Psychotherapist and Medical Psychotherapy Tutor
South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Trust

Dr Lisle Scott, Programme Director, Oxfordshire Complex Needs Service.

Dr Graeme Whitfield currently works in the private sector having retired from the NHS in April 2025. He has worked as a Consultant Medical Psychotherapist since 2004. He has a particular interest in psychological trauma and has published extensively in the area of CBT-based self-help and CBT group delivery. He is also a passionate supporter of the concept of compassion in healthcare and the development of a compassionate relationship with ourselves. 

Dr Jessica Yakeley, Chair, Faculty of Medical Psychotherapy, Consultant Psychiatrist and clinical lead, Portman Clinic.

View the latest conference programme showing the full timings.

This course is delivered by CNWL NHS Foundation Trust (not the Royal College of Psychiatrists).

About the course:

The CIM-Ket model is a version of the Montreal Model adapted for use in the UK. It is a structured biomedical-psychedelic approach to ketamine for treatment-resistant depression, initially developed at McGill University and currently in active clinical pilot use at the CIPPRes Clinic (Imperial/CNWL). The model integrates off-label intramuscular racemic ketamine with standard psychological therapies via the NHS Talking Therapies Service (NTTS).This programme represents the first time the model and its UK-NHS adaptation are taught in a formal, in-person setting in Europe. This training supports the CIPPRes Clinic's strategic aim to establish a national hub for training NHS clinicians and co-designing competency frameworks to deliver psychedelic-assisted therapies to the highest standard of care.

Day 1 (Foundations): Introduction to KAP and the field; the Montreal Model (theory, evidence, and clinical protocol); the CIM-Ket UK-NHS adaptation; pharmacology and mechanisms; patient selection, assessment, and contraindications; setting and music (featuring the CIPPRes Clinic as a case study).

Day 2 (Clinical Practice): Preparation and integration; managing difficult experiences; ethics and safeguarding; implementation in NHS and independent settings; optional breathwork experiential session; Q&A and case discussion.

Target audience:

Psychiatrists, GPs, psychiatric nurses, psychologists, psychotherapists, and trainee doctors looking to provide, support, or refer to ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. Must have active professional registration with a recognised UK or international body (e.g., GMC, NMC, BACP, UKCP, HCPC, BPS). Priority is given to NHS Trust partners in the CIM-Ket consortium.

For further information and to book a place, visit the event website

The Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Cross-Faculty Seminar Series in Medical Psychotherapy offers an enriching, quarterly learning experience designed to bridge sub-specialties across the College, from General Adult and Older Age Psychiatry to Forensic, Child & Adolescent, and Intellectual Disabilities.

Grounded in the ICD-11 framework, the inaugural year of this 90-minute online series will explore core topics in psychosis, depression, anxiety and trauma. Attendees will examine how key psychotherapeutic principles, encompassing psychoanalytic and CBT modalities, can be applied to everyday psychiatric practice, clinical formulation and risk management. Led by experienced national figures in medical psychotherapy, including Dr Jo O’Reilly, Dr Anne Cooper, Dr Anuradha Menon, Dr Steve Moorhead, Dr Jessica Yakeley, Dr Saju Padakkara, Dr Rachel Gibbons and Dr Beena Rajkumar, the series delivers high-level expertise in an accessible and digestible format. Alongside fostering cross-faculty collaboration, the aim of the series is to inform and update clinical knowledge using a biopsychosocial approach to support the overall development of the psychotherapeutic psychiatrist.

Who should attend: Open to all RCPsych members and doctors at all training and non-training grades, these seasonal online sessions are ideal for clinicians seeking to deepen their psychotherapeutic understanding across diagnostic domains.   

Each seminar runs on Thursdays from 3.30pm to 5pm on the following dates:

  • 26 November 2026: psychosis – Dr Jo O’Reilly and Dr Anne Cooper
  • 25 February 2027: depression – Dr Anuradha Menon and Dr Steve Moorhead
  • 20 May 2027: anxiety - Dr Jessica Yakeley and Dr Saj Padakkara
  • 30 September 2027: trauma – Dr Rachel Gibbons and Dr Beena Rajkumar

Each session includes:

  • Two 30-minute talks by a medical psychotherapist representing psychoanalytic and CBT approaches
  • A 30-minute interactive group discussion, Q&A and live panel debate

Further details  and to book your place, visit the RCPsych event webpage