Faculty of Medical Psychotherapy Annual Conference: Body-Mind Integration - Conference Resources
The Faculty of Medical Psychotherapy welcome you to our annual conference, taking place at Lady Margaret Hall in Oxford. The theme of this year's conference is Body-Mind Integration.We look forward to welcoming you to Oxford on Thursday 3 and Friday 4 September.
Lady Margaret Hall,
University of Oxford,
Norham Gardens,
Oxford OX2 6QA
Lady Margaret Hall is located 1.4miles from the railway station. Plan your walking route here
By bus:
Oxford’s central bus station is located at Gloucester Green, George Street, and facilitates local and national services including National Express and Stagecoach: https://www.nationalexpress.com/en https://www.stagecoachbus.com
The Oxford Tube offers a direct, frequent coach link to central London:
If you are travelling internationally, Airline buses operate through the day and night, linking Oxford with Heathrow and Gatwick airports: https://www.theairlineoxford.co.uk
By train:
Oxford Railway station in located 1.4 miles from the College site and offers frequent services towards Reading, London, Hereford and Manchester as well as local services:
Oxford Parkway station, to the north of the city, links Oxford to London Marylebone via Bicester:
https://www.chilternrailways.co.uk/train-stations/oxford-parkway
Car travel and Park and Ride:
If you are travelling to Oxford by car, details of the recommended routes and estimated distances can be found on the University of Oxford website: https://www.ox.ac.uk/visitors/visiting-oxford/how-get-oxford
Parking within Oxford is limited; if you are travelling to Oxford by car you can use one of Oxford’s five Park & Ride sites located around the city’s ring road.
From the North: Water Eaton or Pear Tree – accessed from A40, A34 and M40 M40 Junction 8
From the East/South: Thornhill – London Road (A40)
From the South: Redbridge – located off the A34
From the West: Seacourt – located off the A420
Details including timings, prices, and stops for all park and ride locations can be found here: https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/transport-and-travel/public-transport/park-and-ride/locations
Onward travel from Bus and Train stations:
You can travel from the train station into the city centre on foot (approximately 10 minutes) or by taking a bus (for example Oxford Bus Company services 1, 5, 13 to the High Street). You can then connect with the Number 2 Bus on Magdalen Street, towards Banbury Road. Magdalen Street is just a few minutes’ walk from the Bus Station at George Street.
Oxford Parkway station is connected to the city via the Water Eaton Park and Ride bus service.
View the latest conference programme showing the full timings.
On Friday 4 September, you will have a choice of workshops - each are repeated twice.
The workshops are at 2.00pm - 2.45pm, and then again at 2.55pm - 3.40pm.
Art therapy workshop
- Presentation on how art therapy works and when to use it.
- Group and individual artwork session.
- Artwork materials will be provided.
Mind-Body and Nature in a Changing Climate: An Experiential Workshop
- The facilitators will lead the attendees on a session within University Parks - the entrance to the park is by the main gates of the Lady Margaret Hall conference venue.
- Find out about University Parks, take a virtual tour, and points of interest such as the swift tower, planting and the history
- Meeting point: Main gates of the Lady Margaret Hall conference venue.
- The session takes place outside. If the weather is unsuitable, a room within the venue is available.
Psychodrama workshop
- The session will provide a brief introduction to core Psychodrama theory and action techniques. It is an experiential workshop in which participants will be invited to explore personal examples related to the mind-body matrix. While this process may be of therapeutic value, it is not intended to offer intensive exploration of significant trauma or chronic intractable somatic symptoms that are unresolved. The facilitators may, therefore, actively moderate the examples selected in order to maintain a safe and contained learning environment for the group and the individual.
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, ST7 Medical Psychotherapy and General Adult Psychiatry
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.
His work includes supporting the development of reflective skills in doctors and furthering psychotherapeutic skills within psychiatry.
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 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:
- Ghosts in the nursery in Singapore - how repressed memories shape familial relationships and influence mental health through generations
Dr Helen Chen, Consultant - 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 - Quality Improvement Project - Psychodynamic aspects of forensic care
Dr Ioana Toma, CT 1-3, Dr Sean Jacobs - 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 - 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 - 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 - Explaining Psychological Therapies: Evaluation of a Communication Skills Simulation for Undergraduate Medical Students
Mohammed Aasim Mazhar, Medical Student, Dr Richard Bramley - 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 - 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 - Beyond the Autonomous Self : Cultural Models of Selfhood and Their Implications for Psychotherapeutic Formulation
Dr Manikandan Dhanabhal, CT 1-3 - Filling the Gap: A Resident Doctor-Led Reading Group to Enhance Engagement with Psychotherapy Literature in Psychiatric Training
Dr Olga Karkanevatos, CT 1-3 - 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.