The Medical Psychotherapy higher specialty training programme in Thames Valley offers a rigorous, rich, and rewarding experience for psychiatrists who wish to deepen their expertise in psychological therapies with people with complex and severe mental health difficulties. This intensive training equips doctors to become skilled clinicians, educators, and future leaders in the field.
The programme is primarily psychodynamic in orientation, while also providing substantial supervised experience in other approaches including systemic family therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). In addition, resident doctors may gain experience in other models such as Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT), Mentalization-Based Treatment (MBT), and Psychodynamic Interpersonal Therapy (PIT).
Resident doctors gain in-depth experience of individual psychodynamic psychotherapy, working with patients at an intensity of once or twice weekly for six months, eighteen months, and two years. Each doctor also conducts a psychotherapy group run on group analytic principles. There are opportunities to undertake further therapeutic work within a therapeutic community for people with personality disorders, as well as within services for eating disorders and medically unexplained symptoms (MUS).
Those in this programme participate in a specialist regional academic programme, delivered in partnership with NHSE West Midlands. This includes 270 hours of contact time over three years, and comprises seminars led by NHS Consultant Psychiatrists in Medical Psychotherapy, and an experiential group conducted by a group analyst. The content covers both classic and contemporary psychoanalytic literature, applied to NHS clinical settings, and is organised into modules including Freud, Klein, the Independent School, group psychotherapy, assessment and formulation, development, ethics, personality disorders, medically unexplained symptoms, research, and brief and manualised models. The programme was cited as an example of good practice in the General Medical Council’s small specialties review.
Self-reflection through personal analysis is a central part of professional development in medical psychotherapy. Resident doctors on this programme are expected to be in their own personal training analysis or psychotherapy at an intensity of at least twice weekly for the duration of their training.
There are four higher training posts in Medical Psychotherapy in Thames Valley, based in Aylesbury (Buckinghamshire), Oxford (Oxfordshire) and Reading (Berkshire). Two of these posts lead to a single Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) in Medical Psychotherapy (three years in duration), and two lead to a dual CCT in Medical Psychotherapy and General Adult Psychiatry (five years in total). Doctors following the dual CCT pathway spend two years in General Adult Psychiatry and three years in Medical Psychotherapy. Resident doctors typically remain in the same base throughout their training, although some may undertake sessional work at other sites across the region to ensure a comprehensive range of clinical experiences to fully cover the curriculum.
There are further opportunities for resident doctors to develop their skills in clinical supervision, research, education, and leadership, both within the NHS and in collaboration with the University of Oxford Department of Psychiatry.
Doctors interested in applying for Medical Psychotherapy higher specialty training in the Thames Valley, or those seeking further information, are welcome to contact the Training Programme Director, Dr Matthew Gee, at matthew.gee@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk.
Training Sites Medical Psychotherapy:
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust (for Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire posts)
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
DME: Alastair Reid – alastair.reid@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk
Training Programme Director: Matthew Gee – matthew.gee@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk
Main hospital sites:
– East Oxford Health Centre, Oxford
– Manzil Resource Centre, Oxford
– Warneford Hospital, Oxford
– The Whiteleaf Centre, Aylesbury
Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (for Berkshire posts).
Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
DME – James Jeffs – James.Jeffs@berkshire.nhs.uk and Babu Mani – babu.mani@berkshire.nhs.uk
Training Programme Director: Matthew Gee – matthew.gee@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk
Main hospital sites:
– Prospect Park Hospital, Reading
What are our trainees saying about the programme?
“In this training, the perspectives held by psychiatrists in understanding mental illness are bridged with perspectives held by psychotherapists in understanding human experience and suffering. This is helpful in working with patients suffering with complex mental health disorders, such as severe personality disorder and medically unexplained symptoms, as well as a wide variety of other psychiatric presentations. The training in NHSE TV is organised in a highly supportive and nourishing environment by senior medical educators who are experts in their field.“ ST6