Helping your autistic child to sleep

I just received a copy of Helping Your Autistic Child by Ann Ozsivadjian. It includes chapters by various authors who specialise in working with children with neurodivergent conditions, including my chapter on sleep. My chapter includes sections on: The other chapters cover topics including: The book will be available from October 26th 2023 in all… Continue reading Helping your autistic child to sleep

Thinking of trying EMDR?

As an “EMDR Practitioner”, qualified to work with adults and children, EMDR is one of the therapies I offer. Whilst it was originally developed for helping people to overcome traumatic experiences, it has since been found to be effective in treating a wide range of other concerns including: The first stage of EMDR therapy involves… Continue reading Thinking of trying EMDR?

Insomnia in children

As a psychologist with a special interest in sleep, interesting projects sometimes come my way. One of these recently came to fruition in the form of a chapter in the newly published Oxford Handbook of Sleep Medicine, edited by Guy Leschziner. I am very grateful to Guy for the invitation to contribute. My chapter covers… Continue reading Insomnia in children

Published – ACT for non-epileptic seizures

The article Dr Naomi Boycott and I wrote about using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for the treatment of non-epileptic seizures was recently published in the British Psychological Society’s Clinical Psychology Forum (Issue 347). It focuses on a service we developed for people who experience non-epileptic seizures, seeing people individually and in groups.

FND Awareness Day Thread

I have been working in Functional Seizures Clinical Psychology since 2019. Even in that relatively short time, we have effectively set up our service twice owing to the rapid adaptation that the COVID-19 epidemic necessitated. We offer one-to-one and group interventions as well as providing information and training to wider services. Our service’s main therapeutic… Continue reading FND Awareness Day Thread

Psychological First Aid during COVID-19

“Extraordinary”, “weird” and “unprecedented” seem to be watchwords of the times we are living through. I keep hearing people describe the present, and situations that arise using these and similar expressions, perhaps to remind ourselves that it is okay not to know exactly how we should be responding. We encourage each other to “stay safe”,… Continue reading Psychological First Aid during COVID-19

Sleep in the time of coronavirus

I taught a session on sleep for trainees at UCL last week. This was originally intended to take place in person, but here in the United Kingdom, we have been under a form of COVID-19 related lockdown for some time, which has confined a lot of people to their own homes. I was therefore forced… Continue reading Sleep in the time of coronavirus

World Sleep Day Podcast

Our dynamic trio, wrapping the podcast recording session

It’s World Sleep Day, and the podcast that Dr Mike Farquhar and I made with Jenny Fox and Sam Harvey from the PSHE Association goes live today. It’s about the Sleep Factor lesson plans that we made in collaboration, and sleep more widely. We hope you enjoy it.

UCLH CFS/ME Course

Sometimes, a break is necessary

The UCLH Chronic Fatigue Syndrome / Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) in Young People course on November 1st 2018 was a fascinating day, with opportunities to learn more about the condition from the perspectives of alumni of the service, as well as members of the medical and psychological teams. Dr Lee Hudson gave an overview of the… Continue reading UCLH CFS/ME Course

Medicine & Me – Living With Narcolepsy

I took part in the Living With Narcolepsy event jointly organised by the Royal Society of Medicine and Narcolepsy UK in London. Medicine and Me days are a great opportunity for people with a given condition and clinicians in that field to meet and share their knowledge. This is my brief overview of a fascinating day with a range of speakers talking about diverse aspects of narcolepsy, a frequently misunderstood condition.