Specialist Treatment for Eating Disorders at The London Centre

Psychiatry

 What is a PSYChIATRIST?

One of the services which The London Centre offers is Psychiatric Assessment and Treatment, including a prescription service for those who would benefit from medication.   

Psychiatrists are medically trained doctors who have chosen to specialise in mental health. Within the field of eating disorders, Psychiatrists can diagnose, evaluate and monitor medical risk, prescribe medication for any relevant comorbidities such as depression or anxiety, provide an opinion on treatment planning, and assist with stepping up to a more intensive form of treatment if required. Whilst not all clients will need, or want, medication, for many medication may be an important part of their treatment planning. Additionally where physical or medical risk is present, it may be important to have someone have oversight into this in order to make recommendations to help ensure your safety.

If physical or psychological risk is present, or if there is a level of complexity to your presentation involving a number of different difficulties, we may recommend that you see a Psychiatrist. You are able to see a Psychiatrist internally or externally to the clinic, or within the NHS if appropriate and we are able to help with referrals if you choose not to see a Psychiatrist at The London Centre. Additionally if you are on medication or would like to consider medication options, it may be beneficial to do this through a Psychiatrist rather than via your GP.

There are a range of medications that can be prescribed to help people with mental health difficulties and a Psychiatrist will be able to talk you through all of the medication options available to you and either prescribe a medication for you or arrange for your NHS GP to prescribe them.

Where medication has been prescribed it is always helpful to offer a follow up appointment to check that the medication is working for you, however unlike other clinics this can be done in a 15 minute telephone appointment to save on costs. Very often there will be a period of monitoring and dose adjustment as many of these medications take a while to reach their full effect.

Where medication isn't working for you, either due to unwanted side effects, or because you aren't seeing the desired improvements, there are usually a number of alternatives which we will help you consider so that you find the one for you.

Ultimately, it comes down to the severity of your condition, and whether you are likely to need medication. Talking therapy will almost always be a part of your treatment therefore we often recommend an assessment appointment with a Psychologist first, and from there we will recommend that you see a Psychiatrist if we feel this would be a helpful part of your treatment.

Our recommendation is that your Psychiatric appointments are alongside Psychology, Dietetics or Occupational Therapy as talking therapy, primarily Enhanced Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT-E) as the leading evidence based treatment for eating disorders, meaning it has been shown to be the most effective treatment for adult clients.