Psychiatry for Psychotherapists

Psychiatry for Psychotherapists

For psychotherapists, understanding severe mental illness and the psychiatric services supporting their patients is an important part of developing safe, effective and ethical clinical practice. This is reflected in British Psychoanalytic Council training standards, which recognise the importance of experience working with mental illness and observing its assessment and management within mental health services.

Opportunities to spend meaningful time within mental health services can, however, be difficult to access. The bpf is collaborating with Dr Michael Evison to launch a series of Psychiatric Simulation Workshops for psychotherapy trainees, qualified clinicians, and professionals from other sectors whose day-to-day work would benefit from this experience.

Through actor-led simulation, observation and facilitated discussion, participants will explore varied presentations of mental illness, risk and clinical decision-making; how psychiatric services work and the thresholds for intervention; and the sometimes complex interface between psychiatric and psychotherapeutic care.

The bpf will also consider applications from organisations who would like to offer this training to their frontline professionals.

Please note that this workshop is designed for psychotherapists, psychotherapy trainees, and other frontline professionals — it is not a clinical psychiatry training course.

We are currently developing two workshop formats:

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When registering your interest, please select your preferred format.

Indicative Fees

• Full-day workshop: from approximately £950 per person
• Half-day workshop: from approximately £590 per person
  

bpf members receive a 10% discount

Prices shown are indicative and will be confirmed closer to launch. Participants will receive a Certificate of Attendance that may be used as CPD.

Course Structure

Workshops are run in groups of up to 20 participants, to preserve the interactive, psychologically safe nature of the experience.

Half-day: (indicative) 9:30am–1:00pm // 1:30pm–4:30pm
Full-day: (indicative) 9:30am–4:30pm

Workshops are expected to run on Saturdays, in person at the bpf house in Kilburn.

Exact dates to be confirmed. Workshop dates will be released to those on the waiting list first.

This workshop is led by Dr Michael Evison, Consultant Psychiatrist and experienced clinical educator, of Communicare Training.

Dr Michael Evison is a Consultant Psychiatrist specialising in neurodevelopmental psychiatry, medical education and simulation-based learning. He works within the Neurodevelopmental Service at Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, spanning psychiatric assessment, education, supervision and service development, and has trained over 100 clinicians through an innovative programme he helped design for assessing and treating ADHD in primary care.

Previously an Honorary Clinical Lecturer at Brighton and Sussex Medical School (awarded Psychiatry Tutor of the Year), Mike later trained as a Clinical Simulation Fellow and brings extensive experience in acute and general adult psychiatry, including over 500 Mental Health Act assessments.

As founder of Communicare Training, Mike creates immersive, actor-led simulation training — including previous psychiatric simulation workshops for BPF trainees. He favours discussion and interaction over lectures, creating a supportive space where participants can ask questions, get things wrong, and learn as much from each other as from him.

No dates are confirmed yet. The bpf and Communicare Training are currently inviting prospective participants to join the waiting list for future workshops. Joining means you’ll be among the first to hear when dates are released, with first opportunity to book.

When you join, we’ll ask you a few questions:

• Would you prefer the half-day or full-day workshop?
• Would you prefer to attend in-person or online?

If you have any questions, please email: [email protected]