Dr Julia Bland

I’m a Consultant Psychiatrist and Psychoanalytic psychotherapist. I have also trained as a Systemic couple and family therapist. I was head of Family Therapy at the Maudsley Hospital from 2002 until 2013.

I’m very interested in the ways in which different kinds of therapy overlap and can most usefully be tailored to the individual, couple or family. This often involved working with families who struggled to cope with the mental illness of one of the members.

It could involve people being able to talk about their anger and disappointment alongside the need to maintain a sympathetic stance. And the delicate balance of encouraging open dialogue but remaining careful of what mentally ill people can tolerate in terms of emotional intensity.

In private practice I often see hostile couples or parents with adult children, who accuse and counter accuse each other of historical neglect, cruelty etc

Again the work involves asserting that there are different ways of experiencing a given situation or period of time. Though the past cannot be changed our view of it can evolve, and a less blaming narrative can emerge.

I also have 25 years of experience of treating doctors and was Co-Director of MedNet, a psychotherapy treatment service for doctors at the Maudsley hospital.

Now I work in a service called Dochealth at the British Medical Association.

Of course, doctors vary, but the frequent pattern is one of high standards, harsh self-judgement and drive to succeed whilst finding themselves working in a deeply flawed institution. And then if anything goes wrong, for example a clinical error, however minor, the doctor decompensates and becomes unbearably anxious or depressed.

I’m also interested in supervision and training, lecturing and have contributed to several books on family therapy.

My professional registration is with the General Medical Council, and the British Psychoanalytic Council.