Professor David Veale 2016-10-03 Person 5 5 0

Dr David Veale has been my psychiatrist for almost four years. He has treated me as an inpatient and as an outpatient, for borderline personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and body dysmorphia disorder. I have always felt in safe, compassionate hands with Dr Veale, and I know that he cares about my welfare. He has adapted his therapy style to tailor to my needs, and proved himself flexible and open-minded. He doesn't judge. As a doctor he is cautious yet humane with prescribing drugs - he is not one of those gung-ho psychiatrists who throw more and more medication at the problem; quite the opposite. Since being with him my medication has been stabilised at a level where I can function as a single mother and enjoy life, and while under his care I have started to retrain as a psychotherapist - something that would have been impossible a few years ago. He has a good sense of humour, which I count as an asset. But he takes my problems and my symptoms very seriously. He has always treated me with respect and as an intelligent human being, rather than a patient. He has done re-scripting trauma work with me, CBT and empty-chair work, and for the last few years we have focussed on compassionate-mind therapy. He does his best with his counsel to keep me safe and functioning outside of the therapy hour. He sees his role as in a sense one of 're-parenting', and is therefore boundaried and supportive. He is the country's leading expert on OCD and BDD (and one of the world's leading experts as well), and in addition to writing books about these for both patients and professionals, he cares deeply about the plight of those struggling to get appropriate treatment. He is a trustee for the charities OCD Action and the BDDF (Body Dysmorphia Disorder Foundation), both of which charities I have also been involved with, and has organised conferences and spoken widely about these issues. Having him as my psychiatrist and therapist has empowered me to recover my life and turn it around. Thanks to his care and treatment my daughter has a mum who is engaged and highly functioning, and I have new goals in my life and feel reconnected to my values. I can't recommend him highly enough to somebody who is suffering and looking for a psychiatrist.