I trained as a General Psychiatrist and added a Psychotherapy training. My main NHS work was at The Royal London Hospital, St Clements and Whitechapel from 1983 – 1993 where I was a Consultant Psychotherapist and Psychiatrist. I retired from the National Health Service to pursue other interests and I have a portfolio of clinical, consultative activity and research activity and to devote myself to consultancy in the private sector based at the Group-Analytic Practice where I am a Member of Management and treasurer of the Group-Analytic Practice (London).
I practise as a psychiatrically informed psychotherapist and bring to my medico-legal work a unique blend of psychiatric, psychotherapeutic, neurological and psychosomatic understanding.
I am approved under s.12 Mental Health Act 1983
1. Psychiatrist with special skills in psychotherapy and psychosomatic medicine. This includes a theoretical and practical understanding of the neuropsychology of consciousness and memory.
2. Long term work on the therapeutic approaches to personality disorder and the related social origins of antisocial and criminal behaviour.
3. Personal research and publications in these fields. Some of my work has been translated in several European languages plus Japanese and Russian.
I am currently combining these threads in a growing medico-legal practice and consultancy.
1. Special Interests in Medico-Legal Practice.
1. Psychiatric damage. Particularly complex cases of personal injury involving both physical and psychiatric damage.
2. Psychotherapeutic practice and malpractice.
3. Psychiatric aspects of negligence in organisations including prisons and other public and private sector bodies.
4. Criminal behaviour.
5. Fitness to plead and other aspects of psychiatric illness and the legal process.
6. Currently final year of 4 module - 4year LLB with Open University.
7. I am approved by The Law Society and on UK Register of Expert Witnesses.
2. Medico-legal Work to Date
A. I having now taking instructions for medico-legal work for 3 years
B. I have completed more than 200 expert reports.
C. These include, psychiatric injury, personal injury cases with both bodily and psychiatric injury, psychotherapeutic negligence, fitness to plead, “negligence in training (of a residential worker in Drug Community),” a case of automatism, and two employment cases.
D. 90% of my work has been instructed by the claimant or defendant solicitors (approx 50-50). In two cases I have been single joint expert.
3. Appointments.
Currently working as a Freelance Consultant and Group Analyst
This work amounts 4 psychiatric or psychotherapeutic assessments per week plus conducting psychotherapy in groups and with individuals on an ongoing basis. I do psychotherapy/psychiatric consultation at the practice and conduct treatment informed by a view that pharmacological and psychological treatments are complementary to each other (including of course the dynamic psychotherapies) in relevant cases.
I have a longstanding knowledge experience and expertise in psychosomatic psychiatry. During my years as medical director of the Ingrebourne centre I gained substantial experience in the diagnosis and management of personality disorder.
1986 - date Member of Management Group-Analytic Practice, plus founder and coordinator of GAP Medico-Legal Group.
1995 - date Visiting Consultant: Grovelands Priory Hospital, Southgate.
1999- date Visiting Consultant Florence Nightingale Hospital, Lisson Grove, London W1
2000 - date Visiting Consultant Chiltern Hospital, Great Missenden, Bucks.
I was non executive director of Grendon Underwood and Springhill Prisons for 4 years. I also do other consultative work on the development of TCs in the prison service.
I have worked for more than 10 years in Glasgow with the Reverend J Q. Christie, on the development of an Introductory, Advanced and Diploma course in Group-Analysis and also taught on Introductory Courses in St. Petersburg.
My current major additional interest is in various aspects of the law, legal theory and medico-legal work.
I struggle to maintain a reef aquarium and am fascinated by the wide ranging use of IT in the fields of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy.
Current Teaching
1. 3 Individual supervisees, one working in Hiroshima.
2. Chair of Glasgow Courses Committee.
Current Clinical and related activity.
40% of my work is now involved in medico-legal work. I am interested in negligence and personal injury, fitness to plead and stand trial and recovered and false memories, when given as evidence. I am interested overall in ways in which the law and psychiatry can work together in the interests of justice and equally how the two disciplines can work against each other. I also am developing an interest in relationships contaminated by undue influence.
Finally I do many reports for insurance companies which are often linked to conflicts in the workplace, unsafe systems of work (psychiatrically speaking) and problems of recovering from "burn out.
Publications.
The Practice of Group Analysis, Edited with Pines, M. plus contributions. London: Routledge, 1992.
A Workbook of Group-Analysis, co-authored with Kennard, D. and Winter, D. London: Routledge, August 1993
How to Recognize a Therapeutic Community . Prison Services Journal, No 111, PP 4-7
Snakes and Ladders: another look at the body/mind problem The Balint Society Journal. Vol 30, pp. 20-30, 2002,
Group-Analytic Training Conducted through a Language Interpreter: Are We Understanding Each Other? David Kennard, Jeff Roberts and Barbara Elliot, In Press 2002 Group-Analysis.
Group-Analytic Training Conducted through a Language Interpreter: Is the Experience Therapeutic? Is it Group-Analytic? David Kennard, Barbara Elliot, Jeff Roberts, Chris Evans , In Press 2002, Group-Analysis.
Kairos, Chronos and Chaos: a personal exploration of time , In Press 2002-2003, Group-Analysis.
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