Patrick Kennedy-Williams

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Dr Patrick Kennedy-Williams is a BPS Chartered and HCPC-registered Clinical Psychologist. He holds a DClinPsy Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Oxford. He works clinically in paediatric medical and surgical settings, and is trained in the assessment of autism and other aspects of neurodevelopment. He is also the co-director of Psychology Oxford, providing psychological therapies for young people and adults. His research interests are in developmental and psychological outcomes for young people with physical health conditions, cognitive therapies, psychological aspects of trauma, and how psychological principles can be applied across medical and other occupational contexts.

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Pharmacotherapy for PTSD: an update on the evidence finds some efficacy but small effect sizes

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Patrick Kennedy-Williams summarises a recent systematic review of pharmacotherapy for PTSD, which compares antidepressants with placebo for post-traumatic stress disorder. [Please note: this blog was amended on 7/5/15].

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Psychotherapies for adult depression: the things we know we know, and those we know we don’t

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Patrick Kennedy-Williams highlights a recent opinion piece by Pim Cuijpers, which summarises what we know and what we don’t know about the efficacy of psychotherapies for adult depression.

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Cognitive therapy plus antidepressants for depression

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Patrick Kennedy-Williams highlights a new large-scale RCT of combined cognitive therapy plus antidepressants for major depressive disorder. The trial finds that this combination is effective, but only in patients with severe non-chronic depression.

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Combining psychotherapy and antidepressants is best for common mental illnesses

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Patrick Kennedy-Williams summarises a recent meta-analysis, which finds that combined treatment with psychotherapy and antidepressants is more effective than treatment with antidepressants alone.

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And if we do nothing? A new systematic review explores natural PTSD remission rates

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Who naturally recovers from PTSD and why? A recent meta-regression analysis finds an overall natural remission rate for PTSD of 44%, with no increase in remission after longer observation periods.

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RCT shows CBT is more effective than psychoanalytic psychotherapy for treating bulimia nervosa, but that’s only half the story

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I had actually heard about this Danish study, published recently by Poulsen et al. (2014) in the American Journal of Psychiatry, before it landed in my inbox. The findings are interesting because they highlight the debate surrounding the comparative efficacy of psychological treatments. What is most striking though, is how the study itself challenges the [read the full story…]

Meditation programmes may improve anxiety, depression and pain but better quality research is needed, says systematic review

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There’s little doubt about it – meditation is in vogue. In fairness, it probably always has been. However, clinical and research interest in the effects of meditation programmes on psychological wellbeing has grown considerably in recent years. The development of mindfulness-based interventions has no doubt driven much of this interest. For example, running a PubMed keyword [read the full story…]