Psychological factors, such as high stress levels from work or our relationships, can also have a negative impact on our skin. Living with a skin disorder may affect your mood and sometimes leads to states of anxiety and depression.
Psychological treatment can be helpful in both coping with and treating many skin disorders, either alone or in combination with conventional medications.
We are strong believers that it is important to tackle skin conditions holistically. Failing to address mental health issues can slow down the recovery of a skin condition, or mean that you can’t shake off feelings of anxiety or low mood even when your skin is getting better.
Our dermatology clinic is unique in that we offer an in-house psychology service to remove any barriers between healing both skin and mind.
What can I expect from psychodermatology treatment?
Our psychodermatology service provides support and therapy for people with skin disorders. Treatment is tailored to individual needs and will help you learn new ways of thinking and behaving in order to reduce psychological symptoms such as stress, anxiety and depression, which in turn may be triggering or aggravating your skin condition.
Particular attention may be paid to:
- understanding beliefs about appearance and attractiveness
- exploring the relationship between stress and your skin
- developing tools for coping with a skin disorder
- addressing habits (e.g. itch, scratch, picking)
- improving self-esteem
- improving relationships
- improving social interaction skills
- reducing psychological distress (e.g. anxiety, depression)
What sort of psychological treatment is offered?
Our psychodermatology service includes psychological assessment and treatment. If you decide to proceed with psychological therapy you will see Consultant Counselling Psychologist Dr Alexandra Mizara. Appointments are held remotely so can be conducted from the privacy of your home.
Our service mostly uses a Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) approach. This focuses on the present rather than the past, is for a fixed time, and is based on developing particular skills.
How often will I need to attend and for how long?
You will have an initial consultation with Dr Mizara followed by a series of appointments to work on the issues identified.
Some people only require one or two appointments; others need a course of treatment. Typically a course of treatment is 12 sessions. Appointments are 50 minutes long and are usually weekly.
How do I book an appointment?
Our dermatologists might suggest you book an appointment to see Dr Mizara if during the course of their assessment for your skin condition, they recognise symptoms of anxiety, depression or low self-esteem relating to how your skin looks or feels, and feel that addressing these could help your recovery.
Alternatively, if you would like to book and see Dr Mizara directly please contact us on 02037333225 so we can take some details and confirm that we are able to help.
What do psychodermatology appointments cost?
Fees for new and follow up psychodermatology appointments can be found on our Prices page.
