Dr. Russell Razzaque is a psychiatrist in London. Russell feels his background in mindfulness meditation has enabled him to be present with his patients and their emotions in a much deeper way. He mentions in a recent interview with us that psychological studies support this approach, finding that it is the avoidance of emotions that often predisposes people to ongoing disturbing experiences mentally.
In fact mindfulness based techniques have been woven throughout a new approach to mental health treatment that Russell is leading in the UK called Peer supported Open Dialogue. POD will be utilized in a three year country wide clinical trial that stems from the methods used in Intentional Peer Support from the US and Open Dialogue from northern Finland which aims to “be with instead of doing to’ and to ‘drop the clinical gaze’ when interacting with patients in extreme mental emotional states. The outcomes for patients treated using POD will be compared to the outcomes for patients when the current mainstream treatment methods are used.
This clinical trial is supported by the government in England and is the first of it’s kind in the world!
