Sunil Mantri: Could you tell us about Psychology is?

 Vidya Rajbhoj: A psychologist evaluates, diagnoses, treats, and studies behavior and mental processes. Some psychologists, such as clinical and counseling psychologists, provide mental health care, and some psychologists, such as social or organizational psychologists conduct research and provide consultation services.

I am a Chartered Counseling Psychologist, practicing in London and Bedfordshire in UK. My work involves diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders with using evidence based psychological therapies and counseling.

I have also worked in research in the past years with City University, London in the area of ‘Short term and Long term Memory’. At present I am working into Autism Diagnosis, comorbidities that occur with Autism, schizophrenia and psychosis sharing with Autism, executive functioning impairment and Autism brain.

Sunil Mantri: Can you throw some more light on to the nature of your work?

 Vidya Rajbhoj: Sure, my work specific in the London region involves seeing patients in a Private clinic (The Insight Network, London Bridge) who are mainly referred by Psychiatrists and GP practices. The patients are varied in their problems such as having depression, anxiety, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Panic disorder, eating disorder, personality disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, relationship problems, psycho-somatic and psycho-sexual problems…the list could just go on. I provide them therapy sessions for the treatment depending on the problem which mainly involves Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Mindfulness, Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, Psychoanalysis and Hypnosis. I usually adapt an eclectic approach which means tailoring all the therapies together for the individual problems of patients. It involves a holistic approach, not just treating the problem but healing the patient as a whole.

My work in Bedford is hospital based. It’s an Adult Autism Specialist Hospital, where we have in-patient service for the patients with Autism and comorbidities of Schizophrenia, personality Disorders, intellectual disability, eating disorder and so on. The treatment is more diverse to their problems involving a multidisciplinary approach with loads of psychology input. I provide individual as well as group therapy there.

Sunil Mantri: What would you say how important is the role of a psychologist in society today in general?

Vidya Rajbhoj: It was not long before when psychology was not considered a great profession as compared to some other well earning professions of those days. However with the increased awareness it is much in demand and pursued by people. As we speak about the awareness, it also means people understand the need to visit a psychologist when arise any mental health difficulty. In my opinion it is as important as visiting a physician when see any sign of physical illness. If we don’t ignore the physical pain, why to ignore the mental pain and sufferings ? So for a healthy and balanced society, we need professionals who can identify the mental stress and problems and give the correct advice to deal with them.

Sunil Mantri: How psychology in UK is different than in India?

 Vidya Rajbhoj: It is very different. However the difference is not in how people experience the problems but the difference is in how they are managed. Wherever we go around the word, we will see people experiencing same basic emotions and combination of those emotions. When anyone gets pain, it hurts and when it hurts for long we suffer. There can’t be much difference in feelings of hurt for any country or any men on the earth. In UK, though the treatment and management practice is very structured. Our focus is always to have evidence base work. The law is very much protective of the patient’s rights and the government is very much involved in the care process which is a huge advantage to common people. Where as in India the laws, care and rights are more seen on the paper. People have to have money or a good fate to receive the best treatment they deserve. I am not demeaning India. Every country has their pluses and minuses. The biggest plus of India is its culture and the family system which works as a biggest support to any patient in his/her illness, which is missing in western culture.

Sunil Mantri: Whats the difference between psychologist and psychiatrist?

Vidya Rajbhoj: Although clinical psychologists and psychiatrists can be said to share a same fundamental aim—the alleviation of mental distress—their training, outlook, and methodologies are often quite different. Perhaps the most significant difference is that psychiatrists are licensed physicians. As such, psychiatrists often use the medical model to assess mental health problems and rely on psychotropic medications as the chief method of addressing mental health problems.

Clinical child psychiatrist receive extensive training in psychological test administration, scoring, interpretation and reporting. These tests help to inform diagnostic decisions and treatment planning. For example, in a medical center, a patient with a complicated clinical presentation who is being seen by a psychiatrist might be referred to a clinical psychologist for psychological testing to aid in diagnosis and treatment. In addition, psychologists (particularly those from PhD programs) spend several years in graduate school being trained to conduct behavioral research, including research design and advanced statistical analysis. While this training is available for physicians via dual MD/PhD programs, it is not typically included in medical education. Conversely, psychiatrists, as licensed physicians, have received training more broadly in other areas such as medicine and neurology and may bring this knowledge to bear in identifying and treating medical or neurological conditions that can present similarly to psychiatric diseases.

Psychologists generally do not prescribe medication, although there is a growing movement for clinical psychologists to have limited prescribing privileges. Clinical and other psychologists are experts at psychotherapy (typically clinical psychologists are trained in a number of psychological therapies, including, behavioral, cognitive, humanistic, existential, psychodynamic, and systemic approaches), and psychological testing (e.g. including neuropsychological testing). In two US states, specifically New Mexico and Louisiana, some psychologists with post-doctoral pharmacology training have been granted prescriptive authority for certain mental health disorders upon agreement with the patients physician

Sunil Mantri: Which are the few areas of psychology which you would like to study and research in coming days?

Vidya Rajbhoj: Autism (Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction, verbal and non-verbal communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior) and Schizophrenia (Schizophrenia is a mental disorder often characterized by abnormal social behavior and failure to recognize what is real. Common symptoms include false beliefs, auditory and visual hallucinations, confused or unclear thinking, inactivity, and reduced social engagement and emotional expression. Diagnosis is based on specific psychometric assessments, clinical observation of the behavior and the person’s reported experiences)

Sunil Mantri: Few words that you would like to say to the readers?

Vidya Rajbhoj: Please do not hesitate to approach the right service when you need it. We have the right to live and we have the right to live happy…so get it….even with the help, there is nothing wrong in it.

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