Archives: News

On Friday 14th October, The Oaktree Clinic hosted a round of Mindfulness to coincide with Mental Health Day. The event was, of course, a great success. Mindfulness therapist Bilquees Kamal led an immensely calming evening of relaxation for those present.

The reviews are outstanding:

“It was my first insight into the concept of Mindfulness and I found it very informative… I found it very interesting on a personal level, too.”

“I know where you are for when I need help! Thanks very much.”

“The mindfulness session was very useful, helped me get a good sense of what is it about and would love to now find out more… [The Oaktree Clinic should] run more sessions like this, to raise awareness.”

“All parts of this evening were enjoyable – could have done it for longer!”

It is safe to say that everyone left truly satisfied and hungry to delve deeper into Mindfulness.

The Oaktree Clinic is celebrating World Mental Health Day by treating all those attending to a 20 minute free session of the famous Mindfulness therapy with tea and Prosecco on Friday the 14th of October.

Our therapist, Bilquees Kamal will lead attendees through the steps to achieving relaxation and learn about how to bring about lasting positive effect on mental health.

In recent years Mindfulness has gained tremendously in popularity for good reason. For those who are less aware of this therapy: Mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing awareness of the present moment, with calm acknowledgement and acceptance of feelings, thoughts and bodily sensations. This helps a person to deal with difficult thoughts rather than forcing them out or denying them hence reducing mental stress.

Our mind and body can be trained to work in tandem and harmoniously. Making mindfulness a part of our life needs training and will not happen overnight. Like any other skill, mindfulness is one that requires motivation and practice but once the skill is mastered those who practice it do not ever want to stop practicing it regularly. The more you work at it, the easier it will be to use this technique when negative mind state is encountered.

Amongst other benefits, mindfulness will help you to:

• Stay focused on the present task, and help you manage distraction
• Find a sense of calm amidst a stressful life
• Greater awareness of internal resources (e.g. self-control, tenacity, etc.)
• Cultivate resilience to resist low mood and poor self esteem
• Improve listening and communication skills

If it feels like this can help you with your life, then feel free to join us on Friday 14th October. We will see you here at the clinic.

Click here to get in-touch and book your place.

In conjunction with World Mental Health Day on October 10th, our world-renowned psychiatrist Prof Swaran Singh appeared on American News TV to speak about Mental Health issues and the stigma attached to it.

You can view the video clip below:

In this 3 minute clip from CCTV, America starts with the newsreader stating that “the global cost of mental health is 2.5 trillion dollars.

One statistics that the Professor reveals is that “1 in 4 people will suffer from one of these disorders at some point in their life”, he underlines the importance of early treatment of mental illness and the reasons why people may not seek help and suffer the illness as well as the consequences without treatment.

He goes on to say that one of the many problems facing those suffering with mental illness is the external and internal stigma of admitting that one has a problem. The other is the belief that mental illness is “progressive and incurable”, something that Prof Singh dismisses saying “we have very effective treatments for all mental disorders, ranging from talk therapies, …counselling and psychotherapy, to medication”. He attributes this is to commonly held myths and misinformation people may have acquired from unreliable sources.

If you do suffer from mental health issues do not suffer in silence and contact the appropriate services that may be able to assist.

The Oaktree Clinic in partnership with The London Psychiatry Centre is now able to offer rTMS treatment at our Edgbaston clinic. On Thursday 22nd September The Oaktree Clinic’s Psychiatrists started their intensive training session under the watchful and highly-skilled supervision of Dr Andy Zamar from TLPC, Harley Street, London.

The Oaktree Clinic is the only service that can offer this ground breaking, innovative, side effect and pain free treatment in the West Midlands. It works by producing a strong magnetic field near the area of the brain responsible for the symptoms of depression, hence stimulating the brain cells. The client is wide awake during administration as anaesthesia is not required to undergo this treatment. It is a highly effective treatment for those who either do not respond to conventional treatment or cannot take or do not wish to take antidepressant medication or psychotherapy.

Whilst being a well used intervention in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the European Union, Israel and the United States, the UK has now started to embrace rTMS. The treatment has recently been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for treatment of depression.

At the London Psychiatry Centre the results from rTMS are very impressive with 74.2% of women and 58% of men recovering from the symptoms of depression in 4.3 weeks of treatment. With the same treatment protocols and supervision we are confident of success of this treatment at The Oaktree Clinic.

We are currently taking referrals and carry out assessments and the treatment. If you believe that rTMS is the treatment for you, please contact us and arrange a consultation.

On Thursday, 15th September BHSF hosted a successful and highly regarded conference titled ‘Cutting Edge Issues in Occupational Health Medicine’, proudly sponsored by The Oaktree Clinic.

The jam-packed event featured talks from highly regarded members of the occupational health field. Professor Tom Sensky presented a session on the increasing prevalence of Chronic Embitterment Syndrome, a disorder that renders the sufferer so “angry and helpless” that they are unable to function on a daily basis. Later Dr. Philip McCrea talked, amongst other things, about the “separation of the ill from those who think they are ill” and the importance of accurate diagnosis and timely treatment during work life.

After lunch Dr Steve Turley, Occupational Physician, gave an interesting talk about the encroaching threat of Occupational Health Technicians and what it means for current Occupational Health Advisors. Can OHAs and OHTs coexist happily and are both required for the delivery of modern Occupational Health model?

Though a fair share of the conference’s key moments came from the the various speakers, the main element to the event was the bring together of the best people in the field. Much networking and contacts were made whilst other companies made their mark on the stalls.

After a very educational day we cannot wait until BHSF’s next Occupational Health Conference.