Eating Distress Service

Who’s who in the EDTS?

Dr Vivien Jane Lewis, C.Psychol
Consultant Clinical Psychologist
Head of Eating Distress Therapy Service
Renowned as shoe queen and style psychologist, my day job is to manage the motley crew within the EDTS and to co-ordinate the work that we do. My special interests are women’s issues, Gestalt and Jungian therapy, creative approaches and group therapies. I have a passionate belief in the right of every individual to be able to be her authentic self, independent of the judgments and expectations of others.

Dr Tina Griffiths
Consultant Psychiatrist
EDTS Cognitive Analytic Therapist
I have been a member of the EDTS since its inception, working the equivalent of one day per week for the team. My background is in General Adult Psychiatry but over the years I developed a special interest in and gained a qualification in Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT), an approach I use frequently but not exclusively with the clients I see.
I love working within the team. My other roles include training junior doctors in psychological therapies, and training staff within the Trust in Cognitive Analytic Therapy with the aim of developing a service in CAT within the Trust, if the money is forthcoming.
To clear my mind and to keep my ageing brain cells ticking over, I play badminton and enjoy cycling and hill walking.

Amanda Hazelwood MA, RMN
EDTS Consultant Nurse
In 2005 I relocated from Warwickshire to take up this exciting new post and challenge within the EDTS. My job is quite diverse which I love, spending more than half of my time providing individual psychotherapy and supportive input for clients who have some of the most chronic forms of eating problems. The remainder of my time is divided between teaching, training, staff supervision and service development. I am also in the throws of embarking on doing my doctorate, hoping to research eating disorders from a psychoanalytic perspective.
My background is in mental health nursing, having gained experience in all areas of acute psychiatry, medium secure nursing as well as with children and families. I have over ten year’s experience of working with people with eating distress both from inpatient and community settings.
More recently I completed my training in psychoanalytic psychotherapy at the Tavistock, London and this is the approach I mostly use when working with clients with eating issues. However I believe strongly in tailoring my therapy to the client so at times can be quite creative, using many other approaches, such as motivational interviewing and solution focused therapy.
I remain passionate about my work and have always refused to believe any individual cannot overcome their eating problems. I like to think of psychotherapy as a journey we take together, rather than one they take alone.
In my spare time I love walking my two mad beagle pups and listening to bands locally.

Nick Gatward
EDTS Specialist Therapist
I have been working in the EDTS since June 2004, having moved here from the long established specialist eating disorders service in Leicester. I trained as a mental health nurse there over twenty years ago and worked in acute psychiatry, gradually specialising in eating disorders.
I am a full-time therapist, and therefore spend the bulk of my time seeing clients. I have some training and experience in various therapy styles, and try to use whatever I feel most suits the client. My main orientation is towards Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy, and I am an admirer of the work of Paul Gilbert, using CBT for Depression. I share his interest in how our evolutionary background plays a part in mental health problems. I also provide supervision, do some teaching, and have a particular interest in research and writing.

Jayne Walton
EDTS Specialist Therapist
I joined the EDTS when the Service was first set up and have seen lots of changes and developments in that time. It's been exciting to see how the Team has grown in experience and size since the early days when we were based at Wellington, hopefully there will be lots more opportunities for us to develop and expand the service we offer. My background is in mental health nursing and I've worked in many different settings but always within adult mental health services. Recently and after being involved in various training courses I have developed a strong interest in Cognitive Analytic Therapy and hope to use this more widely in the work I do with the EDTS. I'll shortly be away from work on maternity leave but very much look forward to coming back in Sept 2007.

Dr Penny Priest
EDTS Principal Clinical Psychologist
I am currently wearing my third hat with the EDTS, having led previous lives here as a voluntary assistant psychologist and a specialist trainee clinical psychologist. I spend my two days a week with the Service doing research, supervision, consultancy, training and, of course, clinical work, with a particular interest in the systemic approach. I’m about to supervise a doctoral research project for another person who’s not managed to escape fully from the EDTS, looking at issues affecting people who work with individuals experiencing eating distress. You might be forgiven for thinking, given that my major pastime is running, that I’d have been more successful at getting away! However, my fondness for the team and passion for the area of eating distress have kept me coming back for more!

Jan Bywater
EDTS Couple/Family Therapist
I am one of the newest, and definitely the oldest member of the team. My role is to offer support to families and couples with eating distress. I am in the fortunate position, at this twilight stage of my career, to be fulfilling my ambitions to work exclusively with eating distress using a family therapy model. Can’t be bad!

Rachel Faul
EDTS Assistant Psychologist
I have an interesting and varied role within the team, having the opportunity to take part in many areas of the team’s work such as research, working with clients and group work. I have a particular interest in narrative therapy and systemic practice and I place a strong emphasis on exploring a problem as separate to a person, as so often people are labelled with a problem which then restricts them into patterns and ways of behaving. I also have a role in co-ordinating placements for the team for undergraduates and voluntary assistant psychologist positions.

Annali Hindle
EDTS Senior Dietitian
As the team Dietitian, I have worked part-time with the team for about two years. I provide support to people focusing on nutritional issues - from working towards individual goals such as healthy eating patterns, weight restoration and maintenance, to making sense of all the different nutritional messages we hear in society today.
When not with the team, I am based with the main dietetic department at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. Outside of work I do the odd bit of Ceroc dancing (modern jive), and enjoy leisurely strolls in the Shropshire countryside.

Kathryn Reynolds RN, RM, PG DIP. PC Counselling
EDTS Counselling Therapist
This is my second experience of working with the EDTS team as a counsellor. My first time was for a year in Sept. 2004 Sept. 2005 and I couldn’t resist returning when a post became available again in Sept.2006. What is it about that month!?
I spent the first part of my working life nursing followed by 17yrs as a midwife. As I changed I needed a change of career and I took myself off to qualify as a counsellor in 2001. I now have three counselling jobs, one at Chaddeslode House Psychological Therapies Service, one for 2 G.P. surgerys and, for the larger part, 3 days at EDTS. What a journey!
I work with clients psychologically to help them understand themselves and motivate change. I use an intergrated approach tailoring my counselling to the individual client.
Outside work I am a cross between Monty Don and Lawrence LLewelyn Bowen. Vegetable growing and FINISHING the DIY being of top priority.

Viv-Margaret Lewis
EDTS Administrator
I joined the team in August 2004 in a part time administration role, and have seen a lot of changes and improvements. I help out with the general administration, letter typing, postage, filing, room booking, updating of the database, and attend regular meetings with the teams. I offer support and help in an administrative role for all the team. I love the challenge with the Eating Distress Team, and the work is varied and interesting. No day is the same, which makes it enjoyable and rewarding.
I work with the EDTS mornings only, and then rush around all afternoon with my two young children aged 4 and 5, taking them from swimming and gymnastics to friends’ houses for tea and birthday parties. It’s never ending, but fun!

Winter Solstice
EDTS Canine Co-therapist
I am definitely the most over-worked and under-paid full-time member of the EDTS team! Although clearly the most important! I have a particular expertise in person-centred counselling, being by far and away the best listener I know. I am supremely empathic, totally unconditional and absolutely genuine. I sense, when others do not, when someone needs a bit of warmth, and will often offer a gentle nudge of reassurance with my nose and the opportunity for them to run their fingers over my coat, around my ears and (if they need special attention!) all over my tummy. My special area of interest is in body image, because what someone looks like is completely irrelevant to me - it’s how they are inside which is all that really matters. (OK, whether or not they’ve got a Winalot Reward in their pocket counts too!)