The Thinking Mind Podcast: Psychiatry & Psychotherapy

E96 - Seeing Personality Disorder in the Clinic (with Dr. Tennyson Lee)

Sep 19, 2024

Dr. Tennyson Lee, a Consultant Psychiatrist in Psychotherapy, shares his journey from public health to psychiatry, influenced by his time in apartheid South Africa. He discusses the challenges in diagnosing personality disorders and the stigma associated with them. Emphasizing the importance of clinician empathy, he explains how early life experiences shape patient interactions. The conversation also covers improving clinician-patient dynamics and the delicate balance of using medication alongside psychotherapy for effective treatment.

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Intro

00:00 • 2min

Navigating the Complexity of Personality Disorders

02:15 • 16min

Navigating Difficult Clinician-Patient Encounters

18:33 • 4min

The Influence of Early Life Experiences on Patient Interactions

22:37 • 4min

Navigating Psychiatric Assessments

26:58 • 10min

Understanding Clinician-Patient Dynamics

36:58 • 20min

Dr Tennyson Lee is a Consultant Psychiatrist in Psychotherapy and General Adult Psychiatry. He is a psychoanalyst and a member of the Institute of Psychoanalysis. He is a supervisor in Transference Focused Psychotherapy. He is presently clinical lead at the Dean Cross Personality Disorder Service in East London. He is Co-director of a research and training unit, the Centre for Understanding Personality (CUSP) which has a number of collaborations internationally, including with colleagues in China, Europe and South Africa.

Dr Lee trained in Public Health before training in psychiatry and has a particular interest in the broader application of psychoanalytic thinking both clinically and within health systems. He has over 40 peer reviewed papers.

You can find out more about the Dean Cross Personality Service Here:
https://www.elft.nhs.uk/services/deancross-personality-disorder-service

Some key papers if you'd like to learn more:
1. Managing the clinical encounter with patients with borderline personality disorder in a general psychiatry setting: key contributions from transference-focused psychotherapy - https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bjpsych-advances/article/managing-the-clinical-encounter-with-patients-with-borderline-personality-disorder-in-a-general-psychiatry-setting-key-contributions-from-transferencefocused-psychotherapy/1F82B0DAC1D4E5F46514E97FC681EE07#article

2. Managing the clinical encounter with patients with personality disorder in a general psychiatry setting: key contributions from neuropsychoanalysis - https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bjpsych-advances/article/abs/managing-the-clinical-encounter-with-patients-with-personality-disorder-in-a-general-psychiatry-setting-key-contributions-from-neuropsychoanalysis/DADB9FC619A578D7ED1B7FA882F1FFC6

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