A holistic and compassionate approach.
Dr David Graham FRANZCP
Dr Graham is passionate about social justice, trauma, and veteran and first responder mental health.
Dr Graham has advanced qualifications in addition to his MBBS, including a Masters of Psychiatric Medicine and a Doctor of Philosophy, and he is currently pursuing further study with a Master of Health Law. He has also an academic appointment with the University of Sydney.
He recently co-founded ratio medicolegal, which provides niche psychiatric assessments for civil claims of Historical Sexual Abuse and Medical Negligence. This draws on his and his colleagues’ blend of clinical experience in working with trauma.
He came to medicine following a successful career in Defence, which included two deployments to Afghanistan. This experience drew him to Psychiatry as a specialty. His passion naturally led him to psychotherapy as the centrepiece of his practice in Psychiatry.
A boutique vision
The body speaks.
Mental illness can present with both psychological and physical symptoms, which in turn have social consequences. Dr Graham uses an integrated approach that is bespoke to individual patient needs. He is growing a boutique clinic that draws on the synergies when medicines are combined with psychotherapy.
Dr Graham’s approach will gradually expand to include powerful novel medicines like ketamine and psychedelics. The potential of these novel treatments is yet to be fully unlocked.
But deep psychotherapy is as much about finding meaning and self-discovery in the depths. Just as medicines can be combined with psychotherapy, deeper synergies can also be found through the combination of psychotherapy with complimentary practices when people may not require medicine.
A patient’s journey
Compassion
The word “patient” is central to the therapeutic relationship. In recent years, the word “patient” has fallen out of favour, particularly in mental health, with preference for “client” and “consumer.” However, the Latin root of the word “patient” - pati - is shared with the word “compassion.” Understood this way, the word “patient” returns medicine to its important healing tradition and the Declaration of Geneva, which is the modern version of the Hippocratic Oath.
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is an umbrella term that describes so-called talking therapies. There are hundreds of types of psychotherapy, which fall broadly into five classes. Whilst Dr Graham has training in some cognitive approaches (CBT, Schema Therapy, EMDR), his primary modality is Psychodynamic Psychotherapy. This is a long-term form of therapy that utilises a close relationship between therapist and patient on at least a weekly-basis. Together, patient and therapist delve deeply into unconscious patterns that result in problems in relationships, feelings, and thoughts.
Psychiatry
Specialty training in Psychiatry today rests upon an integrated understanding of the “biopsychosocial model” to facilitate a patient’s individual recovery. The “biopsychosocial model” is a framework of understanding that draws out a holistic perspective of a patient’s mental health through bological, psychological, and sociocultural lenses. Medication is one small component of a holistic approach. When used judiciously, medication can enhance engagement in and response to other therapies, including psychological therapies and complimentary therapies, such as animal assisted therapy, art therapy, and dramatherapy.