William Quarrier Scottish Epilepsy Centre appoints Clinical Psychologist

The appointment reinforces the patient-centred ethos of the centre and Quarriers’ commitment to understanding the psychology around diagnosis and the treatment of epilepsy. Dr Campbell forms part of the senior decision making team, giving him the chance to influence change for the better.

Dr Iain Campbell said: “As a psychologist I’m trained to assess, formulate and treat individuals who present with highly complex mental and physical health difficulties.

“The role of the clinical psychologist is twofold: clinically, there is a service to be delivered to each patient that comes through our door to ensure they receive the gold standard assessment and intervention you would expect from a national specialist centre.

“Secondly, there is an educational role to help wider society understand the role of psychology and the wider work of the Centre around the treatment of epilepsy.”

Dr Campbell has worked in mental health for 15 years, 10 of which have been in clinical psychology. He completed his clinical psychology doctorate in Glasgow, specialising in neuropsychology and working with people living with long term health conditions.

He added: “As well as our patients having seizures that disrupt their lives and require specialist care, they will often be facing a number of additional challenges including mental and physical health problems and the social strife that often accompanies these. Helping our patients make sense of their seizures within this complex context is our job.

“I help patients in two ways: firstly I offer a neuropsychological assessment – this is a comprehensive assessment of thinking skills designed to both aid other colleagues in making diagnostic and treatment decisions and to help patients better understand their strengths and weaknesses and how to use these to live the best life they can.

“I also help people who are having difficulty coming to terms with their diagnosis and the dramatic effect that new or increasing seizures can have on their lives. I can point them towards services in their local area that they can lean upon once they are back at home.”

As well as his busy role at Quarriers, Dr Campbell is a keen marathon runner and he’s set himself a three marathon challenge for the year planning to run the Edinburgh, Callander and Amsterdam marathons, raising money for the William Quarrier Scottish Epilepsy Centre.

Commenting on the appointment Alice Harper, Chief Executive Officer said: “We are thrilled to welcome Dr Iain Campbell to the team. His background and expertise are an excellent addition to the William Quarrier Scottish Epilepsy Centre and will ensure we are able to provide the best quality care to our patients.”