Meet Devika Colwill, Consultant Psychiatrist, Expert Witness & Founder

CONSULTANT PSYCHIARTRIST, EXPERT WITNESS & FOUNER OF EVERYDAY PSYCHIATRIST

Devika Colwill

"My inspiration comes from seeing the life changing results of good emotional health."

What does your job involve, in a nutshell?

As a consultant psychiatrist, I am a doctor first and foremost, diagnosing and treating mental health problems. There is a definite distinction between my private and NHS work. Within the private system, I see my role as an ‘emotional fitness trainer’ working with generally high functioning individuals with depression, anxiety or addictions. For the NHS, I lead a mental health rehab service for people who are severely affected by serious mental illness such as Schizophrenia, Bipolar disorder or Severe depressive illness.

As an expert witness, I assist the courts by breaking down complex medical issues that relate to my area of expertise, psychiatric injury, which encompasses medical negligence, personal injury and occasionally criminal behaviour associated with mental health.

What is your typical working day and how have you adapted during the lockdown?

During my private practice you would usually find me in a clinic talking to patients. These days people are becoming more comfortable with virtual clinics over Zoom or Skype. On my NHS days, my physical presence at the hospital has increased due to the triple whammy of serious mental illness, threat of coronavirus, and lockdown (invariably bad for mental health).

Expert witness days would see me travelling to London to interview clients, distilling volumes of clinical notes into reports and talking to lawyers. Interviewing clients from home now feels strange. In this line of work, when there is a lot at stake, face to face meetings are often warranted.

Covid-19 has made me far more agile with my working practices. As virtual meetings have gone up, I’ve benefited from reading tips from Steven G. Rogelberg, Ph.D. (a bit of a meeting nerd), to help get results in half the time. My traditional thinking on clinics has been crushed. My catchment area is now the whole of the UK. There is something very rewarding about helping a young woman from an underserved area of Wales overcome depression to return to finish her Masters – all while sitting in your office in Sussex.

What led you to psychiatry in particular?

All of us are shaped by our stories. As a child, I experienced the effects of mental ill-health and addictions among some close family members. I felt the dramatic change once they were able to get the help they needed. Due to shame or lack of understanding, it is hard to get help for mental ill-health, even in this day and age.

My inspiration comes from seeing the life-changing results and generational benefits of good emotional health. When you help a mother with postnatal depression, not only do you help transform how the mother copes, you also help shape the baby’s brain positively, otherwise known as neuroplasticity, and set that child up for life. Talk about loving your work!

Besides the official qualifications, what are the personal skills you need to be a Consultant psychiatrist?

High levels of emotional intelligence and advanced communication skills. Listening carefully to what is being said, as well as not being said. You need to be empathic, but remain objective. If you were judgemental, someone struggling with a serious addiction would not want to talk to you; however you need to be honest about what needs to change with kindness and compassion, then help them make that change. That takes skill.

As for advanced communication skills, with limited time you must build trust and rapport quickly, to reach an understanding of the sometimes very painful issues that need treatment. Unlike any other medical specialty, psychiatry requires you to be a coach, a guide, a medical practitioner and a confidant all at the same time.

What do you think is the most common misconception about your job?

Oh, I could talk a lot on this one. Often, people don’t know the difference between a psychiatrist and a therapist. People mistake you for a life coach even. Psychiatrists are medically trained doctors, who have spent at the very least 13 to 14 years in medical training, with hands-on experience in mental health. I have written a blog post on Everyday Psychiatrist on the common myths about psychiatrists.

What’s the worst career advice you’ve ever received?

‘Keep your head down, it’s not good to draw too much attention to yourself. It could harm your career’ – from a senior colleague when I started questioning some dubious practices and trying to make changes as a relative newcomer. Very well intended advice, but leadership comes with a willingness and responsibility to make some waves when things are not working. My decision to persist helped transform that service and set it on a path of excellence. Looking back I am grateful I didn’t listen.