Dr Richard Graham, Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist, Clinical Director, Adolescent Directorate

Dr Richard Graham is Clinical Director of the Adolescent Directorate of the Tavistock Clinic, and is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist. After training in Medicine and Psychiatry in London, he specialised in Adolescent Psychiatry at the Tavistock Clinic, and has continued to work there as a senior clinician and trainer. In the spirit of the work of the Adolescent Directorate, he has been keen to recognise and work with the contemporary issues of adolescents, especially in the context of developments in media, technology and the internet. The impact of these changes has been of particular interest in terms of our understanding of the development of body image, self-esteem and peer relations, and of the addictive patterns of behaviour for some that play online games. He believes mental health services need to be aware of and engaged with technological developments to provide services that young people feel are relevant to their issues. This creates a particular problem for health services, especially given the rate of change and advance in technologies.