Dr. Jose Belda

Consultant Psychiatrist -In Dubai

I have been a doctor since 1997 and I have worked in Psychiatry for over 20 years. Having worked in General Medicine in Spain, I trained in Psychiatry in the UK and have been a Member of the British  Royal College of Psychiatrists  since 2005. I have developed a community Eating Disorder Service, a Neuropsychiatry Liaison Service, Adult ADHD clinics at different locations in the UK and I have transformed an in-patient detoxification unit into an in-patient Dual Diagnosis Service. I have 6 years of experience working with people experiencing treatment resistant psychosis. I have ample experience in working with people from different ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds, and I ensure that my approach is culturally sensitive and acceptable to each individual irrespective of their creed, culture or ethnicity.

I have a keen interest in research which gives me the advantage to explore the effectiveness of other less known treatment options when the most commonly used ones fail to provide the desired answer. I am an avid reader and keep abreast of the latest research publications, which affords me with an up-to-date knowledge of pharmacological and other non-biological therapeutic interventions. Psychopathology, the science which studies the symptoms in the mind and makes possible to establish accurate diagnoses, is one of my passions.

I am a formal Educational Supervisor to psychiatric trainees and in the past years I have tutored medical students from King´s College London where I have been an external examiner for the final year medical students. I belong to the Madness and Literature” framework based at Nottingham University and, within this international framework, I have published a study exploring different authors’ mental health conditions and how it reflects in their literary works. When people feel stigmatised by a mental health problem, the knowledge that so many famous and successful authors have also suffered similar problems, provides in many cases the necessary reassurance to overcome their feelings.

My main strengths are a wide clinical versatility and a thorough understanding of the human nature which is instrumental in this field of medicine. I learn from my patients every day, as each individual is different, and understanding their experiences is a fundamental source of knowledge. This reciprocal communication and therapeutic alliance is in itself of great therapeutic value.