Dr Sue Gessler

Dr Gessler is consultant clinical psychologist at UCLH, honorary senior lecturer in the UCL Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Department of Women’s Cancer, Institute for Women's Health and currently psychology Lead for the North London Cancer Network.

Her clinical training was at St George’s Hospital, Tooting/University of Surrey and she was awarded her PhD from King’s College London. During and after her PhD, she worked clinically in the department of Psychological Medicine at King’s College Hospital/Institute of Psychiatry. She then joined the clinical health psychology department at UCLH and was appointed consultant in 2003.

She specialises in psychological responses to physical illness and trauma, particularly in gynaecological cancer: and psychological responses in the individual and their family faced with genetic susceptibility to cancer. A nationally recognised facilitator for Advanced Communications Skills Training for clinicians since 2005, she runs courses for senior clinicians in cancer and is developing intermediate training courses for practitioners in other branches of medicine with challenging communications issues.

She employs a wide range of therapeutic techniques, including cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and psychodynamic approaches, using group and individual therapy. She has a formal training in brief dynamic therapy (Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy, IAPT recognised).

Special interests:

• Decision-making about complex decisions including prophylactic surgery
• Helping adjustment to trauma of life-threatening disease and treatment for patients and families
• Sexuality after cancer treatment
• Anxiety -management during cancer treatment and its attendant investigations
• Communications skills training