“Implications of Predictive Processing for Mental Health Clinicians”

Synopsis:

It is not uncommon that we hear about some fascinating new theory about brain & mind, which has very limited relevance for what we do in the clinic. A family of new theories have emerged in the past ten years bringing together evidence from cognitive neuropsychology, neuroimaging, neural networks and other branches of cognitive neuroscience, which may be the exception to this rule.

Predictive Processing (PP) and related theories offer a much more powerful explanatory model than anything I have seen before. They paint is a radical picture of brain and mind, which has the potential to revolutionise the way we think of diagnosis and explanation in mental health. Importantly, they also have, in my view, implications for what we do in the clinic right now.

I will outline the principles and supporting evidence of PP and then I will consider how PP may change our understanding of a range of conditions. Finally, I will explain why I feel that PP should feature in the reformulations of psychological problems we offer our patients in our consultation with them.

Speaker:

Dr Filippo Passetti trained in medicine in Florence, Italy, before completing a PhD in Experimental Psychology in Cambridge. He was passionate about research, particularly on decision-making processes and the relationship between mind and brain. After several years of preclinical research, he felt a desire for his work to have more practical applications. This led him back to clinical work, where he completed his psychiatric training in Cambridge and London. During this time, he served as a clinical lecturer, enabling him to conduct research on decision-making abnormalities associated with addiction.

Dr Passetti held consultant posts in addiction psychiatry in London and Cambridge but realised that working as a consultant in the public sector involved significant administrative duties with limited hands-on clinical psychiatry. Since April 2013, he has been working exclusively in the private sector. He worked as a visiting consultant at the Priory Roehampton and now holds outpatient clinics at Cognacity and the London General Practice in Harley Street, as well as at the Sloane Medical Practice in Chelsea. Cognacity is an association of psychiatrists and psychologists with a shared vision of mental health care.