James Hawkins is a medical doctor and an accredited cognitive therapist. He also has training in interpersonal psychotherapy, problem solving and psychosexual medicine. He has been a lecturer on the South of Scotland cognitive therapy postgraduate training course, taught seminars for GP's on depression treatment and served on a Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network working party to develop anxiety treatment guidelines for Scottish doctors. He has chaired the clinical advisory group for DAS, Scotland’s main depression charity, acted as reviewer for papers on stress in the British Medical Journal, and lectured on conventional medications and complementary techniques.

wellbeing promotion

James has been fascinated since childhood with what makes 'a good life' – hence his initial reading of philosophy at university. In the early 1980's he took part in a one year cooperative inquiry into how doctors can better treat the 'whole person' and was then on the working party that set up the British Holistic Medical Association. In more recent years, James has welcomed the blossoming of research into wellbeing with its focus on personal strengths, positive emotions, self-determination, relationships, healthy behaviours, mindfulness & compassion. Enhancing wellbeing is of crucial importance because it boosts the likelihood of a healthy, successful lifestyle, reduces the risk of disease relapse, and makes life so much more enjoyable and worthwhile.

charges

A standard appointment is 60 to 75 minutes long and costs £80. Sometimes sessions take considerably longer or shorter and they may then be charged accordingly. For those paid for by private medical insurance the full rate is £95 per session. For those coming at reduced rates, costs are usually £70, £55 or £40 depending on income. Due to increased numbers coming at these rates, it is now necessary to limit the total number of reduced rate sessions to a maximum of 10 per person, and to limit the reduced fee to a minimum of £40 per session. All these costs compare well with fees typically charged for private medical consultations which are usually at least £120–180 per hour.

other costs

If your treatment involves books, tapes or supplements, the cost will be added to your account. When appropriate, initial & final letters to your GP are free of charge. You will however be charged for the time taken to complete other correspondence and phone calls. At times it is possible to monitor and advise on how you are responding to treatment by telephone or email. This obviously saves considerably on the expense and travel involved for a normal appointment. However it does take quite a lot of Dr. Hawkins's time. When it's appropriate, you can choose a telephone or email appointment instead of a normal one. Only the actual time taken for these follow up consultations is charged for.

reductions & donations

James doesn't want to turn people away for financial reasons - especially if effective treatment is not readily available elsewhere. If you find it a problem paying, please say so as it should be possible to give reductions. If it isn't a problem paying, do please consider making an additional donation to help those unable to manage the standard charges.