Dr Cheryl Rezek is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist chartered with the British Psychological Society, who has worked across various fields of mental health for twenty years. She has combined clinical and academic work, working with children, families and adults with a range of psychological difficulties, and across a spectrum of assessment and psychological interventions. Service development and the development of treatment programmes has been an important aspect of her clinical work, in combination with her psychotherapy experience. She has developed specialist treatment programmes and she has specific interests in trauma and substance misuse. The latter years have focused on being the lead psychologist for both forensic addictions and women’s services.
She maintained academic and teaching links to the doctoral training courses for Clinical Psychology across the North Thames region. She managed and organised the Specialist Clinical Forensic Teaching Unit for the Doctoral Clinical Psychology training at the University of East London, she was a guest lecturer on the various doctoral trainings across the region, part of selection panels, an external marker, a member of curriculum committees, and a supervisor and mentor. Internally and externally, she provides teaching and supervision to training and qualified psychologists, psychotherapists, other professionals and managers, as well as consultancy work on service development and clinical matters.
She has held master classes and lectured on a variety of subjects, including psychodynamic therapy and supervision, boundaries, risk assessment and management, substance misuse, addictions treatment programmes, the development of forensic women’s services, a treatment programme for those with borderline personality disorders, identifying and dealing with traumatic experiences and memories, forming therapeutic relationships, and the use of mindfulness for the therapist and within the therapeutic relationship. She lectured to the public on issues around death and dying, systemic issues within families, and the implications of addiction on both the individual and the family during her years with hospice.
Dr Rezek was a leading member of an NHS Trust committee involved in the development and evaluation of risk assessment tools in general and community psychiatric areas, and she was on the working party for the development of a Needs Assessment project for the Department of Health. She has written and published material on mindfulness, therapy, depression, traumatic experiences, substance misuse and offending.