We are delighted to welcome Benjamin Hassan to the clinic team!
Benjamin Hassan, Gibraltarian born, is a psychotherapist with a particular interest and specialization in medical trauma psychotherapy. Benjamin has extensive experience of working for the National Health Service in United Kingdom having held the post of Senior Psychotherapist. In this post he was responsible for the service delivery and development of the Psychotherapy Department with the lead Consultant at Kings College Hospital London. He worked very closely with many of the staff and patients in the departments of psychological medicine, neurology, palliative care, transplantation, accident and emergency, stroke, rehabilitation, dementia, amputees, sexual clinics and many others. Benjamin went on to lecture nationally and internationally on aspects of medical conditions and their psychological impact on the life cycle.
More recently, Benjamin worked for the UNITED NATIONS under the office of the high Commissioner for Refugees. His role was to assess and implement Psychological services for African Refugees in Israel. During this time, Benjamin developed specific clinics, seeing patients and managing the clinicians working in areas that ranged from immediate crisis intervention, psychological first aid, sexual and gender base violence, psychosomatic and post traumatic stress disorder. In the two years that Benjamin served as Project Manager for psychological and mental health services for the UNHCR in Israel, he obtained further support from the European Union and acknowledgement for his creative and professional work in the field of trauma and medical psychological care in humanitarian settings. Outside of public service, Benjamin has been working in private practice and continues to be involved with other colleagues in clinical research in the field of trauma and the impact of terminal medical diagnosis on the lifecycle.
In the spring of this year, Benjamin returned to Gibraltar to join our practice and return home. Having the opportunity to work in such dynamic settings and gain a broad wealth of experience he feels it is the right time to return and start using what he has gained abroad and bring it to his own people here on the Rock. He strongly believes, having kept informed of the development of psychological and mental health services in Gibraltar that it is progressing in the right direction, with many allied professionals such as counsellors and psychologists offering good services. It is however in his opinion important that in such a community specialist confidential psychotherapeutic services particularly in the area of medical psychotherapy exist. He explains that Gibraltar is a wonderful community where people look out for one another. There is an assumption that people do not suffer in silence and that there is always a friend, lover or another with whom they can confide and find support. This is very important, however not always enough, particularly for those situations in life when an individual finds that they are asking themselves the same questions and feeling that things have a grip on them. In the case of individuals with mental health issues or specifically anyone experiencing unmanageable levels of anxiety, there really is no need to struggle with these alone. Professional psychotherapists and other clinicians have developed understanding to work with these areas and facilitate the development of stronger resilience with these struggles. Most closely to Benjamin heart and in his words he “has had the privilege to work with many ordinary individuals and family members who have had the misfortunate of being diagnosed with life changing diseases” and offer them professional attention in finding ways to manage the impact this has on their living. His clinics are carefully informed by a strong background in a broad range of fields and designed to meet his patient’s needs.
Benjamin believes that everyone in Gibraltar and anywhere else needs to know that there exists an open space where they can bring questions that are replaying in their minds and be with another with whom you can think the unthinkable and speak the unspeakable.
To make an appointment to meet with Benjamin at the specialist medical clinic or for more enquires please contact T +200 49999 or at reception@smg.gi
