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Biography

Dr Amita Jassi is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist at the National and Specialist OCD, BDD and Related Disorder Service for Children and Young People (South London and Maudsley NHS Trust). She has worked with this client group since 2006. Amita is the lead for the BDD service as well as the Research Lead for the clinic. She is the Equality and Diversity Lead National Specialist CAMHS.

 

In her clinical role, she leads multi-disciplinary specialist assessments and develops and delivers individually-tailored treatment packages, including weekly, intensive, home-based and inpatient treatment, as well as offering consultation and joint work with clinicians around the country.

 

Following the completion of her training in Clinical Psychology in 2006, Amita worked in socially deprived areas in West London setting up Psychology services in pre-school children in Children Centres. Following this, in 2008 she returned to South London and Maudsley NHS Trust to work on the first randomised controlled trial to examine the effectiveness of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) in people with Autism. This fused her passion of working with OCD whilst undertaking high quality clinical research.

 

This fusion has continued when she joined the National Specialist OCD, BDD and related disorders team in 2010, where she worked on further trials as well as contributing to the clinical service.  Her career has continued within the team where she is now a Consultant Clinical Psychologist leading the pioneering BDD branch of the service. She is also the research lead for the service, supporting the team to continue to contribute to the evidence-base with clinically informed high-quality research in OCD, BDD and related disorders.

 

In addition to her active clinical and research career, Amita has taught and trained nationally and internationally on child and adolescent OCD and BDD and engages in media work to promote awareness and understanding of these conditions. She is also a trustee of the BDD Foundation charity.

 

Research

Research interests include OCD, BDD and related disorders; phenomenology, factors affecting treatment outcomes, developing and improving treatments for these conditions, impact of ethnicity on access and treatment, family accommodation, ASD, multi-family group.

 

Awards and Grants

2012 – NHS Hero award – won award following nomination by young person for going ‘above and beyond’ what was needed for his OCD treatment.

2012 – Biomedical Research Centre (principal investigator) – awarded two days a week for 6 months pay cover to work on research examining treatment outcomes for treatment resistant OCD and improving treatments for people with ASD and OCD.

2012 – Awarded £43000 by Maudsley Charity Grant (co-applicant) – Children from ethnic minorities with obsessive compulsive disorder: reducing inequalities and improving access to evidence-based treatment.

2014 – Awarded £24,000 by Maudsley Charity (co-applicant) – Internet-based cognitive behaviour therapy for children and adolescents with OCD: development of a novel program

2016 – Biomedical Research Centre (principal investigator) – awarded one day a week for 9 months to develop and evaluate treatment protocol for young people with OCD and ASD.

2016 – Awarded £50,000 – Maudsley Charity (principal investigator) – Reducing inequalities in access to services for OCD for young people and families from ethnic minority backgrounds.

 

Education and Training

• BSc (Hons) Psychology, Brunel University, 2002.
• DClinPsy, Kings College London (Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience), 2006.  

Publications

Books

Jassi, A. D. (2013). Can I tell you about OCD?: A guide for friends, family and professionals. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. 

Jassi, A.D. (2020). Challenging OCD in young people with ASD. A CBT manual for therapists. London, UK. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Jassi, A.D. (2020). Challenge your OCD! A CBT workbook for young people with ASD. London, UK. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Jassi, A .D, Clark., B., Bowyer, L., Lewis, A., Peile, L., Monzani, B. & Krebs, L. (2019). Appearance Anxiety: A book on BDD for Young People, Families and Professionals. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London.

Russell, A., Jassi, A.D, & Johnston, K. (2018). OCD and Autism: A Clinician’s Guide to Adapting CBT. London, UK. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. 

Schnackenberg, N., Monzani, B. & Jassi, A.D. (2020). The Parents' Guide to Body Dysmorphic Disorder: How to Support Your Child, Teen or Young Adult. London, UK. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

 

Peer reviewed papers

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Amita-Jassi