Staff Spotlight
Dr. Mahesh Menon, Psychologist
Kicking off our highlight of Psychology Month, we caught up with Dr. Mahesh Menon, Psychologist at Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH). Dr. Menon is a key team member within two programs: the BC Psychosis Program (BCPP) at UBC Hospital (UBCH) and the CRT (cognitive remediation training) Advanced Practice.
BCPP is a PHSA-funded tertiary program for clients from across the province. It has a strong research focus and aspires to integrate cutting-edge approaches to help clients. The CRT Advanced Practice is also a unique program, in that it is jointly funded by the ministries of health and mental health & substance use (MoH & MMHSU). This program allows Dr. Menon and other team members to work with clinicians across all six health authorities in developing novel interventions to help improve functioning in clients with psychosis.
Career growth in Vancouver, B.C.
Originally from India, Dr. Menon got his Ph.D. in the UK and did fellowships at UBC in 2004 and then at CAMH in Toronto, where he worked before relocating back to B.C. in 2012. When BCPP moved to this acute facility, he saw the opportunity to develop a comprehensive assessment and treatment service, and to integrate research findings into clinical settings.
“I am the Clinical Lead for the BC Cognitive Remediation Advanced Practice,” he says. “I really enjoy the clinical work- better understanding my patients, and helping them through the challenges of psychosis.”
This exciting and new initiative was the result of research done at UBC and others done over the last few years. “We are in the midst of a provincial pilot project, offering cognitive remediation to clients with a schizophrenia spectrum diagnosis across the province,” says Dr. Menon.
At BCPP, the team offers a range of group therapies- including a CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) based group for hallucinations, another called ‘metacognitive training for psychosis’- which helps patients understand cognitive biases associated with delusions, and cognitive remediation. Dr. Menon also sees patients for individual psychotherapy.
Multidisciplinary teamwork
“BCPP is a wonderful multidisciplinary team, so a part of each day involves collaborating with my co-workers (including nursing staff, the OT, the rec therapist and others) in care planning for our patients,” he says. “The team also completes neuropsychological assessments for our patients (with help from our psychometrist), to help understand any cognitive issues that might be present and impact their functioning.”
Dr. Menon also has psychology residents and PhD students completing clinical rotations so he provides supervision and oversight for the patients that they are working with. In addition, he has a research program focused on psychosocial interventions for psychosis. “My lab looks at new therapies for psychosis (such as ‘avatar therapy for persistent voices’), and also looks brain changes associated with psychosocial interventions.”
In his role with the CRT Advanced Practice, Dr. Menon and his team provide training, support and consultations as they roll out the CRT programs for clients at their sites.
Inspirational moments
Two big sources of inspiration for Dr. Menon have been- (i) seeing clients who have struggled with symptoms of psychosis (like paranoia and persistent voices) find ways to overcome these difficulties and reconnect with their lives and experience joy and safety, and (ii) seeing ideas transform into research projects, and then become routine clinical interventions.
A clinical trial to pilot project
A few years ago, Dr. Menon and his team ran a small clinical trial to look at how interventions like cognitive remediation and metacognitive training for psychosis might help clients in the community. The positive findings and support from a number of stakeholders (including families and organizations like the BC Schizophrenia Society) lead them to submit a proposal to the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Mental Health & Substance Use. This eventually resulted in funding to develop the Advanced Practice and a province-wide pilot project- whereby the team could create pilot sites and train clinicians across BC to deliver cognitive remediation.
“The directors of MHSU, Andrew MacFarlane and Dr. Lakshmi Yatham, were instrumental in developing and supporting this initiative, and thus allowing us to take interventions which have been shown to be effective and bring them into routine clinical practice,” says Dr. Menon.
Closing off, Dr. Menon recognizes his team and says “I have truly wonderful colleagues at both BCPP and the CRT Advanced Practice.”
Join our team
Explore the current career opportunities for Psychologists at Vancouver Coastal Health.