I’m Dr Rachel Fraser. I am a perinatal psychologist based in Glasgow, and I work face-to-face and online with parents, prospective parents and their little ones. I’m also mum to two wonderful, crazy school age boys. I’ve experienced a difficult first birth, and also how different and more positive second birth can be.

My clinical experience

I am the consultant clinical psychologist for NHS Lothian’s Perinatal Mental Health Service, both for the community team and the Mother & Baby mental health inpatient unit.

I have worked in many parts of the NHS, which including Mother & Baby, Community Mental Health, Psychiatric Crisis and Acute Inpatient settings. For some years I have also been a Consultant Clinical Psychologist for an expert witness organisation in the Family Court assessment of complex families in matters pertaining to parenting, trauma, development and family assessment.

I trained to doctoral level in Clinical Psychology at the University of Essex/ Tavistock Clinic, where I undertook research at the Anna Freud Centre on the quality of the mother-infant relationship as part of their Parent-Infant Psychotherapy Programme under supervision of Prof Peter Fonagy. Training includes: Reflective Parenting, Mentalisation-based Therapy, Behavioural Family Therapy and the Emotional Availability Scales (parent-infant interaction), Brazelton Newborn Observation (NBO) and Video Interaction Guidance (VIG). As well as Clinical Psychology training, I completed a Mental Health MSc at King’s College London/ Institute of Psychiatry with a specialism in psychodynamic psychotherapy which included infant observation.

Strategy & Consultancy

I have substantial experience of strategic, service development and consultancy work, to the health and voluntary sectors. This includes two years as Lead in Scotland for the Parent-Infant Foundation, providing national consultancy in infant mental health development, as well as focused support to parent-infant service development in NHS Highland and NHS Lothian. I have led projects large and small, from providing consultancy and reflective practice to the wonderful Amma Birth Companions in Glasgow, to leading psychology work supporting development in a large scale national Scottish Government MH pilot.

Supervision & Reflective Practice

I have offered clinical supervision and mentoring to NHS and independent perinatal psychologists for some years, and my supervisory practice is supportive, interactive, relationally focused and draws primarily on perinatal psychology, developmental psychoanalysis, mentalisation and attachment theories. Similarly I have many years’ experience running reflective practice groups and sessions both within the NHS and voluntary sectors across perinatal MH, maternity, support and community MH settings. My reflective practice offer integrates those theories mentioned above with trauma-informed, strengths-based working.

Qualifications and training include:

Doctorate in Clinical Psychology

(Doctoral research in Parental Emotional Availability carried out at Anna Freud Centre, London under supervision of Prof Peter Fonagy)

MSc Mental Health Studies (specialism Psychodynamic Psychotherapy)

Supervision (UCL, update University of Glasgow)

Mentalisation-based Treatment

Reflective Parenting (mentalisation-based parenting)

Brazelton Newborn Observation

Emotional Availability Scales

Solihull Parenting Approach

Behavioural Family Therapy

Video Interaction Guidance (VIG)