Dr Hamilton McBrien

Dr Hamilton McBrien

Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist

Dr Hamilton McBrien is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist with over 25 years of experience working with children, young people and their families across a wide range of mental health difficulties.

Over the course of his career, Dr McBrien has worked with young people experiencing difficulties ranging from ADHD, anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and emotional and behavioural difficulties through to more complex mood disorders, severe mental health problems and presentations requiring intensive support. His extensive experience means that he is able to consider the whole picture when assessing a young person, including their emotional wellbeing, development, relationships, family circumstances, education and wider environment.

Dr McBrien believes that a good psychiatric assessment should be more than simply identifying a diagnosis. It should help a young person and their family understand what may be happening, why difficulties have developed and what can realistically be done to help.

A collaborative approach

From the first consultation, Dr McBrien aims to establish a positive and trusting relationship with the young person. He takes time to listen to their perspective and understand their individual experience, while also recognising the important contribution parents and carers can make.

Where appropriate and with the young person's agreement, he works collaboratively with families to develop a treatment plan. Confidentiality and trust are central to his approach, particularly for adolescents, and he aims to create an environment in which young people feel able to speak openly while ensuring that parents receive the information and support they need.

Treatment is individualised and evidence-based. Depending on the difficulties identified, this may include advice about psychological or behavioural approaches, practical strategies, family support, medication, or a combination of these. Dr McBrien has extensive experience in the use of medication in children and young people, including assessing whether medication is appropriate, discussing potential benefits and side effects, and monitoring treatment carefully over time.

He draws on current evidence and professional guidance, including NICE and Royal College of Psychiatrists guidance, while recognising that every young person is different and that treatment needs to be tailored to the individual rather than simply following a standard pathway.

Extensive clinical and leadership experience

Dr McBrien's consultant career has included some of the most complex areas of child and adolescent mental health care.

His first consultant post was with Barnet, Enfield & Haringey Mental Health Trust, where he was Lead Clinician for the Haringey Adolescent Outreach Team, providing crisis assessment, treatment and intensive support to young people with severe mental health difficulties, often with the aim of preventing hospital admission.

He subsequently became a Consultant Psychiatrist in a medium-secure service in Greater London, later becoming its Medical Director. He worked with young people presenting with complex and high-risk mental health difficulties, including those requiring care under the Mental Health Act.

Dr McBrien then became Medical Director and Lead Child & Adolescent Consultant Psychiatrist at Priory Hospital North London, where he led an adolescent inpatient service. He subsequently became Clinical Director for CAMHS across the Priory Group, working with clinical and operational colleagues to oversee standards of care across its CAMHS services. He also undertook the role of Interim Medical Director for the Priory Group.

He later became Medical Director and Lead Child & Adolescent Consultant Psychiatrist at Priory Roehampton, where he worked alongside senior colleagues to develop and maintain high standards of clinical care. During his time at Priory, he also led the development and opening of a private CAMHS inpatient service.

This breadth of experience has given Dr McBrien considerable insight into the different levels of support that young people may require — from an initial assessment and advice through to ongoing treatment and, where necessary, more intensive psychiatric care.

Looking ahead with young people

Dr McBrien also recognises that adolescence is a period of significant change. As young people approach adulthood, he works with them and their families, where appropriate, to consider their preferences and future needs and to support a smooth transition to adult psychiatric care when this is required.

He sees his role as helping young people and families make sense of difficulties, identify practical ways forward and feel more confident about the next steps.

Dr McBrien also sees patients through a range of private medical insurance (PMI) providers, subject to individual insurer authorisation and policy terms.

Education and training

Dr McBrien began his medical training at Queen's University Belfast and completed his postgraduate psychiatric training in Dublin under the auspices of Trinity College Dublin. He subsequently undertook higher specialist training in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry within the South London and Maudsley training scheme at King's College London.

He brings together this specialist training with more than two decades of clinical experience to provide careful, comprehensive and individualised psychiatric assessment and treatment for children, adolescents and their families.

Diseases, Medical Tests and Treatments

• Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT)
• Anxiety Attack Treatment
• Mental Health Treatment
• Young People's Services
• Adjustment Disorder
• Anger Management
• Bereavement
• Phobias
• Anxiety
• Panic Disorder
• Separation Anxiety Disorder
• Health Anxiety Disorder
• Social Anxiety Disorder
• General Anxiety DIsorder
• Anxiety Attack Treatment
• Asperger Syndrome
• Autisitic Spectrum Disorer
• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD)
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)
• Conduct Disorder
• Depression
• Recurrent Depression
• Gender Dysphoria
• Medically Unexplained Symptoms (MUS)
• Mental Health Treatment
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
• Oppositional Defiance Disorder
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
• Selective Mutism
• Self Harm
• Sleep Disorders (Insomnia)
• Somatic Symptom Disorder (SSD)
• Stress
• Tourette's Syndrome
• Trichotillomania
• Young People's Services