Profile
Rachel Holland is a chartered clinical psychologist with the British Psychological Society who specialises in psycho-oncology (the psychological care of cancer patients and their families).
Originally from England, she moved to Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1995 to study psychology at Queen’s University. During clinical training, she did research on peri-traumatic dissociation during childbirth as a predictor of posttraumatic distress following birth. Rachel also completed an advanced practicum at the Department of Veterans Affairs, National Center for PTSD, in Boston, MA.Rachel was a clinical psychologist in cancer care and gynecology at the Belfast City Hospital at the Department of Clinical Health Psychology. She was also a manager for Macmillan’s flagship Support and Information Centre for Northern Ireland, where she led a multidisciplinary team that offered a range of psychosocial supports for people affected by cancer.Rachel has developed her meditation practice through Potala Kadampa Buddhist Centre in Belfast. She teaches meditation in clinical settings and gives people practical advice on how to solve daily problems by finding a reliable source of happiness.In 2005, Rachel met Stan Tatkin at a trauma conference and was inspired by his approach to couple therapy. In 2011, she returned to England, where she worked at Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centre in Cheltenham for a year, before taking up her current role as Macmillan principal clinical psychologist in Buckinghamshire. Rachel works for the National Health Service (NHS) and is based at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. She has developed a couple therapy service using PACT with cancer patients and their partners as part of the range of therapies offered by the Psycho-Oncology Service.Rachel has completed a postgraduate degree in advanced reflexive supervision and supervises cross-professionally, using a process framework that allows supervisees to explore the empathic connection between them and their clients.Rachel is engaged to her long-term partner, Stephen.