David Sturgeon: consultant psychiatrist who provided counselling to victims of the 2005 terrorists attacks

For many years, David Sturgeon was a lecturer in psychiatry at Middlesex Hospital in London, where he encouraged generations of medical students and junior doctors to consider a psychotherapeutic approach when dealing with patients.

He was an outstanding teacher, known for his great empathy and understanding. He emphasised that “learning came from patients and not just diseases,” and he encouraged his students to relate to patients as people and to understand the psychological aspects of physical illness, a stance that was groundbreaking at the time.

He made many academic contributions, including to First Steps in Psychotherapy, edited by Heinz Wolff, his former teacher. He, Wolff, and Anthony Bateman later successfully revised the well known UCH Textbook of Psychiatry, originally written by Roger Tredgold.

Sturgeon also became involved in a joint research project with the University of Heidelberg and the department of psychological medicine at University College Hospital (UCH) London that looked at the teaching of psychotherapy to medical students.1

The research concluded: “Since so many patients have mingled with their illness psychological factors which require …