Louise Kenward

Writer, artist and psychologist at ZebraPsych (psychology related work)

Media and Publishing

After a twenty-year career as a psychologist, Louise began writing in response to developing chronic illness in 2011. She has since combined the two, writing and speaking for patient and practitioner forums on themes of complex and poorly understood illness. She has particularly worked on developing understanding of the misattribution of psychogenic interpretations of chronic energy limiting conditions such as Myalgic Encephalomylitis (ME/CFS). These illnesses have been poorly addressed in medicine and research, and the historical harmful framing of ME/CFS, a complex neurological disease, as psychological in nature, contributes to continuing experiences of medical trauma for many patients today.

She is currently working with the British Psychological Society (BPS) to address these themes further and is co-chair for the BPS on the Attitudes and Education group, with the Department of Health and Social Care on the implementation process for the NICE guidance for ME/CFS. She advocated discontinuing the use of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and GET (graded exercise therapy) that had long been the treatment protocol for ME/CFS, and which the new NICE guidance has now removed. She continues to write about the harm caused by terms such as medically unexplained symptoms and has forthcoming chapters in psychology and psychotherapy books on these topics.