Presenting at the British Hyperbaric Association Annual Conference 2022

This month I was honored to be invited to the British Hyperbaric Association (BHA) annual meeting, and conference hosted by DDRC Healthcare (was Diving Diseases Research Centre). I was delighted to have the opportunity to talk about my work and share the ways that Diving Psychology can help divers. I presented a recent case, where the diver was helped to recover from a distressing diving experience … Continue reading Presenting at the British Hyperbaric Association Annual Conference 2022

Dr Laura Walton25th November 202225th November 2022

Approaches to support divers following an incident in scuba diving, NEWS, TRAUMA

New page to inform divers of support and self-help when a dive goes badly wrong

Do you think there is enough information and support for scuba divers after diving goes wrong? Not the immediate rescue, aftermath and medical assistance, but resources for mental and emotional impact. What about when there was no need for rescue and support, yet the diver is struggling to make sense of what happened or experiencing post-trauma issues. Would you be aware of options in this … Continue reading New page to inform divers of support and self-help when a dive goes badly wrong

Dr Laura Walton27th July 202227th July 2022

NEWS

Diver Panic: new survey & in depth article

If you’ve been following my work in diving psychology, you’ll know one of the topics of interest is panic and anxiety in scuba diving. You may also have noticed that the handful of surveys I tend to quote are rather old! That’s not because I do not look, it’s because there just is not a lot of research on this issue. Something to also note: … Continue reading Diver Panic: new survey & in depth article

Dr Laura Walton3rd February 202210th May 2022

Personal reflections and guest posts

Building comfort with scuba mask skills with psychology

Are there any scuba diving skills you struggle with, or feel nervous about? It’s natural to find ways to try to avoid the anxiety, but moving away from an emotion tends to increase its hold, and can lead to blockages in the learning process. On the Psychology for Scuba Divers course, there is a place to reflect on what we need to learn effectively. One … Continue reading Building comfort with scuba mask skills with psychology

Dr Laura Walton27th March 202110th May 2022

NEWS

FIT TO DIVE: Time to let you know what is going on!

You may have noticed a few changes on scubapsyche.com in the last few days. I want to let you in on what is going on. The major change is that I’ve officially set up a company to be the place I offer services and courses for divers: FIT TO DIVE LTD. I want to make that a space that divers can find information, create inspiration … Continue reading FIT TO DIVE: Time to let you know what is going on!

Dr Laura Walton1st January 202110th May 2022

NEWS, Personal reflections and guest posts

The first post-lockdown dives of summer 2020

Knowing (or rather not knowing) the risks around Covid 19 and it’s potential implications for scuba diving, like a lot of divers I’ve been pretty cautious about going out for a dive. So, following all the advice to stay home and protect each other, I focused on my work and offering PADI Psychological Diver online. This has been an incredible experience and I’ve very much … Continue reading The first post-lockdown dives of summer 2020

Dr Laura Walton14th July 202010th May 2022

NEWS, Press features, interviews and podcasts

First podcast interview about dive psychology

“Are you a scuba diver? Fancy a brew?” was essentially the message I got from Andy. He’d noticed my Instagram name was laura_scubapsychologist and thought we might be interested in talking about the same things. The focus of Andy’s podcast is mental resilience and wellbeing in scuba diving – whether that’s how diving helps us with that, or how we can work on ourselves to … Continue reading First podcast interview about dive psychology

Dr Laura Walton2nd July 202010th May 2022

Events, NEWS

“If Only … “

Have you been affected by things other divers do? Or forget to do! Do you make mistakes when diving? I’d be very surprised if you said no. I know I’ve made plenty of mistakes as a diver, I don’t know a diver who hasn’t! In reality, most of the time we are lucky. Whether it’s jumping in with the wrong weight belt, descending while breathing … Continue reading “If Only … “

Dr Laura Walton17th June 202010th May 2022

NEWS

Officially qualified as EFR Mental Health Awareness Instructor

Today this certificate arrived! The course is well within my qualification as a Clinical Psychologist so, having seen the course, I applied direct to teach it. My experience is in working with mental health in the NHS and private practice, e.g. anxiety, depression, stress, trauma, bipolar and psychosis. But I’ve tended to avoid offering services to support mental and emotional wellbeing for divers, choosing to … Continue reading Officially qualified as EFR Mental Health Awareness Instructor

Dr Laura Walton1st June 202010th May 2022

Events, NEWS

Talking about calm breathing live on PADI Facebook

With Covid-19 measures being put in place in Europe and the UK in late-March, divers are not only cancelling dive plans, we are also getting used to the idea we may be staying home for a while. PADI organised a series of Facebook Live talks for landlocked divers, looking at how what we’ve learned underwater can help us get through this stressful time. This talk … Continue reading Talking about calm breathing live on PADI Facebook

Dr Laura Walton7th April 202010th May 2022