How psychiatrists introduce themselves in the first consultation may influence the therapeuticrelationship. There is no evidence about what type of introduction patients prefer.

To assess experimentally patients' preferences for how psychiatrists introduce themselves.

Twelve psychiatrists were filmed, each with three different introductions: stating name, profession and reason for consultation; the same, plus information on what will happen during the consultation; and the same, plus disclosure of a personal difficulty. Six randomly selected videos, of different psychiatrists, two of each type of introduction, were rated by each of 120 psychiatric in- and out-patients on Likert-type scales.

Patients gave the most positive ratings to psychiatrists who introduced themselves with information about what will happen in the consultation rather than ones with briefer introductions or with additional personal disclosure (P = 0.002). Preferences were similar in different subgroups.

Psychiatrists should introduce themselves with information about what they intend to do in theconsultation, but without personal disclosure.

The aim of the survey was to establish the organisational structure and practice of specialised services for post-traumatic stress in the UK. Questionnaires were collected from 17 specialised trauma services across the UK.

Specialised trauma services use similar therapeutic programmes, but differ with respect to the characteristics of the treated clientele and organisational features. Although almost all services routinely measure outcome, some of the instruments used vary. There is no clear association between staff resources and number of patients treated.

Specialised traumatic stress services in the UK employ evidence-based treatment methods. A uniform protocol to measure outcome may help to establish a common UK-wide database on outcome of specialised treatment, and facilitate a reliable comparison between different service organisations and programmes. Organisational features should be considered to increase the efficiency of services.