Improving mental health & wellbeing for adults & children born with a heart condition. 

Presentation from The British Psychological Society, Counselling Psychology Division, Annual Conference, 2018. 

"Your chapter provides new information for those of us, who have studied the bidirectionality of brain and body. As a scientist, I have frequently talked about the bidirectionality between heart and brain and between visceral states and mental function. However, your chapter truly provides a personal narrative of these concepts that has been missing from the scientific literature and specifically from Polyvagal Theory." Prof Stephen Porges, Neuroscientist.

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Morton, L. (2018) Born with a heart condition: The Clinical Implications of Polyvagal Theory in Clinical Applications of the Polyvagal Theory: The Emergence of Polyvagal-Informed Therapies edited by Prof Stephen Porges & Debs Dana. W.W. Norton & Company. NY. ​

​USA Orders
UK Orders
The Conversation
Consultancy 

​Presenting evidence to The Scottish Parliament, Petitions Committee, Nov 2012 on  'Scottish standards for the care of adult congenital heart patients' .  Click photo for link.  Photo Credit, Scottish Parliament Petitions Committee 

​Scarred FOR Life, is a special photo exhibition of adults born with a heart condition. Click the image above for more info. Brand: Mandy Maria

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Advocacy
As voluntary Scottish Campaign manager for The Somerville Foundation, the UK's leading charity for adults born with a heart condition, I work to improve care for this population.

In 2012, I submitted a petition to the Scottish Parliament asking for national healthcare standards.  Since, I have been working with service providers & relevant stakeholders to improve health care provision sitting on NHS Scotland National Service Division's 'Scottish Congenital Cardiac Advisory Board' & their working group for developing standards.  NHS National Services Scotland – National Services Division (NSD) issued Specialist Adult & Paediatric standards for Congenital Cardiac Services in Scotland on the 31st of January 2018 on the Scottish Congenital Cardiac Service website.
 
I am a BHF Healthcare Professional Alliance Member & a Patient Involvement Network Member of the Long Term Conditions Alliance. 

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With a background in research, I am passionate about using psychological knowledge to empower people living with life long health conditions publishing widely & presenting to a variety of audiences: 

Book Chapter
Morton, L. (Submitted) Born with a heart condition: The Clinical Implications of Polyvagal Theory in Clinical Applications of the Polyvagal Theory: The Emergence of Polyvagal-Informed Therapies edited by Prof Stephen Porges & Debs Dana. W.W. Norton & Company. NY. 

Peer Reviewed Articles
Morton, L (2015) What Your Patient is Thinking: The heart of medicine: growing up with pioneering treatment. British Medical Journal, 351: h3881. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.h3881  

Morton, L. (2015) Scars as a celebration of life. ThePsychologist, 28.

Morton, L (2014) Addressing the Psychological impact of Living with a Heart Condition from Birth. Cardiology News, 17(4):6-12.

Morton, L (2012) Healing Hearts and Minds. The Psychologist, 26(9):694-694.

Morton, L (2011) Can Interpersonal Psychotherapy meet the Psychological Cost of life gifted by Medical Intervention? Counselling Psychology Review, 26(3):75-86.

Conference Presentations
​​Morton, L (April 4-5th, 2018) An embodied Understanding of Living with a Heart Condition from Cradle to Grave.  Poster Presentation at Consortium of European Research on Emotion (CERE), University of Glasgow. 

​Morton, L ( July 16 - 21, 2017) Born with a heart condition: The Clinical Implications of Polyvagal Theory. Poster Presentation at 7th World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery (WCPCCS), Centre Convencions Internacional de Barcelona (CCIB), Barcelona, Spain 

Morton, L (4th May, 2017) Born with a heart condition: The Clinical Implications of Polyvagal Theory. Poster Presentation at The British Psychological Society's National Conference, Brighton.  

Morton, L ( 6th July 2016) Born with a heart condition:  The Clinical Implications of Poly Vagal Theory,  Keynote Speaker at the 3rd Congenital Cardiac Nurses Association (CCNA) Conference 'The Force Re-awakens'  - City Campus, University of Worcester.

Morton, L. (2015) Living with a heart condition from birth. Familial Arrhythmia Network for Scotland, Public Education Event, Perth.

Morton, L (2014) Youth Strategy: Mental Health Considerations. Person Centred Care for Children and Young People - Myth or Reality? Action for Sick Children Scotland National Conference. Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

Morton, L (2013) A Patient's View - What Should The Scottish Congenital Cardiac Network Aim To Achieve For Patients? Scottish Congenital Cardiac Network Conference, Teacher Building, Glasgow.

Interviews
Rhodes, E. (2018) 'Momentous' day for campaigner, Psychologist, 31.

Robinson, C. (2018) GETTING TO THE HEART OF THE PROBLEM OF PATIENT PERCEPTIONS,  Posted February 23, 2018.

Sayburn, A. (2015) Patient Perspectives: Living with…congenital heart block from birth (interview), Student BMJ; 23: h5138.

Freeman, T. (2014) The Heart of The Issue: A strong patient voice making a difference (interview), Holyrood Magazine.

Patient Guides
An Exploration into Psychology, could you benefit?  A four part series of articles,  featured in GUCH News 2012, highlighting some of the emotional challenges of growing up with a heart condition and some of the different types of psychological therapies available. Reprinted by Little Heart Matters, with permission.

Preparing for and coping with surgery.  Patient guide written for The Somerville Foundation. 

Articles & Blogs
People born with a heart condition are at increased risk of mental health problems, The Conversation, June 2018. 

Born this way for Beauty Demands, October 2017

The Growing Up and Surviving into Adulthood with Congenital Heart Block in The Mighty, June 2017 

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National Press coverage at the launch of Scarred FOR Life Photography exhibition, Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, Glasgow, 2014.

7th World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery - Barcelona, Spain, July 2017

Consultant Cardiologist Kate Bull's book 'Open Hearts: Stories of the Surgery that Changes Children's Lives on the history of congenital heart disease which features a photograph from our Scarred FOR life Photography Exhibition.

BPS Counselling Psychology 'Inspiring Careers' event, 2017.

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"a lightbulb moment for me 25y in paediatrics embarrassed that I've never considered what bravery means to a child",  Paediatrician.

"Inspirational session by Liza Morton. Using her past experiences to influence the future practice of others #CCNAConf16 @worcester_uni", Student Nurse

"Hearing first hand experience of someone born with Congenital Heart Disease, completely #invaluable #CCNAConf16",  Student Nurse​

"Great article by Dr Liza Morton in @bmj_latest: The heart of medicine: growing up with pioneering treatment http://ow.ly/QVUBj ",  Division of Counselling Psychology, British Psychological Society

"Looking back, it would have helped if I had been told it was okay to cry, scream, or feel angry. Lovely article",  Patient Director 

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