British Psychological Society

Lay Summary Alopecia areata (AA) is a long-term condition that can occur in both children and adults. AA can appear as patches of baldness on the scalp. Sometimes, nail growth is also affected. Hair on other parts of the body may also fall out, such as the beard, eyebrows and eyelashes. Alopecia totalis is the name for total loss of scalp hair. Alopecia universalis is complete loss of scalp, facial and body hair. This is the second version of the guideline. The British Association of Dermatologists gathered a group of experts in managing people of all ages with AA. The group consisted of eight consultant dermatologists, one dermatology specialist registrar, one general practitioner, one psychologist, two people with AA and a team with expertise in preparing guidelines. This group of experts reviewed relevant studies published until 11 July 2025. Using the evidence, the group produced recommendations using rigorous standards for guideline development. The guideline development group produced 56 recommendations for management of people with AA. They also made 9 recommendations for future research and suggested 11 audit points for hospitals. Based on the guideline, a patient information leaflet is also available on the British Association of Dermatologists’ website (https://www.skinhealthinfo.org.uk/condition/alopecia-areata).

Compassion in healthcare is simultaneously a professional practice and a personal response to the suffering of strangers that is shaped by life experience and a shared evolutionary past. This foundational text draws on insights from Gilbert’s body of work on compassion and brings them together with research findings by experts in healthcare to explore the nature and function of compassion in this particular context. The particularities of empathy and compassion and the challenges of both practices are considered. The process of emotional co-regulation that has a practical basis rooted in communication is framed as key to the experience of compassion. Mindfulness is presented as a way of establishing an attuned self-awareness as the foundation for self-care as well as for states of healthy connection with patients and colleagues. The cognitive therapy model is introduced as one way of organising the salient features of compassionate practice. Suggestions are made for cultivating compassion in health and social care at individual, team and organisational level. This book is essential reading for all healthcare workers and students of medicine, nursing, the allied healthcare professions, psychology and healthcare management. 

Key digested messageHiding behind a smartphone screen, online dating applications provide a playground of opportunity for fraudsters and scammers. With ease of access to artificial intelligence, the technological capabilities of nefarious individuals are quickly growing. From sophisticated chatbots designed to engage in conversations and extract personal data, to deepfake technology used to create convincing false personas. This article summarises the current and upcoming risks which artificial intelligence poses to dating application and social media users. Deepfake technology is a key risk; the world is experiencing greater use of attractive deepfake images to convince dating app users into involvement in a romance scam, face-swaps to target and blackmail social media users with their intimate images, and instant generation of child sexual abuse material. Other risks include stalkers tracking their victims with greater ease, and individuals downloading nefarious dating applications which utilise chatbots to gather information and get paid. Gaps in empirical research are identified and discussed.

Apply it! By reading this article, you will learn: • By “coming alongside” the athlete, you will begin to build greater engagement and have the athlete demonstrate greater autonomy toward their change. • To avoid “traps” in the conversation such as the expert trap, question–answer trap, and prematurely fixing without fully understanding the athlete's perception of the challenge. • To use the athlete as the best resource for change strategies—work together to identify action plans that are flexible and based on their readiness to change. • Relapse is a normal part of change; be patient and flexible as the athlete experiences how this feels and build in maintenance strategies to the change plan.