Dr Benson Abounu is a Consultant Psychiatrist with more than 20 years of experience in psychiatry and over 12 years at consultant level. He provides specialist psychiatric input within Orri’s day care and outpatient programmes for children and young people with eating disorders.
Dr Abounu has over seven years of specialist experience in the assessment and treatment of eating disorders including anorexia nervosa, atypical anorexia, ARFID, bulimia nervosa and complex disordered eating presentations. He works with young people whose eating difficulties often occur alongside other mental health challenges such as anxiety, depression, trauma-related difficulties, and neurodevelopmental conditions including ADHD and autism.
He has worked across a range of specialist settings supporting young people with both early-stage eating difficulties and more complex or treatment-resistant presentations. This includes experience within intensive outpatient programmes, specialist inpatient services and high-dependency psychiatric settings.
Dr Abounu works closely with families and multidisciplinary teams to develop thoughtful and individualised treatment plans that support recovery while addressing the wider psychological, developmental and family factors that often accompany eating disorders. His approach integrates psychiatric expertise with collaborative multidisciplinary care involving psychology, dietetics, nursing and family therapy.
He has a particular interest in complex diagnostic assessment and the interface between eating disorders and neurodevelopmental conditions. He is also experienced in managing high-risk presentations and the legal and safeguarding frameworks that may arise in the treatment of severe eating disorders.
Dr Abounu is a Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Mental Health Law. He is an Approved Clinician under the Mental Health Act, a Section 12 approved doctor and ADOS-2 trained.
