Our Team

POEMS team is formed by health professionals from different backgrounds, such as Anesthesia, Nursing and Operating Department Practitioners.
Many of us share an interest in hypnotism and hypnotherapy, and we all share the love for the little ones!

Mike Stylianou

Founding Director, Senior Lecturer. Mike is a Senior Operating Department Practitioner and Assistant Practice Educator at Great Ormond Street Hospital for children. He maintains a special interest in education, performance enhancement and anxiety management. With more than 18 years experience as a hypnotherapist, he is BUPA registered and has practiced at the Priory Hospital for over 20 years. Mike is part of the Great Ormond Street Practice Education Team and lectures at London South Bank University. He is a co-founder of POEMS For Children, a Director of POEMS For Children Limited, a Trustee of The POEMS For Children Charity, a member of The Institute for Learning, a Fellow of The Royal Society of Art, a member of The Royal Institute of Philosophy and a member of The British Society Of Clinical Hypnosis.

Dr Philip Cunnington MBBS FRCA DCHyp

Founding Director, Senior Lecturer. Is a Consultant in Paediatric Anaesthesia at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London. Having completed comprehensive training in hypnotherapy at The BST Foundation and graduated with distinction. He maintains a specialist interest in education, the management and prevention of procedure-related anxiety, performance anxiety and in particular anxiety related to examinations, interviews and presentations. He is a co-founder of POEMS for Children, a Director of POEMS For Children Limited, a Trustee of The POEMS For Children Charity, a Member of the Association of Paediatric Anaesthetists and a Fellow of The Royal Society of Medicine.

Dr Maria Georghiou MBBS FRCA BcS Physiology DCHyp

Is a consultant in anaesthetic with an interest in obstetrics, paediatric anaesthesia and pain management. She gained training in clinical hypnosis through The BST Foundation. She is a Director of POEMS For Children Limited.

DR Marc Cohen MBBS BMedSci FRCA

Is a consultant in paediatric anaesthesia at Great Ormond Street Hospital with a specialty in cardiac anaesthesia.

Emma Maitland

Operational Lead for Simulation in Clinical Simulation Centre, at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Dora Gleed

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Sofia Gameiro Gonçalves

Senior theatre nurse at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, currently performing anaesthetic nurse duties and with years of experience as a scrub nurse. She is part of the education team in theatres as practice facilitator, and has a great interest in education. She also likes to create teaching content for her website: www.thescrubnurse.com – an operating room diary for those who are curious about what happens behind the operating room door.

Rajan Saini

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POEMS course

Our dedicated team delivers a one-day accredited course aimed at health professional, by teaching strategies to reduce and prevent anxiety in children who need medical intervention.

Find out more about our course