The BDD Panel at CCR Is a Turning Point for Medical Aesthetics

And it’s about time.

The BDD Panel is scheduled on Friday 26th September at 3pm in the In Practice Theatre

For too long, medical aesthetics has talked about mental health like it’s a box to tick—something to mention in consultation scripts, not something to meaningfully address. Conferences have spotlighted new lasers, new injectables, new treatment methods. Panels have debated latest trends, converting consultations, and improving profit margins. But in the midst of all that, one thing has been dangerously overlooked: the psychological wellbeing of the people on the other side of the needle.

That’s why this year’s Body Dysmorphic Disorder: The Patient Experience panel at the Clinical Cosmetic Regenerative (CCR) Congress marks a long-overdue shift. This isn’t just a session—it’s a signal that the industry is finally beginning to face what PREPÆRE™ has been shouting for the past year: if we’re not listening to patients, we’re not doing ethical aesthetics.

This is not another awareness talk. It’s a reality check.

For the first time at a major aesthetics congress, patients with lived experience of BDD will take the stage—not as case studies, not as research subjects, but as people. People who’ve navigated the system. Who’ve sought treatment. Who know what it feels like to put their trust in practitioners who didn’t see the full picture.

Their stories don’t exist to make us feel good about “doing better.” They exist to show us where we’re still going wrong. They are the missing voices in a conversation that has, for too long, prioritised practitioner ego, industry prestige, and commercial performance over the actual needs of patients. These voices will challenge assumptions. That BDD can be “spotted” if you just look hard enough. That screening tools are sufficient. That rejecting a patient is where your responsibility ends.

This is what progress looks like. Not another glossy photoshoot of injectors with ring lights and dermal filler. But a raw, honest conversation about what patients really need—and what the industry has failed to deliver.

We hold glamorous events with champagne receptions and influencer panels, but rarely make space for the voices of those whose wellbeing is most at stake.

Let's be clear: the medical aesthetics industry is commercial.

Medical aesthetics sits in an uncomfortable space between healthcare and beauty. And while many practitioners enter it with the best intentions, many from the NHS, the reality is that they become a part of an industry—one shaped by trends, profits, and image. We talk about safety, but too often that means anatomical landmarks and product sterility, not emotional safeguarding or mental health literacy.

We hold glamorous events with champagne receptions and influencer panels, but rarely make space for the voices of those whose wellbeing is most at stake.

This year's BDD panel aims to change that. It puts patients—not practitioners, not regulators, not brands—at the centre of the conversation. And it demands that we listen, not with defensiveness or discomfort, but with the willingness to grow. Because understanding BDD isn’t about memorising diagnostic criteria. It’s about acknowledging the emotional weight patients carry into your clinic, and recognising that your role isn’t just to “fix” a feature—it’s to ensure they’re in the right place, mentally and emotionally, to make that choice safely.

PREPÆRE™ was built to make sure patient voices like these aren’t just heard once a year—they’re integrated into how practitioners deliver care every day.

This session wouldn’t exist without the advocacy of those working to reframe aesthetics around mental health and patient safety. That includes PREPÆRE™'s founder, Brea Cannady, and one of PREPÆRE™'s Patient Ambassadors, Ella Delancey Jones—both of whom will be speaking on the panel.

PREPÆRE™ was built to make sure patient voices like these aren’t just heard once a year—they’re integrated into how practitioners deliver care every day. PREPÆRE™'s ethos is that safeguarding doesn’t start with diagnostics. It starts with reflection. With asking better questions. With tools that help patients understand their own emotional readiness, and practitioners respond with care—not guesswork.

This panel is proof that message is finally landing.

If you’re serious about ethical aesthetics—don’t miss it

This isn’t optional learning. It’s essential. Because if you think safeguarding is someone else’s job, you’re part of the problem. The BDD panel at CCR isn’t about pointing fingers—it’s about raising the bar. It’s a reminder that real clinical excellence isn’t just about perfect symmetry or the smoothest technique. It’s about creating a space where patients feel safe, seen, and supported—especially the ones who need it most.

Because mental health isn’t a side note in aesthetic care. It’s the whole damn headline.

Register to attend CCR