Changing Faces, founded in 1992, is a UK charity committed to working for a better future for people who have facial and visible disfigurements, whether from birth, accident, disease or other cause. A significant proportion of them have burns injuries. The reception that people with disfigurements receive from others in social situations has been described as ‘the last bastion of discrimination. Intrusions such a.s staring, comments and remarks, double-takes, namecalling etc. are commonplace. Whilst Changing Faces works to promote public awareness and reduce discrimination, we believe that there are very positive steps that an individual wh’o has a disfigurement (to face or body) can take, which allow him/her to have a good quality of life and overcome the potential disability of the disfigurement. Similarly, there are very positive ways in which. health professionals can work towards the same goal. The written and audio-visual resources that Changing Faces now produces are designed both for the individual in the form of self-help guides, and also for the health professional to inform and facilitate the process of rehabilitation. Most surgeons working in the field of burns and plastic surgery would agree that despite the technical achievements, it is very difficult to restore appearance completely. The initial shock associated with the sudden change in appearance after an injury can develop into a longer term sense of bereavement as it gradually becomes apparent that there will be lasting disfigurement and that medicine does not have all the answers. Often the patient and family find that this message is delayed by inaccurate media coverage the ‘myths’ of plastic surgery leading to the belief that somewhere, perhaps in another unit or with another surgeon, or even in another country there must be a magic solution. The reality is that for many people, despite much surgery, there is still a visible disfigurement that they have to learn to live with. How do they cope? For some, coping involves gradually working out their own solutions on a trial and error basis. With the support of friends and family, they work out how to take the initiative in social situations, and enjoy the benefits that this brings, developing a positive and successful coping style. For others, the problem of being constantly on-guard for some u:npleasant comment or incident is too difficult and a recognised pattern of social avoidance may develop where they never expose themselves to the opportunity to succeed in social situations and therefore never develop a repertoire of satisfactory coping sldlls. These are the people who can become socially islolated, unemployed and often depressed and hopeless.