About: Dr. Chris James
Dr. Chris James
BSc Msc DClinPsych CPsychol AFBPsS
Founder & Clinical Director, Consultant Clinical Psychologist
Dr Chris is the Founder and Clinical Director of the practice and a Consultant Clinical Psychologist with 20 years of clinical experience across NHS services and private practice.
He has worked across a broad range of clinical settings, including community mental health teams, hospital services, and a specialist sleep medicine service. This depth and breadth of experience informs both his therapeutic work and his leadership of the practice.
Chris established the practice with a clear philosophy: therapy should be rigorous, collaborative, and genuinely effective. He believes meaningful psychological change is grounded in a strong therapeutic relationship, careful formulation, and evidence-based intervention tailored to the individual. His integrative approach draws on multiple psychological models to ensure therapy is always personalised.
His vision is to create a practice where high-quality, psychological services are delivered with warmth, clarity, and integrity. He is committed to building and supporting a team of thoughtful, highly skilled clinicians who value reflective practice and place the therapeutic relationship at the centre of their work. As Clinical Director, he maintains a strong focus on professional standards, clinical excellence, and ensuring every client receives considered, high-quality care.
Alongside his clinical practice, Chris provides supervision, consultation, and training to professionals and organisations.
His clinical specialisms include insomnia and sleep disorders, ADHD, sleep optimisation for performance, anxiety-related difficulties, and work-related stress.
Within therapy he works flexibly, drawing upon a range of models including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Mentalisation-based Treatment (MBT), humanistic and brief psychodynamic approaches, depending on the needs of the person he’s working with.
Outside of work, Chris values time with his family, enjoys gardening and cooking, and can often be found immersed in a good book. He is an enthusiastic board game fan, enjoys most sports (particularly baseball), and – in an earlier chapter of life – played guitar in a rock band.
Sleep and mental health are closely interconnected, and Chris has developed a specialist focus in sleep psychology and behavioural sleep medicine.
He trained in sleep medicine under one of the UK’s leading somnologists and worked as Principal Clinical Psychologist at an NHS Specialist Sleep Centre, where he developed and led the Behavioural Sleep Medicine service. During this time, he worked with individuals experiencing complex and treatment-resistant sleep difficulties and received advanced training from internationally recognised experts in insomnia treatment.
Chris is also the founder of Sleep Athletic providing specialist sleep support to elite athletes and sports teams, helping optimise recovery, resilience, and performance.
Alongside his clinical work, he delivers specialist training, workshops, and supervision in sleep and insomnia treatment to healthcare professionals, NHS services, and corporate
organisations.
For more information about our sleep services, click here.
ADHD is a core area of Chris’s specialist practice. He provides comprehensive psychological support across the full ADHD pathway, from initial screening and diagnostic assessment through to structured post-diagnostic interventions and ongoing support.
Chris has completed specialist training in ADHD assessment and diagnosis and is qualified to provide a formal diagnosis of ADHD. His approach follows NICE guidelines, with a comprehensive process that includes screening for co-occurring mental health conditions, gathering collateral information, taking a detailed developmental and personal history, and using both clinical interview and structured specialist assessment tools. This ensures that the assessment process is thorough, robust, and clinically valid. His reports are detailed and include the information medical professionals require when considering medication, where this may be appropriate.
While diagnostic assessments have become increasingly available within the private sector, high-quality psychological support following diagnosis remains limited, both within the NHS and privately. Chris works with individuals to understand and integrate their diagnosis, explore the impact of ADHD on work, relationships, self-esteem, and sleep, and develop practical, sustainable strategies for change.
His approach combines evidence-based interventions with formulation-led therapy, ensuring that support is tailored to the individual rather than focused solely on symptoms.
For more information about our ADHD clinic and services, click here.
Dr Chris James completed his doctoral training in Clinical Psychology at the University of Oxford. He is registered with the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC) and is an Associate Fellow and Chartered member of the British Psychological Society (BPS).
Chris is a BABCP and BPS accredited clinical supervisor and provides professional supervision, consultation, and training to clinicians and organisations. Alongside his clinical and leadership roles, he remains actively engaged in continuing professional development to ensure his work reflects current evidence and best practice.
Qualifications, professional memberships and accreditations include:
- DClinPsy – Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, University of Oxford
- MSc – Clinical Psychology
- BSc (1st Hons) – Psychology
- CPsychol – Chartered Clinical Psychologist and Associate Fellow, British Psychological Society No. 176246
- Registered Practitioner Psychologist – Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC No. PYL28799)
- BPS Register of Applied Psychology Practice Supervisors – Member
- British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) – Accredited CBT therapist and Accredited CBT supervisor
- British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC) – Accredited Practitioner in Mentalisation Based Treatment (MBT)
- EMDR Association UK & Ireland – Accredited EMDR Practitioner
- British Sleep Society – Member
- Honorary Lecturer – Cardiff University