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Why consult a Chartered Psychologist / Practitioner Psychologist / Registered Psychologist ?

Today there are many different kinds of assessment and therapy. Some practitioners may not have the training, qualifications, knowledge and experience to make a full and thorough assessment and diagnosis to provide appropriate advice, support and treatment. A qualified and experienced Chartered Educational Psychologist / Practitioner Psychologist has the skills to undertake assessments that extend well beyond the range and expertise of, for example, a Specialist Teacher or a Teacher qualified to make assessments for dyslexia, though not equipped to assess for dyscalculia, dysgraphia, processing difficulties, dyspraxia, generalized learning difficulties and more complex special educational needs. The standard of training and level of qualification and experience is far more unregulated across practitioners offering talking therapies. For example, there are many organizations purporting to train hypnotherapists. They are often unregulated, with little accountability and as yet no legal status.

Chartered Psychologists have psychology degrees, or their equivalent, further professional post-graduate qualifications, and supervision to monitor and assess their training. Only Chartered Psychologists are entitled to use the abbreviation C.Psychol (and are listed in 'The Register of Chartered Psychologists' published by The BPS). Please ensure that the help you seek is right for you and that the person you engage has the necessary training, qualifications & experience.

"From 1 July 2009 regulation of certain groups of practising psychologists has been taken over by the Health Professions Council (HPC). From that date there are seven specific legally protected titles (clinical psychologist, counselling psychologist, educational psychologist, health psychologist, forensic psychologist, occupational psychologist, and sport and exercise psychologist and two generic, umbrella titles - practitioner psychologist and registered psychologist). It is a potential offence for any practising psychologist to use any of these titles unless they are registered with the Health Professions Council. You may wish to check the HPC Register, but please be aware that not all areas of psychological practice are covered by the HPC statutory register.

The Society's Directory of Chartered Psychologists will be developed and changed to reflect the new legal framework and we expect that the new version will be available to be consulted in January 2010. "
Source: British Psychological Society

'... is open to registered medical and dental practitioners, and to psychologists who possess qualifications which would make them acceptable for Graduate Membership of the BPS and who are engaged in a form of experimental or clinical practice which is acceptable to the Council of the Society.'
Source: BSECH Information for Members.

'Applicants who are working as 'therapists', 'psychotherapists', 'hypnotherapists', or similar designations are on no account accepted into the Society unless they have received or are undertaking appropriate medical or clinical or educational in-service training.'
Source:BSECH Information for Members.

Dennis is a Chartered Educational Psychologist / Practitioner Psychologist, an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society (AFBPsS), a Clinical Hypnotherapist, a member of the European Therapy Studies Institute (ETSI) and of the British Society of Clinical and Academic Hypnosis (BSCAH), a founder member of the BPS Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology and a member of the Special Group in Coaching Psychology.

After his first degree in psychology and post-graduate certificate in education, Dennis taught pupils in mainstream education and pupils with special educational needs before taking his master's degree in educational psychology. He has practised as an educational psychologist and as a clinician within education & health authorities for 25 years, being both highly qualified and extremely experienced in psychological assessment and therapeutic work with children and adults. He is also a qualified hypnotherapist with a diploma in hypnosis and psychotherapy and has had further training and experience in brief therapy, counselling, critical incident debriefing, and stress management.

Dennis has a broad range of expertise in providing psychological assessment, guidance, counselling, advice and therapeutic interventions with adults and children for effecting positive changes in learning, behaviour, performance, emotional and personal development. His independent practice over the last 7 years he has focussed on assessment and consultancy work with children and adults in schools, colleges of further and higher education, in the workplace and in government establishments. Over a thousand adults have been assessed during this time to identify learning needs and to make appropriate recommendations for education, training, employment, and to support successful DSA applications.

Vivien Bradley MA (Oxon.)

Vivien is the consultancy Practice Manager. She is an honours graduate with a number of postgraduate qualifications in business, and has had many years experience in customer relations in the UK. Vivien would be pleased to answer all general enquiries.

Alex is Dennis's eldest son. He is an experienced, professional musician and composer. Through his teaching and workshops, for all ages and abilities, he has developed an awareness of the deeply communicative and healing potential of sound and music. Alex has also written music for film and dance, all of which has enabled him to compose music that works so effectively to create a receptive mind state for positive therapeutic change.
Alex is also an accomplished guitarist and songwriter. For more information about his music, shows and CDs, including The Giant Killer Session (2006) & By The Ley (2007), visit his website at alexrobertsmusic.com

A full assessment would involve some discussion about education, developmental history, and areas of relative strength or perceived weakness that may be relevant to current learning and academic progress. This is usually followed by individual or direct work using standardized assessments and diagnostic materials to assess intellectual abilities and processing skills ( usually the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - WISC IV, or the British Ability Scales ) and standardized assessments of academic attainment in literacy and numeracy (e.g. the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test, Second UK Edition - WIAT-II). This may take about 2 hours or more and the assessment provides a substantial amount of information to consider when compiling the report. However, in most circumstances the preliminary findings are discussed immediately after the assessment. Three hours is therefore set aside for each assessment. The assessment results are subsequently analysed in more detail and a full written report is prepared that presents the results of the assessment, the main findings and the recommendations to support learning and meet any needs identified. The written report is supplied promptly, to meet the client's needs.

Adult / Student Assessments & Reports by a Chartered Educational Psychologist