Dean Goodchild

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BPS and HCPC registered
Available for new clients
Available for new clients

This professional is available for new clients.

location_on Upminster, Essex, RM14 2PP
Available for new clients
Available for new clients

This professional is available for new clients.

About me

Hello and welcome to my profile.

Making the decision to enter counselling can be hard. And choosing the right therapist is crucially important because all counsellors are different. So that you can get to know me better I have set out ‘who-I-am’ under headings below. If you look at my website you will find more pictures.

Dean Goodchild’s Qualifications and experience

I have a Doctorate level Qualification in Counselling Psychology. This means I am a Psychologist with special training in personal therapeutic work. I have a Psychology degree and six years post graduate training in Psychological Counselling.

For twenty-five years I have been helping people in the most desperate situations from my professional hospital and local authority posts. These include:

  • people who have attempted suicide,
  • people who take drink and drugs,
  • people who have suffered trauma and life jeopardy,
  • people with depression and worry problems (including cleaners and checkers),
  • people in bad marriages and partnerships,
  • people whose children are out of control or failing to thrive,
  • people who have been sexually or emotionally abused,
  • people recovering from an abusive relationship,
  • women with pregnancy, miscarriage and termination issues,
  • people caring for disabled relatives,
  • people who have suffered loss, loss of hope, and bereavement,
  • people living with a gambler or an addict,
  • people with work related problems, bullying etc,
  • people with diagnosed psychotic or long term conditions,

Throughout my career I have worked with the loneliest and most desperate people but I maintain everyone deserves a chance.

I now work exclusively from my private practice in Upminster. This means I can offer high quality therapy without the red-tape and delays associated with large corporate organisations.

Dean Goodchild’s Professional status and ethical standards

I am a Practitioner Psychologist, registered with the Health and Care Professions Council, (no. PYL05983). This is the regulatory body for all Health and Care Professionals. I am bound by their ethical standards and I follow their ethical code. I am accountable to this body.

I am a Chartered Counselling Psychologist registered with the British Psychological Society (no. 130426). This is the professional society for psychologists in the UK.

I appear on the British Psychological Society testing standards register as competent in Ability and Personality testing.

You can check both the HCPC and the BPS registers online to verify my credentials.

I regularly undertake continuing professional development training and personal exercises. I have a recent Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service certificate (Formerly CRB) showing that I have a clean record.

My therapeutic technique

My technique has been on a journey. I started with Person-centred counselling. Carl Rogers believed that we all have a natural drive for health. He believed that people are genetically set to grow healthier in the right environment. That is, if they experience a ‘therapeutic relationship’ (a special blend of warmth and empathic connection). In this therapy, clients have the power and therapists follow.

During my psychology degree I learned to practice Cognitive behaviour therapy, which my subsequent training developed. CBT works from the premise that we are all subject to patterns of rewards and punishments in our lives. We internalise these patterns as causal sequences and call them beliefs. Sometimes, our beliefs become distorted and this represents neurosis. By correcting our belief systems to match reality, health may be restored. Research shows that this model works well but I believe people are ‘meaning-makers’ not simply lists of reward schedules. I therefore use this model judiciously. CBT therapists hold power in the session.

I then trained in Gestalt-therapy. Gestalt-therapy seeks to facilitate deep personal understanding about our perceptions of the significant events in our lives. A Gestalt-therapist seeks personal and interpersonal authenticity. Yet we can only know ourselves in the context of our relationships. Through using techniques of personal discovery we can resolve incomplete gestalts. Paradoxically, change often comes from fully accepting ‘what-is’ rather than constantly striving to be different. Therapists and clients jointly dialogue their present experiences searching for meaning. Power is shared between therapist and client.

I practice Systems psychotherapy. People are not islands, we exist in relationships that have repeating patterns of interaction or scripts. When one part of the system changes, the other parts of it often seek to return the system to its status-quo. Hence, individual therapy may fail because the client’s friends and family ‘gang up’ to reverse any changes. Knowledge of such systemic influences can lead to positive changes that are durable.

I have studied Attachment theory, which is a psychoanalytic model of personality development. From Bowlby’s early work it has grown into the most robust body of mental health literature and it informs all of my assessments.

Building on Attachment theory literature, I have trained in Mentalisation-based psychotherapy. In this model clients learn to focus on their own internal processes and those of others in an attempt to deepen their understanding of their own and others behaviour. I believe that It is similar to highly focussed person-centred therapy, in that clients lead and hold power in the sessions and therapists seek to adopt a transparent authentic relationship with clients.

My personal details

I am a home based married man in middle life. We, my wife and I, have two offspring. I won’t call them children as they are both adults now. Our son works for Essex County Council. Our daughter has quadriplegic cerebral palsy but a lovely personality and a wicked sense of humour. Our dog Merlyn is a typical Border Collie and keeps us busy. I was born in Oldchurch Hospital Romford and went to school locally. I attended the UEL for my Psychology BSc. and my MSc. in Counselling Psychology training. I met my wife at Southampton University.

I enjoy DIY and my daughter calls me ‘the inventor’, which I love. I like to think that I bring my creative side into my therapeutic work too. I like to sail yachts but we can’t afford to buy one. I love the feeling of freedom, being able to catch the wind for power and go anywhere. Our daughter loves it when the boat heels over and waves crash over the deck. Our son likes the GPS, planning and tracking our passage. I thank you for reading my profile and I hope that it has given you a glimpse of my character to help you decide whether you could work with me.

You only have one life, make the most of it.

Training, qualifications & experience

Academic Qualifications and Professional Training

Awarding Body

Date of Qualification

Qualification

The British Psychological Society

23 June 2009

Qualification in Counselling Psychology (Doctorate level)

University of East London

25 June 2004

Master of Science in Counselling Psychology (MSc)

Diploma in Counselling Psychology I

University of East Anglia

6 November 1995

Practice Teaching Award

University of Southampton/ Council for Education and Training in Social Work

1 September 1988

(CQSW)

University of Southampton

24 October 1988

Diploma in Applied Social Studies

NELP latterly University of East London/ Council for National Academic Awards

26 June 1984

Bachelor of Science with second class honours in Psychology BSc (Hons)

Recent Training Undertaken

Training Provider

Dates of training

Duration

Content

Anna Freud Centre

Feb. 2014

4 days

Mentalization-based psychotherapy

University of Cambridge

Prof. John Rust

Dec. 2012

5 days

Certificates of Occupational and Psychological Test Use (Formerly levels A and B)

Anna Freud Centre

Sept - Nov 2012

3 days

Story stems training. Approach to assessing attachment in children

BPS training courses

Oct. 2012

1 day

Intimate partner violence risk assessment

BPS training courses

June 2012

1 day

Understanding and managing anxiety disorders in early childhood.

BPS training courses

April 2012

1 day

Understanding and treating Borderline Personality Disorder

Recolo

Nov. 2011

1 day

Innovations in Neuroscience—Implications for developmental disorders

Division of Counselling Psychology

July 2011

2 days

Professional conference

Ashwood Medico-legal experts forum.

March 2009 to date.

Quarterly forum

Expert witness training and professional discussion

Susan van Scoyoc Consultant Psychologist BPS Masterclass

Nov.2008

1 day

Presenting evidence in court as an expert psychologist witness

Dr Lynne Jordan Counselling Psychologist BPS Masterclass

Sept. 2008

2 days

Effects of sexual abuse upon development and emotional health, including therapeutic approaches

Dr Jannie Schoeman, Centre for Play Therapy and Training

July 2008

2 days

Clay workshop in Gestalt Psychotherapy . Clay as a medium for assessment and therapy

KCC Solicitors

Feb. 2008

2 days

Court skills training

Gaie Houston, Chair of British Gestalt Journal

Nov. 2007

3 days

Gestalt Brief therapy training

Jennie Gordon, Registered Trainer for the Incredible Years Training

June 2007

3 days

The Incredible Years Parent Group Leader Training. Parenting techniques

Centre for Stress Management

Nov. 2006

2 days

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder CBT approaches to management

Dr Mary Target and Dr Yael Shmueli-Goetz, Anna Freud Centre

May 2006

3 days

Reflective Functioning Core Training Course

Member organisations

school Registered / Accredited

Registered / Accredited

Being registered/accredited with a professional body means an individual must have achieved a substantial level of training and experience approved by their member organisation.

HCPC
Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)

The HCPC are an independent, UK-wide health regulator. They set standards of professional training, performance and conduct for 16 professions.

They keep a register of health professionals who meet their standards, and they take action if registered health professionals fall below those standards. They were created by a piece of legislation called the Health Professions Order 2001.

Registration means that a health professional meets national standards for their professional training, performance and conduct.

Areas of counselling I deal with

Fees

£100.00 - £125.00

Health Insurance/EAP

  • check_circle BUPA
  • check_circle Axa Health
  • check_circle Health Assured
  • check_circle Aviva
  • check_circle Saga
  • check_circle Vitality
  • check_circle WPA
  • check_circle Cigna

Additional information

Psych Counselling services I charge per 55 minute hour, 60 minutes for private health agency clients.

Type of Service: Psychological therapy

Session Fees

Adults (17+) commencing: 9am--3.30pm £100

After 4pm: £125.00

Age 14 to 16 years commencing anytime £125.00

Student Counselling Psychologists Psych therapy or Supervision: £65

(Students commencing daytime only).

I welcome Private Health Insurance Customers. I am registered with most of the popular companies. BUPA, AXAPPP, AVIVA,

When I work

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
Morning
Afternoon
Evening
Night

I am available during office hours and most weekday evenings.

Robin-Corner Cottage, 83 Doncaster Way, Upminster, Essex, RM14 2PP

Type of session

In person
Online
Phone

Types of client

Young people (13-17)
Adults (25-64)
Older Adults (65+)
Employee Assistance Programme

Key details

DBS check info

In England and Wales, the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS, formerly known as CRB) carry out criminal records checks for individuals working with vulnerable groups, such as children. To find out more, visit gov.uk , or contact this professional directly

Wheelchair user access info
Wheelchair user access

Wheelchair-accessible premises should have step-free access for wheelchair users and individuals who are unable to climb stairs. If a Counsellor's premises aren't step-free, they may offer alternative services such as telephone/web-based appointments, home visits, or meeting clients in different location, so you can choose the option that suits you best.

You can contact the Counsellor to discuss the options available.

Under the Equality Act 2010 service providers have a duty to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that individuals with disabilities can access their service. You can read more about reasonable adjustments to help you to access services on the CAB website.

The main therapy room is upstairs, however for those with mobility issues a downstairs room is available. Fixed ramp to the front entrance.

Online platforms

Google Meet
Skype