Colin Matthews: Chartered Psychologist

Practitioner Profile - Colin Matthews

Colin Matthews is a chartered psychologist (C.Psychol). This means that his training is to the high standards required by the British Psychological Society (BPS), the professional body for psychology. All chartered psychologists are educated to doctoral level or equivalent. As a chartered psychologist, Colin is bound by the ethics of the BPS.

Colin has an MA and a Post-MA Diploma in Counselling Psychology from the School of Psychotherapy and Counselling at Regent's College in London and is also an honours graduate in psychology. His training is recognised by the British Psychological Society (BPS), UKCP and BACP and is accredited by City University in London. He is also a member of the Society for Existential Analysis and a founder member of the BPS Special Group in Coaching Psychology.

Additionally, Colin holds qualifications in psychometric testing for Occupational purposes. He is therefore qualified to administer various occupational tests such as those used for staff selection and development.

Colin is trained and practised in various models of therapy including existential, attachment, humanistic, psychodynamic and CBT. In his adult work, he is particularly interested in working with people to help them understand themselves better in order that they can overcome difficulties and achieve the ambitions they have set for themselves and their families. In his child work, he is keen to help families gain a greater understanding of the the effect of the family environment on the children and help all family members make positive changes.

Colin is experienced with working with children and their families. He is a registered practitioner with Dorset Child and Family Counselling Trust (DCFCT) which provides low cost therapy for qualifying families. He was also for some time a psychologist with the Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS) Team for the Purbeck district.

Colin also has significant experience in working with adults, helping them develop their potential but also overcome extreme difficulties in their lives. He has worked in mental health settings with people with simple phobias through to psychosis. He is qualified in clinical assessment and formulation.

Prior to qualifying as a psychologist, Colin was a software consultant and ran his own company for 16 years, providing consultancy to blue-chip firms such as Microsoft, Reuters, NatWest Markets and Credit Suisse.