Trainer
Dr Mark Richards is a clinical psychologist and Presenter for the British Isles DBT training team.
Mark trained in DBT in 2009 and attended the DBT Skills Update conference in 2014 with Prof. Marsh Linehan and Dr Michaela Swales. Mark has also completed the DBT leaders training in 2018 and has gained SfDBT practitioner accreditation in 2020.
Mark gained his doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Liverpool in 2006 and has worked within the NHS since then.
Training Experience in DBT
Mark is currently employed in tier 3 CAMHS in the North West in two roles:
- As clinical lead for a Primary Mental Health team, whose remit is to provide timely advice concerning mental health to children, parents and other professionals within the children’s workforce and to develop the Whole School Approach to mental health through a wide programme of training, school meetings and consultation.
- Within the core CAMHS team as DBT lead and therapist and as an EMDR therapist.
Mark offers clinical supervision within CAMHS.
Mark is the lead for a DBT adherent CAMHS programme which has been running for 11 years, delivering DBT to adolescents and their carers. Mark has been a key member of the trust’s DBT network, offering skills update training, and co-ordinating consultation days with Professor Michaela Swales.
Clinical Experience in DBT
Following completion of his psychology degree in 1990, Mark worked as a research assistant and then completed a masters in Criminology at the University of Cambridge in 1993. He then worked within the probation service evaluating the success of various disposals before moving the the Institute of Child Health, UCL and Great Ormond Street in 1996.
Other Relevant Training and HEI Experience
There Mark worked on two major research projects, the first of which was a catch-up longitudinal study of children who had been sexually abused to determine the factors that increased the Jim Stevenson, Dr Jill Hodges and Dr Arnon Bentovim. The second study, led by Dr Danya Glaser and Dr Jill Hodges was a prospective study of the experiences of children who had been subjected to care proceedings. During this study, Mark conducted over 90 face to face interviews with children and it was this work that convinced him to train clinically.