Dr Chris James ^Featured

Dr Chris James is the Founder and Clinical Director of ChangeUp Psychology 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. He previously ran a NHS behavioural sleep medicine service, providing CBT-I and psychological support for individuals experiencing a broad range of issues relating to living with sleep disorders, including overcoming CPAP-related anxiety issues, learning to live a meaningful life with narcolepsy, and managing nightmares.

In 2020 he founded Sleep Athletic, which offers specialist sleep support and training to professional athletes, sports teams and other high performance individuals. Clients have included Liverpool FC, NFL Academy UK, Canada Men's soccer team (World Cup 2022), Arsenal Women's, Club Brugge, as well as professional golfers and olympians.

He believes that clinical psychologists are particularly well placed to support people with sleep disorders, due to receiving extensive specialist training in a range of psychological therapies, including CBT, and an in depth understanding of mental health. Sleep and mental health and intertwined, and therefore being able to support individuals with both their mental health and sleep needs is hugely beneficial, leading to more meaningful support and better outcomes.

He has a clear vision that good therapy should always 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.