Dr Dominic Plant Desai is a chartered clinical psychologist and an academic, with over a decade of experience working in psychology in the NHS, private practice, academia and the international NGO sector. Dominic holds a doctorate in clinical psychology (DClinPsy) from Salomons Institute for Applied Psychology, Canterbury Christ Church University, a PhD in developmental psychopathology from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, and is a chartered member of the British Psychological Society.
In his clinical work, Dominic’s approach to therapy is to provide evidence-based therapies in a person-centred and holistic way that aims to be compassionate and healing. Dominic works integratively drawing on therapies including Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), Psychodynamic Therapy, Trauma-Focused CBT (TF-CBT) and Humanistic Therapy. Dominic values the importance of fostering resilience and personal growth in therapy to facilitate long term wellness and recovery.
Dominic has experience working with clients from a range of backgrounds and ages, including children and adolescents. He has practised at several national specialist NHS clinics in London, including the Michael Rutter Centre for Children & Adolescents at the Maudsley Hospital and the Traumatic Stress Service at Springfield University Hospital. Dominic has additional experience working with:
Dominic started his life in Zambia and has grown up in a mixed-race family, living in Zambia, England and Botswana. In adulthood, he has also spent some time living in South Asia. Dominic brings this lived experience of multiculturalism and navigating change to his therapeutic practice. Dominic also volunteers his time providing mentoring to trainee therapists of colour via the Black, African and Asian Therapy Network.
In his academic work, Dominic has held research and teaching positions at King’s College London and UCL, and has written several publications which explore the impact of our childhood experiences on our later life well-being. He has presented his research findings at international conferences in New York, London, Paris and Stockholm. Most recently, Dominic has collaborated with professors at the University of Oxford and King’s College London to develop an online CBT app for adolescents with PTSD. Dominic has additionally been a scientific advisor to the House of Commons All Party Parliamentary Group for Conception to Age Two.