About paul...

Hello!

I'm guessing you are visiting this page because you are curious about who I am.

Like many people, I'm different things to different people at different times. I'm currently an author, psychologist, parent, son, brother, friend and husband!

Professionally, I’ve worked as a clinical psychologist and research scientist for over thirty years. My work has mostly focussed on helping people to change their behaviour to improve their physical and mental health, and to make the world a fairer and less dangerous place for vulnerable people.

I’ve designed and researched dozens of interventions to change the way people eat, to prevent or manage health problems, or to overcome addictions like smoking, alcohol and sex.

I’ve always worked with issues relevant to my life and those I care about. It makes the work meaningful for me and hopefully more effective for those I work with. 

Like many psychologists, I have experienced mental health issues throughout my life, both prior to qualifying as a psychologist and afterwards. The knowledge and skills I learned during my psychology training have been invaluable in helping me navigate life’s complexities.

Most recently, and for various reasons, I stopped drinking. This has been the singularly most transformative experience of my adult life (well, apart from meeting my partner and having kids!). And it’s not just me – millions of people are struggling with drinking too much and are seeking a healthier relationship with alcohol.

Giving up alcohol was hard. Unexpectedly hard. It took every tool in my professional toolkit to stop, and a few more tools that I had to develop on the way. I write about this in my free blog: Control Issues, and my self-help books. My goal is to use my professional and personal knowledge and skills to empower people to change their relationship to problematic and unwated behavioural patterns.

When I am not working I can usually be found trying to dunk myself in ice cold water, painting, printmaking or writing terrible poetry (like Captain of a Vogan Constructor Fleet terrible - IYKYK!). I like lifting reasonably heavy things in the gym, and sometimes I can be persuaded to go for a run.

If you want a more technical description of my professional life you can read my 'official' biography below...

Dr. Paul Chadwick is a distinguished clinical and health psychologist with over three decades’ experience in transforming the behaviour and lives of children, adults, families and communities. 

Since qualifying in 2001, Paul has balanced his time between clinical practice and academia, developing and researching behaviour change programmes to improve  physical and mental health and social injustice. A pioneer in the application of clinical psychology to public health, Paul’s programmes have transformed the lives of adults, children, and families worldwide. His work on reducing gender-based violence in low-income nations has been recognised by the prestigious Paris Peace Prize.

Paul has held senior leadership positions in the most prestigious academic centres for behaviour change science, including the world-renowned UCL Centre for Behaviour Change. He serves as an advisor to the UK's national and local governments. He co-led the Public Health England’s Behavioural Insights team during the COVID-19 pandemic and served as a director of the UK Department of Health and Social Care’s Policy Research Unit in Behavioural Science until April 2022. He is the current Director of the Behavioural Science in Public Health Network - the UK's largest community of practice for health and social care professionals using behavioural and social science to create more effective, efficient and equitable public services.