About Chris
Hi, I’m Chris Hutchins-Joss
I support people navigating life when illness changes everything. This is where I tell you a little about how I got here, what I do, and what working with me is actually like.
I’m a BABCP-accredited psychological therapist, working in mental health since 2010. Much of that time has been in the NHS, where I helped develop pathways for clients whose mental health was tangled with chronic physical illness. Alongside that, I’ve spent over seven years with a UK tech company in digital mental health, first as a clinical affiliate and later as Clinical Lead for Digital Products, contributing to the design of online therapy tools, AI-enhanced interventions, and peer-reviewed published research.
What drew me to this specific corner of the field is the intersection most therapy misses. When a chronic health condition starts taking up too much room, standard talking therapy often treats it as anxiety to be reasoned away, as if your symptoms were thinking errors you could correct your way out of. They aren’t. Your concerns about your body are usually realistic responses to what’s happening, and pretending otherwise doesn’t help.
The work I do starts from that respect. My role is to help your condition become one aspect of your life rather than the thing consuming it.
My approach
How I work
The right blend depends on what you’re carrying.
- ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) sits at the centre of how I practise. It’s the work of building psychological flexibility: the skills to live well alongside symptoms that aren’t going to simply disappear, without fighting them or pretending they aren’t there.
- EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) is what I bring to trauma: medical trauma, accident trauma, and the toll of healthcare experiences that haven’t gone the way they should have.
- CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) shapes how I think about evidence-based practice. My BABCP accreditation grounds the work in proven traditions, even as I draw on what’s most helpful from the wider landscape.
I don’t pick one approach and stick to it rigidly. The work fits you, not the other way around.
Experience
Where I’ve worked
- NHS Talking Therapies. Worked across NHS services, including developing pathways for clients whose mental health was tangled with chronic physical illness.
- Digital mental health. Over seven years contributing to a UK tech company’s online therapy work, first as a clinical affiliate and later as Clinical Lead for Digital Products. The work spanned product design, AI-enhanced interventions, and contributions to peer-reviewed published research.
- Canterbury Christ Church University. Clinical supervisor for trainee CBT therapists.
- The Remote Therapy Space. My private practice now. Online therapy for working professionals navigating chronic and long-term conditions. Plus private supervision, and occasional speaking and training (Diabetes UK, Unmind, others).
Credentials
Training and qualifications
What it’s like
What sessions are like
Sessions feel like a conversation. I’ll ask honest questions, take what you tell me seriously, and won’t pretend that therapy can fix what therapy can’t fix.
More often than not, I want you to come away with something useful: a tool to try, or a way of thinking about your situation that might be more helpful than the one you walked in with. Not every session lands that way, and that’s fine.
The wider work is about making more room. More room for your health to be a part of your life rather than the whole of it. More room for you to do the things that matter, the things the condition has been crowding out.
What I’ll help you build is a different relationship with what you’re living with. One where the condition has less of you, and you have more of yourself.
If that sounds like the kind of work you’re looking for, the next step is a free fifteen-minute call. No commitment. Just a chance to see if we’re a fit.
Take the next step
Ready to find out if we’re a fit?
Book a free 15-minute consultation. Just a conversation, no commitment. We’ll talk through what’s been going on and whether I’m the right person to support that.