Joshua Cole – Clinical Lead
Diploma Counselling & Mental Health & Psychiatry
Advanced Diploma Psychotherapy
Member of the Royal Society of Health

Joshua Cole is one of the few UK specialists in the treatment of people with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). He founded and continues to run BPDWORLD, a registered charity providing information, advice and support to those affected by Personality Disorder.

He is a Member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and authorised to use the designatory letters MBACP, having fulfilled all of the Association's rigorous membership requirements.

Joshua has also trained with leading figures in the mental health field. He trained in mentalisation-based treatment approach to personality disorder with Anthony Bateman and Peter Fonagy at the Anna Freud Centre in London. He trained in cognitive behavioural therapy at the University of the West of England. He also trained in dialectical behavioural therapy, a psychosocial treatment developed by Marsha M. Linehan specifically to treat individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder. Other training he has completed include courses in excellence in practitioner skills for eating disorders (by Deanne Jade, a leading specialist in this field), and in the diagnosis and treatment of dissociative disorders with the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation. He has also completed a 20-week training course in working with people with a diagnosis of personality disorder at the University of the West of England.

Beside his work for BPDWORLD, Joshua is also an independent practitioner. He is commissioned to work as a care coordinator with the social services department of Gloucestershire County Council, the first time the council had ever appointed an independent consultant in this role. He is also a psychosocial development worker at a low secure psychiatric hospital providing specialist, long-term treatment for women with BPD. He is the clinical lead and director of Creative Pathways, an outreach service for people recovering from mental illness. And he is a director of Simple Complexities, a company providing Psychotherapy services to those diagnosed with complex conditions such as personality and dissociative disorder.

Joshua is building a growing reputation as a speaker, author and high-profile media commentator on mental health issues. He has successfully organised international conferences, appeared on TV and radio programmes (such as Look North and All in the Mind, the BBC Radio 4 show hosted by Dr Raj Persaud). He also produced and directed the critically acclaimed DVD documentary on personality disorder, Too Late for Kate.

Joshua is the author of a series of OCN-accredited training courses on mental health for UK Open Learning, a leading UK distance learning college. He is also a senior tutor for the college. He has written a book on borderline personality disorder aimed at the general public titled No-one Knows – The Story of the Secret Survivor (www.secretsurvivor.com).

Joshua is dedicated to raising public awareness of personality disorder, challenging common myths and stereotypes, and ensuring that people with mental health problems can obtain all the help they need to overcome their disorders and get their lives back on track.