David Millar Clark, (born 20 August 1954) is a British psychologist.

Career

Clark was born in

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

and studied

experimental psychology Experimental psychology is the work done by those who apply Experiment, experimental methods to psychological study and the underlying processes. Experimental psychologists employ Research participant, human participants and Animal testing, anim ...

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. He trained as a

clinical psychologist Clinical psychology is an integration of human science, behavioral science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well ...

at the

Institute of Psychiatry The Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) is a centre for mental health and neuroscience research, education and training in Europe. It is dedicated to understanding, preventing and treating mental illness, neurological co ...

. He then returned to teach at Oxford University where he became a professor, then returned to the IOP where in 2000 he became head of psychology and founded the centre for anxiety disorders and trauma at the IOP and associated

Maudsley Hospital The Maudsley Hospital is a British psychiatric hospital in south London. The Maudsley is the largest mental health training institution in the UK. It is part of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and works in partnership with the I ...

along with fellow Oxford psychologists trauma-specialist

Anke Ehlers Anke Ehlers (born 11 January 1957) is a German psychologist and expert in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). She is a Fellow of the major science academies of the UK and Germany. She currently works at the University of Oxford as Wellcome Tr ...

and OCD-specialist Paul Salkovskis. He has been a Professor of Psychology at the University of Oxford since 2011 and is also National Clinical Adviser at the Department of Health.

Research

His clinical research and practice has mainly focused on developing cognitive models and

cognitive therapy Cognitive therapy (CT) is a psychotherapeutic approach developed by American psychiatrist Aaron T. Beck, which aims to change unhelpful or inaccurate thought patterns. CT is one therapeutic approach within the larger group of cognitive behavio ...

for

anxiety disorders Anxiety disorders are a group of mental disorders characterized by significant and uncontrollable feelings of anxiety and fear such that a person's social, occupational, and personal functions are significantly impaired. Anxiety may cause phys ...

. His research has focused on

panic disorder Panic disorder is a mental disorder, specifically an anxiety disorder, characterized by reoccurring unexpected panic attacks. Panic attacks are sudden periods of intense fear that may include palpitations, sweating, shaking, shortness of breath ...

hypochondriasis Hypochondriasis or hypochondria is a condition in which a person is excessively and unduly worried about having a serious illness. Hypochondria is an old concept whose meaning has repeatedly changed over its lifespan. It has been claimed that th ...

social phobia Social anxiety disorder (SAD), also known as social phobia, is an anxiety disorder characterized by sentiments of fear and anxiety in social situations, causing considerable distress and impairing ability to function in at least some as ...

and

posttraumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a Psychological trauma, traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster ...

. Clark was strongly influenced by the American

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

Aaron T. Beck Aaron Temkin Beck (July 18, 1921November 1, 2021) was an American psychiatrist who was a professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania.

who made long visits to Oxford University in the 70s and 80s, whose head of psychiatry Michael Gelder strongly believed in cognitive therapy. Clark was instrumental, with the economist

Richard Layard Peter Richard Grenville Layard, Baron Layard FBA (born 15 March 1934) is a British labour economist, co-director of the Community Wellbeing programme at the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics, and co-editor of t ...

, in the development and implementation of the

Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT), also known as NHS Talking Therapies, for anxiety and depression, is a National Health Service initiative to provide more psychotherapy to the general population in England. It was developed and i ...

programme from 2003. In 2014, with Layard, he published the book ''Thrive: The Power of Evidence-Based Psychological Therapies'', in which the authors demonstrate the potential value of the wider availability of modern talking therapies.

Personal life

He is married to the psychologist

Honours

Clark has won numerous awards in the UK and the USA. He was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to mental health. In 2016, Clark was elected a

Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences The Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) is an award granted by the Academy of Social Sciences to leading academics, policy-makers, and practitioners of the social sciences. Fellows were previously known as Academicians and used t ...

(FAcSS).

Footnotes

References

* http://www.iop.kcl.ac.uk/staff/profile/default.aspx?go=10813 * CLARK, Prof. David Millar’, Who's Who 2012, A & C Black, 2012; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2011; online edn, Nov 201
accessed 1 Feb 2012
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, David Millar 1954 births Living people Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences Obsessive–compulsive disorder researchers