The DCP Early Career CPD programme

I received my Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Essex University in 2012 and have since worked predominantly within social care. When I first qualified, I worked in a multi-systemic therapy for child abuse and neglect team (MST-CAN) in Cambridgeshire. Here, I worked therapeutically to support families with child(ren) who were on the child protection register.  

Then I moved to Suffolk County Council’s children and young people service. In Suffolk, my role was to promote psychologically informed ways of working, which I did through consultation, joint work, training, and reflective practice. I also had a leadership role, which amongst other things, focused on supporting compassionate leadership and anti-racism work within the council.  

For several years now, I have been lecturing on the systemic module at the University of East Anglia. I am also a Person Tutor and BRAVE mentor for aspiring clinical psychologists from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.  

My real passion is working with parents and carers so they can support their loved ones with mental health, emotional, and behavioural difficulties. I am trained in emotion focused family therapy, which is central to the private practice that I am currently building with a colleague.

My name is Dr. Elina Telford, known as ‘Linnie’ by colleagues, friends, and family. I am a clinical psychologist and am currently transitioning from the NHS into independent practice. I have worked in CAMHS for a decade, undertaking senior roles in family therapy and neurodevelopmental pathways. For the past five years, I have been the lead psychologist in a CAMHS eating disorder team.

I position myself as an anti-oppressive, trauma-informed, neuro-affirmative, systemic, social constructivist with a passion for lived experience. This identity and understanding of both my professional and personal self, have evolved throughout my qualified life, supported through supervision and adjunctive training, e.g., EMDR, a systemic Postgraduate Diploma, and neurodevelopmental assessment tools.

I love ‘meaning-making,’ and despite my jargon-loaded positioning, I strive to make psychology accessible. This is reflected in my contributions to mainstream media (e.g., BBC Radio, Forbes Magazine, and The Telegraph, to name a few), social media (Instagram), and my podcast.

I am passionate about supervision, teaching, and research. Before my DClinPsy, I completed a Master’s and PhD. Since qualifying, I have worked hard across all roles to maintain connections to my former identity as a researcher, in parallel with my ever-evolving identity as a psychologist.

I’m a Chartered Clinical Psychologist currently working in private practice, predominantly with children, adolescents, and adults. I use a range of evidence-based therapeutic approaches, but my predominant approach is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). I’ve continued to apply my supervision skills in various ways including offering CBT supervision to those training on the Postgraduate Diploma in Children and Young People’s CBT at Reading University. I have experience supervising assistant and trainee clinical psychologists, supporting them at their various stages of career development.

I started my career within the field of psychology in 2002. I completed the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the University of Birmingham in 2010 and went on to work in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in the NHS until 2023, when I left to pursue private work opportunities. I have experience of working in a variety of settings including hospitals and schools. I have a Postgraduate Certificate in Supervision and I’m an accredited therapist with the British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies.