Kim S. Golding awarded CBE in Queen’s birthday honours list

Kim S. Golding, DDP Practitioner, Consultant and Trainer,  and celebrated author, has been awarded a CBE in the UK 2020 Queen’s birthday honours.

Kim, a Consultant Clinical Psychologist, has received the award for services to children and young people. Throughout her career she has worked tirelessly to improve the lives and mental health of looked after children and young people who have experienced early trauma.

She worked within the NHS for many years, before helping to create the Integrated Service for Looked After and Adopted Children, in Worcester, UK. Kim was trained and mentored by Dan Hughes in Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP), which formed the foundation for her ongoing practice, writing, training and speaking.

Kim has written a range of acclaimed books around DDP and PACE for parents, caregivers and professionals, all of which explore the support needed to understand children who have experienced developmental trauma. Her ‘Nurturing and Foundation for Attachment Series’ and accompanying trainings are especially popular with parents and professionals alike.

Kim is a DDPI Board Director and UK Member at Large, as well as a DDP Connects UK Director.

Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE, is the highest-ranking award below a knighthood. The honours are awarded twice a year for ‘outstanding achievement or service to the community’.

Kim was initially hesitant to accept this award, due to the outdated notion and negative connotations of ‘Empire’, through associations with historical exploitation, colonialism, racism and slavery. However, after much deliberation, Kim decided to accept it in the hope that openly discussing these issues would raise further awareness and conversation about the crucial need for change, as well as providing a platform to further highlight the ongoing needs of the vulnerable children and families she supports.

Press Release

“I am delighted that my colleagues have nominated me for an appointment as part of the Queen’s birthday honours. To receive the news that I was going to be appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to children and young people in my role as a consultant clinical psychologist was humbling.  

I am proud to be a British Citizen and value being part of a country which strives to encourage diversity and equality. My paternal grandparents were welcomed into this country as Jewish refugees from Russia and the privilege and opportunities that I have had would not have been possible without the opportunity that they were given. Whilst I view the term British Empire to be outdated and not representative of my experience of being British, I do appreciate the valuing of British excellence that the honours represent. 

Since my training as a clinical psychologist I have always aimed to improve the mental health and emotional wellbeing of the children, young people, and families that I have worked with. When I moved to Worcestershire, at the end of the last century, this work became focused upon children growing up in, or adopted from, care. It was my privilege to work with dedicated colleagues within the NHS, Social Care and Education to develop and evaluate services and interventions that were helpful for the parents, carers, children, and young people.  

I have been greatly assisted in my work through the mentoring I have received, most notably from Dan Hughes, an American clinical psychologist who developed the DDP model (Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy). With his generosity and support I, together with Julie Hudson and our many colleagues, have worked hard to ensure that families and practitioners have access to this model within the UK, most recently through the formation of DDP Connects UK.  

In my writing, training, and conference presentations I have always sought to ensure that my learning from this work is shared widely. 

This honour, whilst recognising my individual contribution, also recognises the hard work of many people. We want to ensure that our children and young people have the best support possible in order to recover from early trauma and develop towards improved mental health and emotional wellbeing. We also want to provide the best support to those parenting these children and young people so that they can stay resilient and emotionally healthy whilst undertaking what can often be a challenging parenting task.”

Kim S. Golding, BSc, MSc, D. Clin. Psy. AFBPsS
Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Author, 
and certified DDP Practitioner, Consultant and Trainer 

Reproduced with permission, this press release can be found on the Kim S. Golding website. Kim can be contacted by email at kimsgolding@btinternet.com, or on Twitter at @kimsgolding.  She lives in Worcestershire, UK, with her husband Chris, daughter Lily and two dogs Hera and Jess, and her son, Alex, lives nearby.