Dr Jim White: Clinical Psychologist and Creator of Stress Control
Dr Jim White is a consultant clinical psychologist and internationally recognised expert in stress management. He spent more than 30 years working in the NHS, combining clinical practice with research, service development and the creation of new ways to help people manage common mental health difficulties.
Jim has published more than 40 papers in peer-reviewed journals, co-edited The Oxford Guide to Low-intensity CBT Interventions and created the Glasgow STEPS low-intensity model. He has also served as a National Advisor to the Scottish Government on mental health.
Qualifications and professional recognition
- PhD – University of Glasgow
- Chartered Psychologist
- Chartered Scientist
- Fellow of the British Psychological Society
- Fellow of the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies
A major focus of Jim’s career has been finding practical ways to make effective support available to more people.
Why Jim created Stress Control
During his NHS work, Jim saw large numbers of people struggling with anxiety, depression, panic, poor sleep and related difficulties. He recognised that these problems often occur together and should not always be treated as completely separate conditions. He saw anxiety and depression as “two sides of the same coin” and used the term “stress” to describe the range of common mental health difficulties people were experiencing.
He also saw the limitations of relying solely on one-to-one therapy. People could spend time on waiting lists before receiving help, during which their difficulties could become harder to manage. Appointments did not suit everyone’s circumstances, and some people were uncomfortable discussing personal difficulties with a therapist or in a group.
Jim wanted to provide another way for people to get help — one that could reach more people, give them useful support sooner and did not depend on them talking about their personal experiences.
He developed Stress Control as a structured programme that explains how stress works and provides practical techniques for managing it.
The programme looks at the way thoughts, physical reactions and behaviour can interact and keep stress going, then gives people practical ways to start changing those patterns. The focus is on clear explanation, practical strategies and developing skills that can be used independently.
One of the ideas at the heart of Stress Control is what Jim describes as learning to “become your own therapist” — understanding stress more clearly and becoming better equipped to manage it for yourself.
This approach also meant Stress Control could be offered to larger numbers of people and adapted for different settings. It has since been used through health services, schools, workplaces and occupational health.
As the programme has developed, that same principle of making support easier to access has extended to Stress Control at Home. The online course allows people to begin without waiting for a class or appointment, and work through the programme privately, at their own pace.
Continuing the work
Jim continues to develop Stress Control alongside his daughter Kirsty, a psychologist and programme developer, and his son Neil, who holds a doctorate in Sport and Exercise Psychology and is also a personal trainer and nutrition coach.
Together, they continue to adapt the programme for different settings and audiences while retaining the principles that have shaped Jim’s work throughout his career: making stress easier to understand, providing practical ways to manage it and helping people take a more active role in their own mental health.