It can be hugely challenging as a parent when your child is experiencing emotional, behavioural or developmental difficulties. I help children and their families to gain a better understanding of how difficulties might have developed and implement strategies and interventions to help them manage the challenges they are facing. I aim to improve the well-being of children and their families to help them go on to achieve their full potential.
I am happy to work with children, young people and their families, foster carers and social workers. I aim to be friendly and approachable in my work for adults and children alike and always try to tailor how I work to the child’s developmental stage.
Assessment
I provide psychological assessments of children and young people that are always tailored to individual need and family circumstances. After an initial conversation on the phone I usually meet with a family for between one and two sessions to carry out an assessment where I ask lots of questions about the difficulties they are experiencing and how they arose, family background and developmental history. I might also ask older children to fill in a questionnaire.
Once the assessment is completed I share my thoughts (‘formulation’) about the problem with the family. This is a chance to think about how difficulties may have developed, possible triggers and what might be maintaining the problem. On the basis of this we can then discuss different treatment options, including those available through the NHS if appropriate.
I can also provide more in depth ‘stand alone’ assessments that can take a little longer to complete. These might be specific assessments of emotional, social and intellectual functioning, mental health and/or attachment. As part of these assessments I always complete a psychological assessment report outlining findings, formulation and recommendations for therapy, school, home and/or placement planning, depending on what is needed. I can also provide assessments for court.
Therapeutic work
Therapeutic interventions vary a great deal and are tailored to each individual and the difficulties they are experiencing. I sometimes work with children and young people individually but more often I work with their families as well. All my therapeutic work is informed by professional good practice guidelines and outcome research (National Institute of Clinical Excellence).
For some problems specific therapeutic approaches can be helpful such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and it is helpful for me to meet with the child and/or their family over a course of 6-8 appointments. However for some families just one or two meetings is enough. If children are experiencing more complex difficulties then it may be necessary for me to be involved for a longer period of time. I use psychological models of behaviour, cognition, child development and attachment to help inform my work and like many clinical psychologists I draw on a wide range of therapeutic approaches. These include:
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Systemic (Family therapy)
Narrative
Psychodynamic
Play therapy
Attachment based therapy (e.g. Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (Dan Hughes)
Non Violent Resistence (NVR) (Haim Omer)
I like to work closely with parents/foster carers and if appropriate I am happy to make links with other professionals in a child’s life such as their teacher or social worker.
Consultation
Thinking about supporting a child’s emotional needs with the adults around them is often key in helping children overcome difficulties. I can provide direct consultation to parents and foster carers or to a wider professional network around a wide variety of difficulties. Consultation work aims to help families/professionals develop an understanding of what might be going on for a child and feel supported to know what to do next.
I have experience of running both parenting groups and attachment based therapeutic parenting groups for foster carers and could provide this in the future if requested.