Member of an expert panel developing RE-STAR

I am a psychotherapist working with children, young people, parents and individuals up to 24 years of age. Along with offering support in a range of areas, anxiety, anger, depression, low self-esteem, abuse and trauma, I have in-depth experience of supporting children and young people with Specific Learning Difficulties, Autistic Spectrum Conditions and/or social communication difficulties. Having taught students with special educational needs for many years, I have developed a way of working with children and young people with neurological differences which embraces both an understanding of the nature of their difficulties and consideration as to how their difference might impact on a young person’s communication or interaction with others. I also offer support to adults who receive a diagnosis of neurological difference (e.g. Dyslexia, ADHD, Autism) in adulthood.

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After completing my training as an International Montessori teacher in 2004, I taught in primary education and then trained as a Level 7 specialist in Dyslexia Assessment and Specialist Literacy Teaching across the lifespan. On completing this training, I joined an independent day school in London where I worked as a one-to-one literacy specialist and then took on the role of Special Educational Needs Coordinator. In 2014 I co-founded The Independent School, a secondary school for children with additional needs, where I was Vice Principal and Head of SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities). I then went on to train at The Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust as a psychodynamic psychotherapist working with children, young people, parents and young adults. I have found my background in education to be invaluable in understanding the needs of the young people with whom I work.

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In 2016, together with Counselling Psychologist Adele Monsef, I co-founded The Child and Adolescent Development Centre (The CDC.London) a collaborative team of clinical professionals from a range of disciplines including Psychoeducational & Neurodevelopmental Assessment, Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Art Therapy and Mental Health. The CDC.London offers children, young people and families individual or group specialist services crafted to meet each individual’s specific needs. 

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In addition to my work in mental health I support families in finding the right support for neurodiverse children and young people in education. Since 2015 I have worked in collaboration with law firms, offering expert testimony at tribunals to support families in securing Education, Health and Care Plans. I am also a freelance writer looking at issues in education and mental health.

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I am an advisory board member of the Words Matter charity, dedicated to ending verbal abuse of children by adults. I am also currently sitting on an expert panel for RE-STAR, a four-year, interdisciplinary programme dedicated to developing resilience building programmes for neurodivergent adolescents, led by Professor Edmund Sonuga-Barke of the Experimental Psychopathology and Neurodevelopment (ExPAND) Research Group at King’s College London.

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