I am an accomplished Chartered Educational and Child Psychologist with over sixteen years of experience working with Local Authorities. I was an Academic and Professional Tutor on both the Doctorate in Educational and Child Psychology at University College London (UCL) and the Doctorate in Professional Educational, Child and Adolescent Psychology at the Institute of Education (IOE). In 2018, a colleague and I founded ‘Psychology First‘, an Educational Psychology Service offering a wide range of support to schools and educational settings.
Through my work as an Educational and Child Psychologist, I am aware of the many children and young people who are experiencing mental health difficulties, and who are not able to access appropriate or timely support from a qualified professional. I have also met with many desperate parents who feel they are no longer able to parent their children due to the fear that what they say might make their child’s difficulties worse. Consequently, I am passionate about finding different evidence-based approaches to support these families. This, combined with my life-long connection and love of horses, led me to discover and complete my Level 5 Diploma in Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy: The Leap Method. It is the first and only Ofqual regulated qualification specifically designed for mental health professionals in the UK.
Through ‘Stable Minds’ and alongside my herd, I offer in person equine facilitated psychotherapy using an integrative, psychodynamic, and narrative approach, to children, young people, and adults. My practice is based at Laris Farm in the beautiful area of Chobham in Surrey.
Qualifications
- Doctorate in Applied Educational Psychology, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne
- LEAP Level 5 Diploma in Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy
- Paediatric Sleep Disorders OCN Level 6
- Mental Health First Aider
- BHS First Aid
Professional Bodies
- Regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
- Chartered and Fellow member of the British Psychological Society (BPS)
- Fellow member of the Accredited Counsellors, Coaches, Psychotherapists and Hypnotherapists (ACCPH)
- LEAP Registered Practitioner
- Enhanced DBS clearance
Additional Training relevant to EFP
- Psychological Supervision at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust
- Narrative Therapy Levels 1 and 2
- Theraplay
- Motivational Interviewing
- Mindfulness
- Emotion Coaching
- Suicide bereavement, prevention and postvention
- Supporting pupils who self-harm
- Relational and Developmental Trauma
