Registered Principal Clinical Psychologist:
Bsc Joint Hons, DClinPsych
I qualified as a Clinical Psychologist in Leeds in 2003 having spent my final year specialising in developmental psychology within the regional Child Development Department. I was invited to stay on as a locum and did so briefly before I returned home to the North East and took up a post with the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Team in Northumberland. In this post I continued to develop my interest in neurodevelopmental conditions. I completed additional training in autism assessment and began to work with my team and wider agencies to develop joint assessment and intervention pathways.
Since that time I have held several posts, all within NHS services for children and young people within the North East. I have continued to specialise in autism and very much enjoy working with young people presenting with neurodevelopmental differences and their families, helping to ensure that their strengths as well as any difficulties are fully understood and supported. I have always advocated for pathways and processes that assess and gain understanding of the whole person and I have led on developing this within the multi-disciplinary pathway for assessment and diagnosis of neurodevelopmental conditions within my NHS team.
I began working with Autism North East in 2021 and currently I also work part-time in the NHS as the lead psychologist within Newcastle and Gateshead Neurodevelopmental Assessment Team. Within my NHS role my clinical work with my team involves assessing children and young people where there is complexity to their needs. Whilst my main interest has always been in autism, I am skilled in assessing and diagnosing conditions that commonly co-occur such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, mental health difficulties, tic disorders and learning disabilities. The leadership aspects to my role involve providing specialist training and supervision to psychology staff and multidisciplinary colleagues supporting them to further their understanding of neurodevelopmental conditions. I am a qualified trainer for the ADOS (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule) and contribute to the annual training course which is run through our regional second opinion service and attracts delegates from across the country and internationally.
I am genuinely passionate about my work in both settings and enjoy seeing young people thrive when their neurodevelopmental differences are valued and fully understood.