BEACON HOUSE - Key Persons

Abby Fenton

Job Titles:

Practitioner Psychologist ( Forensic )

Abby has worked with a wide range of clients with complex psychological difficulties. She was the clinical lead for the Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) service at a privately-run hospital, before moving into NHS forensic inpatient services. She has particular expertise in working with people with severe and enduring difficulties in emotions and relationships, including people who might have had a diagnosis of personality disorder from services, or who experience complex difficulties related to early trauma. She also has an interest in autism and has provided consultation, training and advice to professionals on this topic. She is particularly interested in the interaction between our sensory experiences, our emotions and our relationships and how an adverse environment can affect our ability to self-regulate. As a forensic psychologist, she also has extensive experience of assessing and managing risk and delivering interventions to help people turn away from offending. Some of Abby's clients have come to her because they were struggling to manage very intense emotions including overwhelming shame, guilt, anger, rage, anxiety or sadness. She has also worked with many people who described themselves as feeling emotionally numb or empty inside, who perhaps had difficulties with dissociation or feeling cut off from their bodies. They might have used self-harm or other harmful strategies to cope. The aim of the work has been to develop a therapeutic relationship that would allow them to explore their emotions safely and learn strategies to notice and manage them without becoming overwhelmed by them. Abby is registered with the HCPC as a practitioner psychologist (forensic) and has an additional qualification in the therapeutic use of the arts. Abby will often support clients to use the arts and other creative approaches to explore their thoughts and feelings. She recently completed an Advanced Diploma in the Therapeutic Use of the Arts at the Institute for the Arts in Therapy and Education (IATE), London. The course teaches an integrative approach (drawing particularly on Gestalt therapy, Attachment and Transactional Analysis models of psychotherapy) to using arts media in therapy, including poetry, clay, music, movement, drama, body work, puppets and sand tray as well as visual arts (painting, drawing etc.). As well as working as an associate therapist at Beacon House, Abby continues to work in the NHS and is also a specialist member of the Parole Board for England and Wales. Abby has also worked as a social researcher and has skills in service evaluation. As such, she has an interest in, and commitment to, evidence-based practise. However, she also understands that people don't fit into neat boxes and treatment needs to be flexible. Abby believes that people are unique and creative in how they experience - and adapt to cope with - life's problems, in order to survive and thrive as best they can. As well as the approaches already mentioned, Abby's work is informed by her knowledge of schema therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Abby knows that what works for one person, may not work for another and she will take time to explore your needs with you. She is warm, collaborative and brings an integrative and thoughtful approach to therapy drawing on all of her knowledge and experiences.

Amanda Brannan

Job Titles:

Therapeutic Social Worker

Amanda is a Social Worker with thirteen years' experience of working within the Local Authority. Amanda started her career working in the Contact and Assessment Team where she worked with children and their families who were subject to Child in Need and Child Protection planning. Amanda has extensive experience of undertaking multiple and complex assessments of children's needs and parental capacity as well as experience in emergency protection work to ensure the immediate safety of children. Amanda has ten years' experience working within a specialist team for children on the edge of care, providing assessment and intervention work for parents /carers and younger age children. Within this team Amanda has undertaken a wide range of assessment work and delivered specialist intervention work to support parents and children experiencing multiple and complex difficulties. Amanda held the post of Senior Practitioner and then Practice Manager within the same service where she supervised and lead a team of Social Workers and child and family workers in embedding and delivering high quality intervention work with children and their families experiencing issues such as complex trauma, attachment difficulties, domestic abuse, drug and alcohol misuse and mental ill health. Amanda is committed to supporting other peoples practice and has eight years' experience delivering high quality reflective supervision, guidance and training to others. Amanda has been at the forefront of supporting services develop in the areas of parent and child relationship interventions and held the practice lead role for Child and Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT). Amanda is an enthusiastic and dedicated practitioner who has a specific interest in working with complex trauma and attachment difficulties. She has attended a range of training courses focussing on attachment and trauma informed approaches. More recently Amanda has undertaken further specific training and is working toward being a fully accredited practitioner in Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP). DDP is an attachment focused therapy developed by Daniel Hughes and Arthur Becket-Weildman. It is an evidence-based treatment for complex trauma and attachment difficulties. DDP is a family focused approach that incorporates a focus on relationships, attunement, intersubjectivity and sensitive responsiveness. In her role in Beacon House as Therapeutic Social Worker, Amanda offers parenting interventions that incorporate the principles of DDP while working toward her full accreditation. In addition to this, Amanda offers therapeutic parenting interventions to adopters and foster carers. With Amanda's experience working with young children, she also offers parent consultations about effective and sensitive parenting approaches which can support more positive behaviour in the child, and a greater emotional connection. Amanda is a social worker registered with Social Work England - Registration number: SW42029 Education and qualifications Continued professional development Assessment Tools Specialist Training BA (Hons) English Chichester University

Ana Gomez

Job Titles:

the EMDR Master Series Part 1 - Stabilization & EMDR Preparation Strategies With Children
the EMDR Master Series Part 2 - Working With Parents Within an Attachment - EMDR Systematic Approach
the EMDR Master Series Part 3 - Working With Defences, Parts & Resistance in Children During Initial Phases of EMDR Therapy
the EMDR Master Series Part 4 - Exploring & Processing Trauma Memories With Children Within an EMDR Approach

The EMDR master series part 4 - Exploring & processing trauma memories with children within an EMDR approach The EMDR master series part 3 - Working with defences, parts & resistance in children during initial phases of EMDR therapy The EMDR master series part 2 - Working with parents within an attachment-EMDR systematic approach The EMDR master series part 1 - Stabilization & EMDR preparation strategies with children

Candia Slaughter

Job Titles:

Member of the Clinical Team
Occupational Therapist
Paediatric Occupational Therapist

Candia is an experienced Occupational Therapist specialising in working with children and young people. She has focused her work with clients from extremely challenging backgrounds, who have experienced trauma or neglect, often coupled with additional needs, neurological differences, sensory processing difficulties or learning disabilities. Her prior experience is in the charitable sector; offering therapy in mainstream schools, alternative education units and dedicated centres for vulnerable children and young people. Candia supports children and young people to achieve their daily and life goals through achievable steps and thought through goals. She works with clients to understand their self-care, leisure and education/work/play strengths and needs, aiming to increase their self-esteem, self-efficacy and simply their enjoyment of the world. She does this work with a deep understanding of the effects of trauma and attachment issues on the everyday life of children and young people. She also focuses on her clients sensory processing needs. Often the children and young people who has experience trauma are stuck in the freeze, or ‘fight or flight' mode with adrenalin coursing through them, Candia has experience of addressing their sensory needs to offer regulation and increased stability. She is currently studying Sensory Attachment Intervention, an integrative approach focusing on modulating the body senses that have been aroused through trauma and neglect. Candia's other area of experience is working with children and young adults on the Autistic Spectrum. She has recently trained in LEGO®-based therapy, a specialist training for health professionals to support those on the Autistic Spectrum.

Cathy Wilson

Job Titles:

Member of the Office Team
Team Secretary

Clare Rader

Job Titles:

Occupational Therapist
Specialist Paediatric Occupational Therapist

Clare is an experienced Occupational Therapist who has worked across both the NHS and independent settings. She has experience working with children with a wide range of disabilities and needs before moving her focus to work with children who have experienced trauma and neglect. She works alongside colleagues in our Oving team and predominantly offers specialist occupational therapy services for children who are adopted or cared for by a Special Guardian. Clare is passionate about understanding the impact trauma and neglect have on the child's development, the child's ability to participate in everyday activities at home and school and the impact of the struggles on family life. She uses her assessment skills to fully understand the child's sensory and motor needs; and her clear report writing to share and start to help families understand the impact of these on everyday life including attachment, emotional wellbeing and regulation.

Dr Adele Greaves

Job Titles:

Clinical Psychologist

Adele is a Clinical Psychologist with 15 years' experience of working with adults struggling with the impacts of developmental and relational trauma. Prior to joining Beacon House, she worked in Adult Secondary Care Psychological Therapies Services and a Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Service. Adele specialises in working with adults who experience a range of emotional difficulties including depression, anxiety, perinatal depression, perinatal anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress, birth trauma, complex trauma and psychosis, including post-partum psychosis. One of Adele's passions is for working with mothers and fathers in the perinatal period, as they make the transition to parenthood. This life change can often bring to the fore parents' own early experiences and any unresolved difficulties relating to how they were parented. Such difficulties can also impact the parent-infant relationship, and Adele is skilled and experienced in parent-infant therapy with parents and their babies to support the development of this unique and crucial relationship. Adele is a strong believer in the importance of effective and empathic therapeutic relationships for promoting healing and change. She is an integrative and holistic practitioner drawing upon a wide range of therapeutic models including psychodynamic psychotherapy, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT), and third wave CBT approaches including Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), Mindfulness, Schema Therapy and Positive Psychology. Adele believes that therapy should both alleviate suffering and build sources of meaning and joy in life. Adele is mindful that mental health is both individual and social, and that societal experiences and social inequalities impact strongly on an individual's wellbeing. Adele is a member of the Psychologists for Social Change group; offers mentoring to aspiring Clinical Psychologists from diverse backgrounds as part of the Valued Voices Mentoring Scheme; and works to be a good ally in challenging all forms of discrimination including sexism, racism, ableism, ageism, classism, homophobia and transphobia. In addition to working as a therapist, Adele has extensive experience of offering individual and group clinical supervision and delivering training. As a supervisor and trainer, Adele aims to provide a compassionate and supportive space that promotes reflection and learning leading to meaningful and impactful changes in professional practice. Throughout her various roles, Adele is a warm and empathic practitioner who believes that a compassionate relationship-based approach allows the person(s) she is working with to feel heard, understood and appreciated. Adele is registered with the HCPC (PYL27133) and a member of the British Psychological Society.

Dr Alison Murfett

Job Titles:

Member of the Clinical Team
Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society
Counselling Psychologist

Alison brings to the Beacon House team twenty years' experience of working therapeutically with children, families and adults in a wide range of settings. She describes herself as an integrative psychologist and she draws on a variety of therapy approaches including cognitive behavioural therapy; humanistic and psychodynamic ways of thinking and also systemic family approaches. Alison always develops a treatment plan in collaboration with the client, depending on what would work best for that individual. For the last 15 years Alison has worked in specialist NHS services. Alongside her role at Beacon House she works part time as a Highly Specialist Counselling Psychologist in Specialist CAMHS, a service for children and adolescents who have complex emotional, behavioural and mental health difficulties. In this role she offers assessment and therapy; and consultations to GP's, Psychiatrists and other members of the team. Within her NHS role Alison also supervises Doctoral Level Clinical and Counselling Psychologists and other professionals such as Social Workers and Counsellors. Alison has worked in private practice alongside her NHS role for the past eight years. She has extensive experience treating difficulties such as emotional and behavioural problems in children; anxiety, panic and OCD in children and adults and personal development in adults. She has a particular interest in working with individuals who have suffered trauma in their past, and are experiencing PTSD or more complex, long-standing trauma reactions. Alison is very experienced in working with adults who have been abused as children, or who have suffered events such as sexual assault. Alison has undertaken extensive professional development and additional specialist training since her core training in 2001, with a particular passion for offering cognitive behavioural therapy in creative and dynamic ways to clients of all ages and with a range of emotional difficulties. Alison is an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society (membership number 081648); a registered member of the Health Care Professions Council (membership number PYL17963); and a member of the BABCP. She is also a BABCP supervisor of accredited CBT therapists.

Dr Anne Sheeran

Job Titles:

Sussex Partnership NHS Trust, One Day, January 2018

Dr Daniel Donkor

Job Titles:

Clinical Psychologist

Daniel is a Clinical Psychologist and works in our team with adults who are experiencing a range of mental health difficulties, including anxiety, depression, trauma, OCD and low self-esteem. Prior to joining Beacon House, Daniel worked in NHS and charitable specialist services for individuals with drug and alcohol addictions and multiple complex mental health needs. Daniel continues to work in addiction services in the charitable sector alongside his role in our team. Daniel has a special interest in working with adults who experience co-occurring mental health difficulties alongside substance use; and he is always curious and keen to take a trauma informed approach to understanding the needs individuals who are struggling. Daniel is conscious of the impact that mental health difficulties can have on an individual's wider social network, and he will involve family and significant others where appropriate, within his clinical work. In addition, as a Clinical Psychologist, Daniel is experienced in providing specialist consultancy, support, supervision, and training to professional staff teams around themes of mental health and substance misuse. Daniel has a warm, empathetic and gentle therapeutic style, which facilitates him in building strong therapeutic relationships with the people that he works with. Daniel holds the individual at the heart of his clinical practice and works in a collaborative way to develop a shared understanding of the issue. He believes that the individual is the expert of their own experience and that everyone has the potential to make change with the right support. Daniel likes to work in an integrative and client-focussed way, as he understands that there is no therapy approach which fits all individuals. His work is underpinned by a number of psychological models and theories, including, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), community psychology, systemic approaches and motivational interviewing. Daniel is registered with the Health Care Professionals Council (membership number PYL04589) and is a Chartered member of the British Psychological Society (membership number 151804).

Dr E. Felicity Williams

Job Titles:

Clinical Psychologist

Felicity is a warm and approachable Clinical Psychologist, who specialises in working with children, young people and their families. She has over ten years' experience of working in mental health services within the NHS. Felicity has worked with children and their families across a range of settings, including Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), paediatric psychology teams, schools and inpatient services. She has worked therapeutically with both individuals and groups, and has provided training in a number of therapeutic approaches. Felicity is experienced in working with young people presenting with a wide variety of difficulties, including low mood, anxiety, and relationship issues. She is able to help with issues around toileting, sleep and behaviour. Felicity also enjoys working with parents and carers to further develop their understanding of a child's difficulties and think together about ways of moving forward. Felicity has a special interest in working with children and young people with chronic health conditions (including diabetes and asthma) and has worked in a number of hospital based paediatric psychology teams. Felicity aims to provide a warm, non-judgemental space to support families with the difficulties they are facing. She adopts a flexible, collaborative way of working and draws on a range of different therapeutic approaches. These include CBT, narrative and solution-focused therapies. Felicity places huge value on the therapeutic relationship and strives to be respectful, curious and creative. She is always interested in exploring the resources and interests of children and their families, and in using these in working towards their chosen goals. Felicity is registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (membership number PYL23656) and is Chartered with the British Psychological Society (membership number 146892).

Dr Georgina Clifford

Job Titles:

Sussex Partnership NHS Trust, 5 Th December 2018

Dr Kathryn Whyte

Job Titles:

Member of the Leadership Team
Clinical Psychologist, Chichester Clinic Lead

Since becoming the team lead for Beacon House's Chichester clinic, Kathryn has had the privilege of seeing the therapy team grow from 2 therapists in the spring of 2017 to a team of 15 in 2020. Working alongside really passionate, skilled, kind and fun colleagues is a fantastic part of her role. Working therapeutically with children and families inspires Kathryn and is the part of her role that has taught her the most over the years; growing her own courage, patience and knowledge and having the honour of seeing the resilience, humour, bravery and creativity of her clients. Kathryn is a clinical psychologist by training and really enjoys the variety that her role as clinical lead offers. From introducing new families to Beacon House; working therapeutically with children, young people, and their parents to being one of Beacon House's safeguarding leads and supporting colleagues in their therapeutic work with families. Kathryn is influenced by a longstanding interest in attachment and trauma informed practice, and she particularly enjoys and values writing and delivering training to schools, colleges and other settings where the focus is working with young people and families. Kathryn has been trained in a number of different therapy models during and since qualifying. As a child and family practitioner specializing in work with children who are impacted by developmental trauma, her focus is often on relationships and attachments as a source of support and resilience for children, young people and families. There is very strong evidence to suggest that growing or strengthening healthy attachments can make a significant positive difference to children's thoughts, feelings, behaviour and long term emotional and physical health. Therapy can be one important part of a ‘web' of support for families which prioritises relationships and connections for children and young people. Through experience in the work setting, and as a parent herself, Kathryn knows that children (and in fact all people) need to feel safe, understood and accepted to start to make changes when things are difficult. Her approach is to be curious about all parts of a child's life and to appreciate their interests and passions alongside the things that they, or other people, are finding difficult. Kathryn's assessments and therapeutic work will always include listening to everyone in the child's family and network to understand a child's needs; a focus on relationships across home, school and communities as the milieu for change; thinking about mind, body and brain and an emphasis on restoring strength and stability in the context of what is already going well. Kathryn's specialist, post-qualifying experience includes dyadic developmental psychotherapy (DDP), solution focused therapy, sensory attachment interventions, assessing attachment in adults using the Attachment Style Interview (ASI) and most recently eye movement desensitisation and re-processing (EMDR), an evidence based psychotherapeutic treatment for trauma. Kathryn has recently begun a Level 5 Diploma in Children's Health and Social Care Leadership and Management to grow her knowledge and skills in this area as she continues to develop her work in the clinic and the service as a whole. Kathryn is registered with the Health Care Professions Council (membership number PYL22226) and chartered with the British Psychological Society (membership number 84300).

Dr Kim Reid

Job Titles:

Counselling Psychologist

Kim is a Counselling Psychologist with many years of experience of working in the NHS and privately. Kim has worked across a range of different settings and has experience of working with people with low mood, complex trauma, childhood trauma, interpersonal difficulties and a diagnosis of ‘personality disorder'. Kim has a special interest in working with adults with interpersonal difficulties linked to childhood trauma. Kim is an accredited schema therapist and supervisor/trainer in schema therapy. She has experience of offering schema therapy individually as well as in a group setting. She draws extensively on schema therapy in her work. She does, however, work integratively and flexibly to match the needs of the client and as well as schema therapy, draws EMDR and Internal Family Systems. Kim places significant value on the therapeutic relationship and works to build a trusting and collaborative relationship to provide a safe place to explore and understand difficulties. Depending on what brings someone to therapy, Kim may help a client work towards achievable goals to help make ‘here and now' changes. Or the therapy may be about working through issues from the past to enable the client to consider a different way of moving forward. Ultimately, Kim wants to help her clients to free themselves from unhelpful patterns that keep them stuck and to make different choices moving forward. Kim is registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) - PYL29581; The British Psychological Society (BPS) - 213456; The International Society of Schema Therapy (ISST) - UK000892.

Dr Kingsley Norton West

Job Titles:

London Mental Health Trust, 2011

Dr Laara Jupp

Job Titles:

Clinical Psychologist
Highly Specialist Clinical Psychologist

Laara is a Highly Specialist Clinical Psychologist working full time for Beacon House. She brings to the team a wealth of experience working with children who are looked after; and children and families who are receiving input from the Local Authority. Laara has accumulated over 10 years' experience working in the field of Clinical Psychology and 6 years working for a Specialist CAMH Service. In her previous role within the NHS (based within a Local Authority) and now in Beacon House - Laara offers psychological assessments, therapeutic interventions and consultation on issues relating to child care proceedings, child development, attachment and trauma, mental health, sibling attachments, contact with birth family and permanency and matching. She is able to work directly with parents, adoptive parents, foster carers, children being placed for adoption and children and young people in care. She also works closely with contact supervisors to facilitate child centered and safe family contact and support parents in their relationships with children. For the last 4 years Laara has provided regular consultancy, reflective supervision and training to a number of independent children's homes. She provides assessment and intervention for complex and traumatised adolescents who are experiencing high levels of emotional distress. She has a lot of experience assessing self-injury, suicidality and other serious mental health presentations; and a long standing interest in using participatory approaches to engaging and working with young girls at risk of sexual exploitation and hard to reach young people. Laara is committed to working in collaboration with families and young people. She values learning from the families and young people she meets and shares psychological theory and ways of working with them so that they can think together about how they would like to work towards change and understanding. Laara draws upon developmental theory, family therapy, narrative therapy, community psychology, cognitive behavioural therapy and psychodynamic and solution focused approaches depending on what is most useful to a person in times of distress.

Dr Laura France

Job Titles:

Member of the Leadership Team
Clinical Psychologist, Clinical Lead for Adult Services
France Clinical Psychologist, Clinical Lead for Adult Services

Laura has worked with Beacon House since its inception and joined us full-time as our Adult Services Lead in April 2018. Laura is proud to lead the Adult Services across both our Cuckfield and Chichester Clinics. Laura leads two of our innovative collaborations with West Sussex County Council; our service for Vulnerable and At Risk Adolescents, and our service for Families at Risk of Breakdown. Laura brings to Beacon House over 10 years' experience working within the NHS, where she was based within the Secure and Forensic speciality, including consulting to the National Probation Service around high-risk and complex cases. Laura has a long held a passion for working with marginalised groups who have endured exceptionally challenging life circumstances. Laura is dedicated to facilitating healing for those who live with the profound impact of disrupted attachment, early years adversity and developmental trauma. Laura specialises in the assessment and treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and Dissociative Disorders.

Dr Louise Peters

Job Titles:

Clinical Psychologist

Louise is a dedicated and creative Clinical Psychologist with experience of working with children, young people, adults, and their families across different settings. During a sixteen-year career, she has worked within veterans, youth homelessness and substance misuse charities, as well as NHS services for looked after children and young people, paediatric hospital settings, early years services, and various adult forensic settings. Her experiences have all contributed to a skill and knowledge base in supporting people across the lifespan, and the staff who surround them. Engaging multi-disciplinary teams through consultation, formulation, reflective practice, and innovative training approaches developed her interest in creating inclusive cultures of compassion and emotional authenticity in some traditionally authoritarian and challenging environments. Louise endeavours to work with people to enable focus on ‘what has happened to you' not ‘what is wrong with you' within collaborative and co-produced formulations. She has a passion for trauma informed thinking and a desire to focus on the function of patterns and behaviours for the person within formulations. She is interested in the power of relationships and recognises the importance of how people are left feeling during and after their interactions with services. Louise is an integrative and holistic practitioner, using a variety of psychological models and theory to collaboratively develop formulations; these include attachment and trauma models, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Compassion Focussed Therapy (CFT), Narrative Therapy and Systemic Therapy approaches. In addition to working therapeutically, Louise has recent experience of publishing research and delivering training to staff groups and external organisations. Her training has focused on helping charitable organisations to become Psychologically Informed Environments and thinking with staff about how they might work as teams to become more trauma informed. Louise lives with an invisible health condition that requires her to be adaptable, courageous, and flexible. She believes that these experiences allow her an enhanced level of understanding and empathy and views them as unique qualities that inform her approach and style. She has a passion for advocating for others and seeks to promote, celebrate, and encourage inclusion, diversity and equality in the workplace and wider society. Louise feels that her distinctive and individual qualities allow her to think creatively and innovatively, and she views this as a great resource. Louise will always take a non-diagnostic approach, being a formulation driven practitioner who values co-production and seeks to make all information accessible and inclusive to all. She is a strong believer that people will always remember how you made them feel, not necessarily what you have said, and it is this emphasis on the power of the relationship that Louise brings to all her work. Louise is registered with the Health Care Professions Council membership number PYL 37769.

Dr Megan Greenway

Job Titles:

Specialist Child and Educational Psychologist

Megan works as an Child and Educational Psychologist (EP) with a specialism in social and emotional well-being and mental health (SEMH). Megan generally collaborates with clients (and their families/professionals) to try and work out together their strengths, hopes and barriers and then work with them to create an onward pathway. She is interested in working with the team around the child so that changes at an individual, group and systemic level can happen. Megan's work can range from individual consultations, group interventions, staff supervision, parent/carer drop-ins as well as training, policy development and support for critical incidents. As an Educational Psychologist Megan is also skilled at carrying out trauma-informed assessments of individual children. Megan has regularly offered supervision with a range of professionals from statutory services, supporting these teams with the emotional toll of containing complex needs and high levels of risk. Professionally, Megan prioritises equality and respect but also the importance of hearing others' views and working collaboratively towards client-centred goals. Personally, Megan values the importance of communication and understanding as a way to remove barriers, provide new narratives and support the potential for change. Megan finds it a deep privilege working with young people who have often been through hugely challenging life experiences and supporting them to see their true resilience, strengths and ways forward towards hopeful outcomes. Megan is registered with the Health Care Professions Council membership number PYL26569.

Dr Patricia Crittenden

Job Titles:

Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust December 2018 ( 3 Days )

Dr Robert Percival

Job Titles:

Clinical Psychologist

Dr Shoshanah Lyons - Founder

Job Titles:

Clinical Director
Clinical Psychologist
Founder
Member of the Leadership Team
Clinical Director and Founder of Beacon House and Brings to the Service
Specialist

Shoshanah is the Clinical Director and founder of Beacon House and brings to the Service fifteen years' experience of working with children and adults. Since qualifying as a Clinical Psychologist, Shoshanah has undertaken additional therapeutic training in EMDR (a specialist therapy for trauma); solution focussed therapy; Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy and Video Interaction Guidance. Shoshanah has also undertaken further specialist training in the assessment and treatment of Complex Trauma and Dissociation. Shoshanah is a specialist in psychological trauma and works with children, families and adults who have been through highly distressing events. She has worked extensively with social services to support families in developing safer parenting; and she has many years' experience working with foster carers, adoptive parents and Social Workers to support the assessment and treatment of chronically traumatized children. In her clinical work, Shoshanah also specializes in working with adults who have been abused as children. A key part of her role in Beacon House is to deliver training across Sussex to Schools, Youth Services, Local Authorities and Charities on issues relevant to child mental health and developmental trauma. She delivers regular consultations to Children's Services on Complex Cases to assist with decision making around care plans and permanency options. In addition to her many years' experience in offering therapy and consultation, Shoshanah has worked as an independent Expert Witness to the Family Courts since 2008. Here she undertakes comprehensive expert assessments and advises the court where there are complex child protection concerns and repeated patterns of trauma and abuse within families. Shoshanah often understands people's difficulties through an ‘attachment lens' - meaning that how we are in our relationships and within ourselves is influenced by our early experiences of being cared for. Exploring this in therapy can lead to long-lasting growth and change. As the Clinical Director of Beacon House, Shoshanah is responsible for the smooth running of the service. She works closely with Jayne Hemming, the Service Manager, to oversee and co-ordinate our multiple services including: child & family; adult therapy; fostering, adoption and edge of care; schools project and our provision into West Sussex Youth Offending Services. Shoshanah has featured as an expert in a number of television documentaries and written for magazines and newspapers on themes of trauma, attachment and child mental health. She is available for comment in the media, and is available for speaking at events relevant to mental health and emotional well-being. Shoshanah is registered with the Health Care Professions Council (membership number PYL15710) and chartered with the British Psychological Society (membership number 042977).

Hamish Hill

Job Titles:

Clinical Psychologist
Chartered Clinical Psychologist

Hamish is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist who has been working with parents, carers, children and young people since 2009. Prior to joining the team at Beacon House, he held positions within specialist child and adolescent teams in Australia and in the UK. Hamish has experience supporting families with a wide range of mental health concerns including anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress reactions, OCD, neurodevelopmental conditions (ADHD and ASC), chronic pain, psychosis, and complex trauma. In addition to his roles within child and adolescent mental health services, Hamish has previously worked in an adult mental health team, an organisation supporting refugees and asylum seekers, a telephone crisis line and a family support team. When working with families, Hamish first seeks to develop a shared understanding of the concerns they bring to therapy, as well as agreeing on the goals and tasks of the work. In the context of a safe therapeutic relationship, children, young people and their families are able to reconnect with their own capacities and strengths, as well as make use of ideas, practices and skills from evidence-based treatments. Hamish's aim is to help families create and sustain the conditions which allow children and young people to recover and thrive. To this end, while he often offers a confidential therapeutic space for young people, Hamish sees his role as involving parents and other supportive adults wherever possible. Hamish draws on a range of therapeutic models in his work with families, including Mentalization-Based Treatment, Attachment-Focussed Family Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), Trauma-Focussed Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. He also has an interest in practices that integrate psychotherapy with contemporary knowledge about the brain. Hamish is registered as a Clinical Psychologist with the UK Health and Care Professions Council (registration number PYL33168) and is a Chartered Member of the British Psychological Society (member number 431819).

Helen Townsend

Job Titles:

Member of the Clinical Team
Artist
Creative Advisor & Artist

Helen Townsend is an artist and works at Beacon House as our Creative Advisor. Combining inspiration from lived experience with academic training, she is passionate about translating complicated theories and painful subject areas into accessible and compassionate information that can be used by everyone in day to day life. As an adoptive parent Helen aims to ensure ideas are realistic and practical for families and professionals. Helen believes that getting the information to those who need it is essential if we are to see true change for vulnerable children and adults.

Inbar Sagiv

Job Titles:

Clinical Supervisor
Member of the Leadership Team

Inbar is an experienced clinical supervisor working with trainee and qualified psychotherapists and counsellors, and provides supervision and clinical oversight to colleagues within Beacon House, and to professionals externally.

Jane Watson

Job Titles:

Member of the Office Team
Team Secretary

Jayne Hemming

Job Titles:

Manager
Member of the Leadership Team
Service Manager
Social Worker

Jayne has been a qualified social worker for more than 25 years. Her practice experience in this role covers children in need, children looked after and working with foster carers and adopters. However her specialist area of work for more than 5 years was as a duty and assessment social worker and particularly the investigation of child protection concerns. Jayne has been a manager in a range of children's services settings across the past 20 years including duty and assessment teams, a domestic abuse project, family centres, children's centres, early years settings and early help initiatives. Her role for the past 4 years has been to develop, manage and lead a local authority therapeutic intervention service which works with parents and carers of children primarily under the age of 12 years. Jayne works with families in an open and honest manner and believes in a holistic and multi-agency shared approach to supporting children and their family network to build resilience and address identified difficulties. Jayne believes that the starting point for change is the premise that parents and carers want good outcomes for their children, know their children best and have resources and capacity to address issues if they are given timely support to reflect on how things might be different, what this would look like and what might achieve these aims. In her role as Service Manager at Beacon House, Jayne works closely with the Clinical Director, Dr Lyons, to coordinate new referrals; oversee and bring together the day to day running of the Beacon House service; coordinate and contribute to the duty cover in respect of urgent enquires and complaints; liaise with members of child networks as a central representative of Beacon House; oversee the running of the Beacon House office; administrative team and premises and support the Beacon House staff team to maintain its provision of high quality and responsive attachment and trauma based interventions. Jayne is responsible for and passionate about providing a nurturing environment for the users of Beacon House services. With this in mind she aims to maintain premises, facilities and a team response that is always pleasant and welcoming. Jayne is a social worker registered with Social Work England - Registration number: SW79245 and a member of the British Association of Social Workers.

Jo Glenn

Job Titles:

Member of the Office Team
Receptionist

Joan Lovett

Job Titles:

EMDR Connect, 1.5 Hours, 13th February 2021

Jonathan Goldsmith

Job Titles:

Drama and EMDR Therapist

Jonathan is a very experienced therapist and has worked in the NHS for over 20 years in a range of inpatient and community settings. These included adult drug and alcohol rehabilitation, child and adolescent psychiatry and services for people with a learning disability. Jonathan has a lot of experience working with children and young people who are in the care of the Local Authority and children who are adopted. He has also worked with families as they develop to include a fostered or adopted child. He recognizes that all parties, including the therapist, needs to be open to learning about the challenges of change. Jonathan's first professional training was in Drama therapy. He is particularly interested in what it means to play -noting that to be playful concerns relationships and is a physical as well as cognitive and emotional experience. Crucially play starts early in an infant's life. The capacity to play, explore and be curious promotes learning and self confidence. However, it can be understandably undermined by trauma and other life experiences, and this can limit a person's development. Jonathan's subsequent training has focused upon understanding better the impact of trauma including the intergenerational effects upon any an individual and their family. Jonathan has completed trainings in Family therapy and most recently has trained in two specialist approaches to trauma called sensori motor psychotherapy and EMDR. Jonathan is passionate about understanding individuals' needs and patterns through an attachment lens, and he is starting a course regarding attachment theory & practice at the John Bowlby Centre in the Autumn 2016. Jonathan is interested in sport and the performing arts. He studies QI Qong and Tai Chi as he is interested in approaching psychological and emotional issues in terms of how the body experiences distress. Jonathon is very skilled at applying a range of therapy techniques with children and teenagers; and also with adults. He is able to adapt therapy to suit the communication and ‘cognitive' needs of a child and his dynamic and creative approach creates a playful yet gently challenging therapeutic environment for his clients to explore their feelings and their future.

Julie Neale

Julie is passionate about the power of creativity to facilitate well-being for children and adults alike. She has a Post Graduate Diploma in the Therapeutic and Educational Application of The Arts and regularly incorporates artistic expression into her therapeutic work. Julie also offers support for parents who may feel overwhelmed or stuck in dealing with recurring issues. She provides a confidential safe space for parents to reflect and explore alternative approaches. Julie is a highly skilled and compassionate therapist who prioritises creating a non-shaming and respectful space for clients to explore whatever they choose to bring.

Kate Pelissier

Job Titles:

Consultant Systemic Family Psychotherapist

Kate is a systemic psychotherapist who has been employed by both the NHS and social care and brings to the team over 28 years of significant and comprehensive experience of supporting children, young people, their families and significant carers to identify ways through their emotional, psychological and mental health needs to make sense of their world and develop a sense of resilience that promotes a healthy transition into adulthood. Drawing on both her social work experience and informed by substantive family therapy experience, Kate routinely works with children, young people and families affected by anxiety, parental separation/divorce, loss and bereavement, communication difficulties, depression, trauma, sexual exploitation, deliberate self-harm, suicidal ideation, developmental trauma and eating disorders. Kate has an interest and brings to the team demonstrable clinical experience of working with children and young people who present with gender identity discomfort and gender variance. Kate has recently contributed to a gender identity online training module aimed at teachers and health professionals. Kate is a strong advocate and educator when working with sexual orientation and young people who identify as lesbian, gay and or bisexual. She enjoys working with same sex couples and families. In addition to her therapeutic work Kate is an accomplished and popular supervisor, trainer, lecturer and tutor in the field of systemic psychotherapy. She values encouraging trainees and professionals to use their knowledge base and skills through the lenses of systemic thinking to enhance practice and bring every family member's voice to the fore. In addition to her clinical and supervisory work, Kate taught on the Post- Graduate Diploma in Applied Systemic Theory at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust for 20 years. She is currently a visiting lecturer at Surrey University. Born in Lyon, France, with the UK as home, where she has raised her family and worked for over 30 years, Kate also offers French speakers the opportunity to engage in therapeutic work or supervision in their first language. Kate is registered with UKCP (registration number: 00111043)