Dr Jo Grant – Founder of Believe in Potential
I'm a qualified teacher and a Chartered Child & Educational Psychologist (EP). I've been an EP for 20 years, working extensively across London and the South East. I've worked with individual pupils, classes, whole school settings, teachers and support staff across primary, secondary and post-16 educational settings. I have also provided consultations and training for education, social services and health professionals, as well as support workshops for parents and carers.
I enjoy training opportunities, as these allow me to share the knowledge and expertise that I have acquired over the years. I have recently been delivering training to teachers and support assistants on the following topics: Attachment, Challenging Behaviour, Improving Literacy Levels & Enhancing Young People's Motivation, Resiliency, Social Emotional Mental Health, Wellbeing and Self-Esteem.
I have worked with many children and young people experiencing a wide range of difficulties. I am a specialist EP supporting Children Looked After (CLA) – children within the care system. Within this role, I've worked closely with many agencies including teachers, teaching assistants, CAMHS professionals, other health care experts, social workers and foster carers. I have also worked with young people in residential homes (nationwide), secure settings, specialist provisions and mainstream educational settings. My approach is very much child-focused: I always strive to support the young person by empowering and enhancing the expertise of the network around them.
I have carried out extensive training as part of my work for virtual school networks. Training audiences have included foster carers, social workers and designated teachers.
I enjoy creating and setting up kids club activities for young people to help enhance their self-esteem, confidence and resilience and to develop their skills.
Dr Jenny Anderson
Jenny completed her doctorate in Educational and Child Psychology (DEdPsy, University of Southampton) in 2011. Since then, she has over a decade of experience as an Educational Psychologist working in local authority practice, supporting children, young people and their families in a variety of different educational and community settings through individual casework, training and systemic work.
Jenny's particular areas of interest include cognition, mediation and metacognition (helping children, families and schools to recognise how individuals learn best), using person-centred approaches to gain the views of the child and place them at the centre of the assessment process, and providing high-quality supervision for members of school staff, including trainee and assistant educational psychologists.
Dr Jerricah Holder
Jerricah is an experienced Educational Psychologist, trainer and author of the School Wellbeing Cards. Jerricah has over 10 years' experience and has a particular passion and interest in supporting the needs of children experiencing Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA). Jerricah has extensive experience of developing systemic approaches to EBSA and shifting practice to focus on early identification and intervention. Jerricah believes in an holistic approach to supporting school attendance concerns, in which the child's voice is at the centre of assessment and intervention.
Jerricah is also experienced in supporting the needs of Care experienced children and has completed enhanced training in Patricia Crittenden's Dynamic Maturational Model of attachment and developmental trauma. Jerricah
has completed training to support Therapeutic Parenting approaches for foster carers and adoptive parents.
Jerricah has previously worked as part of a multi-agency Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), supporting the needs of children who have engaged in Harmful Sexual Behaviour to others. Her areas of specialism include: working therapeutically with under-12s through play-based and projective techniques, sibling sexual behaviour, and managing sexual risk within educational and residential settings.
Jerricah has completed further training in Therapeutic Story Writing and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), including the FRIENDS programme.
Dr Danya Gromski
Danya is a qualified Educational Psychologist with over 10 years' experience of working in local authorities.
Danya's experience has included writing psychological advice to contribute to Statements of Special Educational Need and Education, Health and Care plans. She has also provided advice and consultation to teachers and parents of pupils in nursery, primary, secondary and special schools.
Danya has provided training to schools on a range of issues including supporting pupils who have speech, language and social communication difficulties, specific literacy difficulties and dyslexia, ADHD, and working memory. She has a particular interest in the field of mental health and understanding the impact of early trauma and attachment on development and learning, as well as ways to build resilience and support emotional wellbeing for all children and young people.
Danya also brings knowledge and experience of evidenced-based interventions to support children, young people, schools and families, including: Brief Solution Focused Therapy , Dynamic Assessment, Precision Teaching, Video Interaction Guidance (VIG), Resilience, Emotion Coaching, Mindfulness and Cognitive Behavioural Approaches. She has a Certificate in Competence in Educational Testing that covers a range of standardised assessments.
Dr Anna Price
Anna has worked as an Educational Psychologist for over 15 years, prior to which she worked as a teacher, examiner and in clinical neuro-psychology.
Anna works with both children and adults. She offers a full range of assessments, including diagnostic assessments for specific and general learning difficulties, as well as a broad set of training skills.
Dr Barbara Sullivan
Barbara Sullivan is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist and has worked in mental health for nearly 30 years in settings spanning older adults, homelessness, learning disabilities, adults and young people.
Barbara is passionate about young people reframing their narratives and discovering their potential, removing obstacles to change and growth (including academic growth) such as fear, anxiety and self-doubt.
Dr Simone Mallett
Simone is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist with over 25 years' experience of working in the NHS with adults, children and families. She also has experience of working in different organisational settings including the local authority and schools, and is also a qualified Organisational Psychologist.
Simone has additional experience of working with Children Looked After, Youth Offending and Learning Difficulties, and has a keen interest in helping young people by empowering the network around them. She supervises other psychologists in different settings, including schools; has lectured on Clinical Psychology Doctoral Programmes, and has trained and offered consultations to health, education and social services professionals.
Areas of interest include complex trauma and working with individuals, families and carers to remove barriers to personal growth and fulfilment. She has an analytical and flexible approach to working and can utilize different evidence-based therapies according to client need.
Dr Nathalie Hojka
Nathalie is an Educational and Child Psychologist with
over 20 years’ experience as an educational professional. This
includes a doctorate in Child, Community and Educational
Psychology at Tavistock and Portman Foundation NHS Trust, and employment as an Educational Psychologist within the local authority and private sector spanning over 12 years.
Prior to this, Nathalie spent a decade teaching in both primary and secondary schools. She is passionate about the inclusion of young people with special educational needs and disabilities. She works closely with young people, schools, parents, and NHS services to enable positive and sustainable change. Her experience includes assessment and writing
psychological advice for schools and local authorities.
Nathalie also runs training for schools, colleges, universities and parents on a range of topics. She also has training and experience in working with young people using evidence based psychological interventions including cognitive behavioural approaches, motivational interviewing, positive psychology and solution oriented approaches. She has a particular interest and range of experience in mental health, autism and emotional-based school refusal. Her doctoral thesis focused on ways of promoting self-efficacy beliefs in young people with dyslexia.
Bud – Head of Wellbeing
I play an important role in maintaining the wellbeing of my owners.