Our People
Patrons
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Sir Richard Bowlby
Patron
Sir Richard Bowlby
Patron
Board & Senior Managers
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Liam Duffy
Director
Liam Duffy
Director
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Michelle Lee-Izu
Director
Michelle Lee-Izu
Director
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Joanne Alper
Director
Joanne Alper
Director
Panel
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Marion Hundleby
Panel Chair
Marion Hundleby
Panel Chair
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Wes Cuell
Panel Vice Chair
Wes Cuell
Panel Vice Chair
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Morris Linton
Childcare Social Worker
Morris Linton
Childcare Social Worker
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Scott Casson-Rennie
Independent Member
Scott Casson-Rennie
Independent Member
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Olu Lamond
Independent Member
Olu Lamond
Independent Member
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Nick Onslow
Independent Member
Nick Onslow
Independent Member
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Ruth Scotten
Independent Social Worker
Ruth Scotten
Independent Social Worker
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Jo Meyjes
Panel Advisor
Jo Meyjes
Panel Advisor
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Dr Deborah Pritchard
Medical Advisor
Dr Deborah Pritchard
Medical Advisor
Support Services
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Ros Brown
Birth Parent Counselling Administrator
Ros Brown
Birth Parent Counselling Administrator
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Alice Hollingdale
Training Coordinator
Alice Hollingdale
Training Coordinator
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Sophy Osman
HR and Office Manager
Sophy Osman
HR and Office Manager
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Sheriann Giddings
Therapy Service Administrator
Sheriann Giddings
Therapy Service Administrator
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Nicole Michaelson-Yeates
Administrator
Nicole Michaelson-Yeates
Administrator
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Scott Casson-Rennie
Training Coordinator
Scott Casson-Rennie
Training Coordinator
Social Work & Therapist Teams
Jo Meyjes
Service Manager
Jo Meyjes
Service Manager
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Jo Meyjes
Service Manager
BA (Hons) Social Policy and Administration, CQSW
I began my career in social work in 1987 working at the Cotswold Community, a residential therapeutic community for neglected, abused and traumatised boys. In 1992 I qualified as a social worker and started working for Northamptonshire County Council. I spent 10 years working in child care where I placed over 20 children for adoption and developed my interest in working with adopted children and their families. In 2003 I became the first post adoption support worker in Northamptonshire and spent 10 years working in the Team ending up in the role of Team Manager. By this time the team was also supporting Special Guardians too. In 2013 I became Northamptonshire's Adoption Panel Adviser and Adoption Support Services Adviser (ASSA).
In September 2016 I was very pleased to join Adoptionplus as the Service Manager. I had previously worked with Adoptionplus and had experience of their excellent therapeutic work with adopted families and their Birth Parent Counselling Service. I have responsibility for liaising with social workers wishing to make a referral to Adoptionplus to the Therapy Team for assessment and therapeutic work with adopted families; the Placement Team and the Birth Relative Counselling Service.
Claire Grady
Placement Service Manager
Claire Grady
Placement Service Manager
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Claire Grady
Placement Service Manager
I have a BA(hons) in Applied Social Studies and Diploma in Social Work.
I have worked as a social worker since 1998, both in frontline social work teams and in adoption teams in London and Bedfordshire. I have sat on adoption panel as a social worker representative and always had an interest in adoption and adoption support. This is my second time working for Adoptionplus, returning in January 2021 after a few years back working with children in a permanency team, which I found really valuable to my practice.
As well as my social work qualifications, I am a qualified practice teacher, have completed DDP levels 1 and 2, have a Certificate in Systemic Social Work Practice with Children and Families and am trained in attachment style interviewing and reflective interviewing.
I greatly enjoy working with adoptive families and my experience as a social worker in local authorities has shown me how essential the support we provide to families after adoption is to their long-term success.
Mary Kennedy
Consultant Social Worker
Mary Kennedy
Consultant Social Worker
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Mary Kennedy
Consultant Social Worker
C.S.S, Theraplay, DDP
I joined Adoptionplus in the spring of 2015 as a senior social worker. I qualified in social work in 1985.
My working life started in a children’s residential unit and I have worked in a residential setting for fourteen years in total. This includes time in a therapeutic community, a pre-permanence unit and my last role as a manager of an adolescent unit in a London Borough.
I started working in adoption in 1991 for a local authority and after a career break returned to this work. Adoption social work is demanding but I have always found it to be a huge privilege to walk alongside adopters though this life changing process.
Pippa Bolger
Senior Social Worker
Pippa Bolger
Senior Social Worker
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Pippa Bolger
Senior Social Worker
MA Applied Social Science with DipSW, BA (Hons), PQSW Child Care Award and PGDip Child Care Studies
I joined Adoptionplus in 2009, following my interest in finding and preparing families for children deemed “harder to place”. I am social work qualified and worked within frontline children's services, as well as a permanence team that focused upon children in need of adoptive families. In the permanence team I worked with children who had been waiting for an adoptive family longest, which included children over the age of 4, children of black or mixed heritage, children with complex trauma, sibling groups and children with disabilities. I learnt that accessible and tailored support is what all families needed and felt drawn to Adoptionplus due to the therapeutic support that was offered.
In addition to my social worker role, I have previously been a member of a local authority Adoption Panel and was also a family link carer, looking after a young child with Down's Syndrome. I have therefore been through the fostering process myself. I have also completed various courses relating to trauma and attachment, including Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (Dan Hughes), Theraplay® and Sensory Attachment Integration (Eadaoin Bhreathnach). Additionally I am trained in the Attachment Style Interview and the Reflective Functioning Interview.
Dr Ben Gurney-Smith
Consultant Chartered Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Lead for the Therapy Service
Dr Ben Gurney-Smith
Consultant Chartered Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Lead for the Therapy Service
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Dr Ben Gurney-Smith
Consultant Chartered Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Lead for the Therapy Service
I am the Clinical Lead for the Therapy team at Adoptionplus and oversee the delivery of high quality services that reflect the needs of adoptive families.
As a Consultant Chartered Clinical Psychologist with nearly 20 years of experience - fifteen of which have been with children who have experienced maltreatment in their birth families and who are now fostered or adopted — I have been involved in the establishment and delivery of services for these populations in health, local authority and the third sector.
I have a long standing research interest in how children and their families recover from traumatic beginnings and have published research in the areas of parenting stress, mindfulness for adoption, Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) and the evaluation of DDP informed parenting groups. I have lectured on Doctoral Clinical Psychology training courses and national and international conferences. I am a certified DDP Practitioner and on the board of Directors at the DDP institute where I am responsible for the coordination of research in the UK looking at the effects of DDP parenting, therapy and principles in addressing the impact of matreatment on children.
Dr Hannah Ford
Chartered Senior Clinical Psychologist
Dr Hannah Ford
Chartered Senior Clinical Psychologist
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Dr Hannah Ford
Chartered Senior Clinical Psychologist
I joined Adoptionplus as a Senior Clinical Psychologist in the Spring of 2016. I qualified as a Clinical Psychologist in 2007 and prior to joining Adoptionplus, I worked for nine years as part of a specialist psychology team offering support to looked after and adopted children and their families and the professionals working with them. I have completed DDP training to level 2.
Jo Hart
Acting Team Manager - Sensory OT Service
Jo Hart
Acting Team Manager - Sensory OT Service
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Jo Hart
Acting Team Manager - Sensory OT Service
BSc (Hons) OT: PG Dip Psych: PG Diploma in Integrative Child and Adolescent Counselling
Since qualifying as an Occupational Therapist in 1993, I have worked with children and young people in NHS and independent settings including clinic, schools and homes. I also consult to a school for children with autism. I have trained in DIR Floortime, Sensory Integration Theory and Practice, Sensory Attachment Intervention (SAI) and Mindfulness (MBSR). I have had a long standing interest in the emotional and attachment needs of children who have suffered neglect and trauma. I qualified as a Child and Adolescent Counsellor in 2016, now working towards gaining accreditation as a Child Psychotherapist. My professional roles have enabled me to integrate theory and practice of the sensory and emotional regulation needs of children, young people and their families.
I am a registered member of the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), Bristish Association of Occupational Therapists (BAOT) and Sensory Integration Network (UK and Ireland).
Yvonne Milton
Paediatric Occupational Therapist
Yvonne Milton
Paediatric Occupational Therapist
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Yvonne Milton
Paediatric Occupational Therapist
PgCHEPP, MSc, BA, DipOT(LHMC)
I have a post-graduate diploma in Occupational Therapy from the Royal London Hospital Medical College. Based in Warwickshire, I work as a Senior Occupational Therapy lecturer at Coventry University and as an independent practitioner. I have more than twenty year’s clinical experience of working with children and young people of all ages with a variety of needs including severe and moderate learning and physical difficulties, autistic spectrum disorder, sensory deficits, cerebral palsy, and allied neurological conditions.
I am a registered member of the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), a member of the British Association of Occupational Therapists (BAOT) and on the National Executive Committee for the British Children Young People and Families Occupational Therapy Specialist Sections Group (CYPF). I have specialist experience and training in working with families with children with cerebral palsy, sensory processing difficulties and allied neurological conditions. I am a member of the Sensory Integration UK and Ireland Network, Bobath Tutors Group (UK and Europe).
Rachel Staff
Service Manager
Rachel Staff
Service Manager
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Rachel Staff
Service Manager
MA/DipSW. Level One DDP. Practice Teacher
I qualified as a Social Worker in 1997. My experience has included working within the areas of child protection, looked after children, adoption and post adoption support. I have specialised in the field of adoption and post adoption support for the last 12 years working as a Senior Practitioner, Team Manager and Therapeutic Social Worker.
I have developed Adoption Support Services for all parties involved in the adoption process including birth families, adoptive parents and adopted children. I also have extensive experience as a trainer and facilitator for support groups for adoptive parents and adopted young people. I have a particular interest in working with adopted adolescents and their families and have developed services in this area in both group support forums and individual life story work. I am the author of "Parenting Adopted Teenagers: Advice for the Adolescent Years" and have also written about letterbox contact for the publication "Facilitating Meaningful Contact in Adoption and Fostering".
I am a trained facilitator for the Nurturing Attachment Group Programme and am currently working towards my accreditation as a Dyadic Development Practice practitioner. I am also currently working towards an NVQ level 5 qualification in Leadership for Children and Young People's Management.
I am thrilled to be managing the Therapeutic DDP Based Social Work Service for Adoptionplus. The work is innovative and dynamic and driven by a highly skilled and motivated team. We look forward to delivering an effective and empathic service to our families!
R Atkins
Team Manager - London Service
R Atkins
Team Manager - London Service
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R Atkins
Team Manager - London Service
BA (Hons) Social Work, DIPSW, MA Integrative Child Psychotherapy, DDP training to Level 1.
I am a Social Worker and Integrative Child & Adolescent Psychotherapist with more than 19 years experience working with children, families and adults.
My previous specialisms include training and facilitation of group work for perpetrators of domestic abuse and working with young offenders. I have also held front line practice and management roles within child protection, leaving care and safeguarding and reviewing services in an innovative, therapeutically integrated Local Authority in London. All of these roles incorporated work with adopted and pre-adoptive children. In addition, I was trained by the Anna Freud Centre as a group facilitator for New Beginnings: an attachment based group intervention for parents and infants.
Alongside my social work practice, I trained and qualified as an Integrative Child & Adolescent Psychotherapist with the Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education (IATE). My integrative framework draws upon psychodynamic theory and object relations, attachment theory, interpersonal neurobiology, developmental trauma and the use of the creative arts in therapy which continue to be my areas of interest.
Jesse Carlebach
Therapeutic Social Worker - London Service
Jesse Carlebach
Therapeutic Social Worker - London Service
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Jesse Carlebach
Therapeutic Social Worker - London Service
I am a therapeutic social worker based in the DDP Social Work Service in North London.
I have worked as a social worker for over 30 years, mainly in the field of adoption. I have extensive experience in the assessment and preparation of adoptive families and supporting the newly formed family. In the past 5 years I have focused on adoption support and have a broad knowledge and understanding of the multifaceted aspects of support needed by adoptive families managing the complexity of their child's therapeutic, educational and health needs.
I have experience of running workshops and support groups for adoptive parents and enjoy helping adoptive parents develop their knowledge and skills, whilst at the same time facilitating the adopters in supporting each other.
Over the years I developed an interest in Systemic Family Therapy and have a Diploma in Systemic Therapy from the Institute of Family Therapy. I also incorporate many aspects of psychoanalytic theories in my work and have an MA in Emotional Well Being from the Tavistock Clinic. I have completed training in DDP Level One and Life Story Work.
In addition I have always been interested in the role of research and how it informs social work practice and completed an MA in Social Research Methods in Social Work, focusing on Later Life Letters using arts based methods to explore the subject.
Ruth Israel
Integrative Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist - London Service
Ruth Israel
Integrative Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist - London Service
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Ruth Israel
Integrative Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist - London Service
Ruth Israel is a UKCP registered Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist and Clinical Supervisor. She has been working as a child and adolescent psychotherapist since 2009 in schools, charities and privately. She has experience in running groups, managing trainees and working one-to-one therapeutically. Her work is diverse, as are her clients, and she is passionate about working to help children, young people and families to feel better about themselves and their relationships with others and the outside world.
Ruth is a clinical supervisor and sees psychotherapists and counsellors working with children, adolescents and adults.
Jo Temple
Senior Clinical Psychologist - London Service
Jo Temple
Senior Clinical Psychologist - London Service
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Jo Temple
Senior Clinical Psychologist - London Service
I am a Clinical Psychologist in the London Therapeutic Social Work Service. Since qualifying in 2009 I have held posts in NHS children's mental health (CAMHS) and community services, Children's Social Care and the voluntary sector.
Before I joined Adoptionplus I was part of a Looked After Children (LAC) service within Children's Social Care where I worked alongside fostering recruitment and post-permanency, and the LAC health clinic. I am trained in a range of therapeutic and parenting interventions with families and groups, and am experienced in providing specialist consultation, training, and supervision to colleagues in health, social care, education and the voluntary sector. Previously I led a borough-wide CAMHS engagement and participation project in collaboration with YoungMinds in order to facilitate parents and carers impacting directly on the design and delivery of children's services.
In thinking about and responding to experiences of distress for young people and families, I have aligned my practice to social, political, neurobiological and psychological models which honour the role of relationships and wider systems, and which allow for playful and creative ways of working. This has led me to further training in Narrative Therapy (level 2); Video Interaction Guidance (stage 2); Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (level 2) and Theraplay (level 2).
I have a longstanding personal mindfulness practice and have trained to deliver mindfulness-based interventions with the Bangor Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice, the Oxford Centre for Mindfulness and the Mindfulness in Schools Project.
Ian Orr-Campbell
Mindfulness Practitioner and Counsellor
Ian Orr-Campbell
Mindfulness Practitioner and Counsellor
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Ian Orr-Campbell
Mindfulness Practitioner and Counsellor
Dip Person Centred Counselling, RMA, NVQ4 Management, NEBS
I qualified as a person centered counsellor in 1999. I have worked for Mind, Barnardos Link, Voice of the Child in Care and the National Youth Advercacy Services. Alongside my counselling work, I have also worked for 18 years with people with learning difficulties in both residential and day care settings.
I joined Adoptionplus' birth relative counselling service in 2004, and have worked with a number of birthparents and grandparents on feelings related to the loss of their children. I have also provided counselling services to adopters and adult adoptees.
Patricia Downing
Counsellor & Mindfulness Practitioner
Patricia Downing
Counsellor & Mindfulness Practitioner
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Patricia Downing
Counsellor & Mindfulness Practitioner
MA Psychotherapy & Counselling, Mindfulness Therapist
As a counsellor for the birth relative counselling service in North London, I can offer support and space for those difficult feelings around a child being adopted. I joined the Adoptionplus team in June 2012, attracted by their innovative and committed approach to supporting whole families.
I started counselling in 2005 with Milton Keynes MIND and have since then worked for the Milton Keynes PCT service, CHATS parent counselling, the Trauma Service funded by MK Council, BalancED MK (for eating disorders), City Counselling Affordable Service, SASS (Sexual Assault Service) and I spent two years counselling students at Milton Keynes College: a mixture of time-limited and long term services with differing client groups.
My training was integrative, including psychoanalytic, existential and humanistic elements. I have also done some courses in CBT. I am currently completing training as a Mindfulness Teacher to be accredited to run the eight week MBSR/MBCT programme, a NICE approved treatment for recurrent depression, amongst its many other applications.
Steph Pagio
Birth Relative Counsellor
Steph Pagio
Birth Relative Counsellor
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Steph Pagio
Birth Relative Counsellor
BSc Psychology, MA Counselling Psychology, BPS Chartered Psychologist, HCPC registered Counselling Psychologist.
I qualified as a Licensed Professional Counsellor in 2016 in San Antonio, Texas where my role with the local mental health authority partnering with Felony Drug Court enabled me to work with individuals experiencing co-occurring substance use disorders and complex mental health challenges. I encountered clients with multiple traumas and undertook training in EMDR. Moving to the UK I received reciprocity as a Counselling Psychologist and continue to work with complex clients in my role with the NHS.
I joined Adoptionplus as a birth relative counsellor in 2018, I was drawn to their creative, supportive, trauma informed approach to working with birth relatives. I provide counselling services to birth parents, aunt, uncles and grandparents assisting in the exploration and processing of feelings related to the loss of their children. I also work with kinship carers and adopted adults enabling space to explore their challenging experiences.
Julia Davis
Facilitator - Nurturing Attachment Groups
Julia Davis
Facilitator - Nurturing Attachment Groups
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Julia Davis
Facilitator - Nurturing Attachment Groups
I am a Senior Therapeutic Social Worker and Play Therapist at Adoptionplus. I joined Adoptionplus in 2009 having worked as a social worker, trainer and play therapist for local authority teams with Looked After children and in Adoption Support for many years. I have a Diploma in Play Therapy as well as training to Level two in Theraplay and Level two in DDP. I have written a book for adopters titled ‘Preparing for Adoption’ 2014, JKP, and I have a BA in Sociology and English and a MA in Social Work and CQSW.
Louise Bomber
Consultant
Louise Bomber
Consultant
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Louise Bomber
Consultant
I am qualified as both a teacher and a therapist. I have worked with individual pupils, classes, whole school settings, teachers and support staff across both the primary and secondary phases. I have provided consultations and training for education, social services and health.
I currently work as an Adoption Support Teacher for Brighton & Hove in an advisory capacity and as an Attachment Support Teacher Therapist for The Yellow Kite Attachment Support Service To Schools (www.theyellowkite.co.uk) that offers a range of services supporting children in care and adopted, in a freelance capacity.
I also work privately as a child & adolescent therapist and as a clinical supervisor for counsellors/therapists working in schools. I have developed a course for education staff supporting pupils with Attachment Difficulties that I am currently running in partnership with the CASPARI Foundation. I facilitated an arts project and exhibition in 2010 called 'Walk A Mile In My Shoes' which gained much media interest and opened up a much needed dialogue in the community regarding the impact of abuse and neglect and the need for increased inclusion within schools and the wider community.
Dr Kim Golding
Consultant
Dr Kim Golding
Consultant
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Dr Kim Golding
Consultant
I am a consultant clinical psychologist with a longstanding interest in parenting, and collaborating with parents or carers to develop their parenting skills tailored to the particular needs of the children they are caring for. I have a special interest in supporting foster carers and adoptive parents. I was involved in the setting up and evaluation of an inter-agency project in Worcestershire, This team is now part of the Integrated Service for Looked After Children.
Within this service I have developed a range of direct and indirect interventions based on Attachment Theory, and have carried out research exploring the use of a Consultation Service for foster carers and other professionals. I provide monthly consultation to Adoptionplus. Drawing on my experience providing therapeutic support to foster and adoptive families, this provides the team with an opportunity to reflect on specific pieces of work with families.