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Positive Child Psychology
  • Contact Us:
  • e: info@positivechildpsychology.com
  • Dr Lucy-May Bentley: 07929 725 053
  • Dr Karen Wadey: 07736 546 855
  • Dr Jodie Lambert: 07725 194 461
Positive Child Psychology - Adolescent psychologist
Positive Child Psychology - Autism diagnosis and Autism assessment
Positive Child Psychology - Narrative Therapeutic Approach
Positive Child Psychology - Child therapy
Positive Child Psychology - Child psychologists
Positive Child Psychology - Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
  • Information for children, young people and their parents/carers.

  • What is an Educational Child and Adolescent Psychologist?

    An Educational Child Adolescent Psychologist, or sometimes EP for short, is someone who has been specially trained to understand how children and young people behave, think, learn and develop.

  • Who does the Psychologist meet?

    Psychologists meet children and young people aged 0-26 years.

    We meet with:

    Infants and children whose needs relate to:

    • play skills
    • communication skills
    • relationships with others
    • emotional development
    • physical and or sensory development

    Young people who need help with:

    • school or college work
    • emotional/mental health and wellbeing
    • relationships with others
    • study skills
    • communication
    • independence
    • parents and carers seeking support
  • Who else does the psychologist work with?

    Psychologists work with parents, carers, teacher, tutors and other professionals. They all work together to try to help the child/young person do better at home, in school or in college.

  • Where will I meet with the psychologist?

    The psychologist will make contact with you to decide together where is best to meet. Sometimes we will invite you to come to a consulting room or we will come to your school/college/nursery, and if necessary, your home.

  • What do educational psychologists do?

    Often the psychologist might:

    • talk to you and school staff about the child/young person and what approaches have been tried so far
    • discuss further action for helping the child/young person

    They may also:

    • look at the child/young person’s work
    • observe the child/young person in the classroom or playground
    • work with the child/young person out of the classroom (in consulting room); very young children may be accompanied by an adult they know well
    • use some activities or assessments to gain a clear understanding of the child/young person’s strengths and difficulties
    • if appropriate the psychologist will suggest further intervention which she may carry out herself or refer onto another professional specialist
  • What assessments do educational psychologists use?

    For the individual part of the assessment with the children we use a whole range of assessments, depending on the purpose of the EP involvement. For example, we are registered with Pearson’s Q Interactive which allows us to administer several psychometric assessments such as the WISC (cognitive ability) and the WIAT (individual achievement subtests) and many more.

    We also use Dynamic Assessment which can often highlight a child’s meta cognitive skills, learning behaviours, and their potential for certain interventions or teaching strategies. (For example, Cognitive Ability Profile CAP, 16-word memory assessment, and play assessment for those under 5 years). For children experiencing social emotional or mental health difficulties we may also like to use assessments related to Personal Construct Psychology (e.g. Drawing the Ideal Self, Heather Moran), which explores the child’s sense of self, their emotional intelligence and their perception of themselves in relation to the systems around them (such as how they relate to family, school, friendships).

    Assessment for children who may be suffering from ADHD, or for those who may be on the Autistic Spectrum, we use observation and consultation, alongside some screening measures. We also offer post-diagnosis support as this is very important. In line with the SEN code of practice, we work in a person-centred way to elicit the child’s views, to do this we use engaging activity assessments such as Little Box of Big Questions (Gersch and Lipscomb); and to give a voice to those children with limited language, we can use various resources such as Talking Mats.

  • What will happen when I meet with the psychologist?

    Parents/carers:

    Your views and knowledge of your child are important in helping us understand your child’s strengths and difficulties. You are best placed to say what your child is like at home and out of school and college. The psychologist will ask you some questions about your child, including what he or she enjoys doing and about any concerns that you have about your child’s development and wellbeing. The psychologist might want to observe your child playing or to spend some time playing with your child (play assessment). The psychologist may get in touch and share (with your permission) information with other professionals working with your child, for example a speech and language therapist.

    Child/young person:

    The psychologist is interested in what you think is happening at the moment. She may ask a number of questions, such as:

    • how do you learn best?
    • what do you like doing? What do you find difficult?
    • what would help you at home or at school?
    • how would you like things to change?

    She may ask you to do some activities to find out how you learn, and any support needs you may have. She may do some further work with you or ask someone else to help support you.

  • What happens next?

    The psychologist may see you again. She may meet with you several times or you may not need to meet her again. The psychologist will talk to you about the work you did together. She will help you work with your tutors and/or teachers and family to make a plan specially for you. Often psychologists will write a summary report which will be talked through with you by the psychologist or your parents.

    If you have any other questions please ask your parents or school staff, or the psychologist when you meet with her.

  • Parent

    Dr Lambert was extremely professional and considerate to our son’s situation, the impact it has had and is having on our family. We would like to thank Dr Lambert for her time and patience with our son.

  • Parent

    Jodie was very understanding and we felt she took on board our child’s medical history and the impact this could have had on his learning. Jodie gave us invaluable advice, the reassurance and structure we needed, and made it an enjoyable experience for our child. I highly recommend her. Thank you for your support.

  • SENCo, London

    It has been a pleasure to work with Lucy. She has been very helpful and knowledgeable about all things SEN, and her skills with pupils with behavioural needs has been invaluable.

  • SENDCo

    Jodie has gone above and beyond, in my opinion, with her excellent support to our school and the family.

  • SENCo of Primary School

    Thank you Dr Wadey for being so supportive and helpful. You’ve given us a number of strategies to try out with …. (year 5 boy). We look forward to you coming back into school to review his progress.

  • Mother of daughter who was suffering with anxiety prior to GCSEs

    Dear Karen, thank you for your help with my daughter C. She managed so well with her GCSEs in the end. Her sessions went very well with you and my opinion is that your intervention helped C realise that stress is normal and there are ways to manage it. You worked in a way which helped her feel in control, and she definitely found the mindfulness techniques helpful. I would be happy to recommend you to others as I am very pleased you worked with C.

  • Father, London

    I found Dr Lucy Bentley to be very astute and understanding, she picked up the details of my case quickly. She provided excellent insights into the father-child relationship and helped me to improve my time with my daughter. I highly recommend her.

  • Year 5 class teacher

    Karen worked with me when I was going through what I thought was a tough time with my Year 5 class. I was a newly qualified teacher. We had about 4 supervision sessions. I felt really supported, and together we explored different aspects of my teaching. After each session we came up with two or three actions to work on, and these certainly helped me to see that I was actually doing very well, and had several strengths which I could build on. I would definitely recommend Karen if you want confidential sensitive support in your work.

  • Parent

    Jodie put us at ease and our daughter really enjoyed speaking to her. The recommendations seem to have made her happier in school.

  • Mother of preschool child, London

    I am so grateful for the amount of time Lucy has spent on H. I finally feel I am getting a sense of clarity for what is going on for H and it is down to the time she has spent with me unpicking everything. Thank you.

  • Alex, year 4 primary teacher

    I am a year 4 primary teacher, and Karen initially worked with me in reflective supervision. She observed me teaching my class and then was supportive in using Appreciative Inquiry, a positive psychology approach. It made a real improvement on my teaching practice. It allowed me to step back and think about the bigger picture, not to get bogged down in minor negative things. The process encouraged myself and the pupils to think about what was going right. It was a truly enlightening experience that had not only an impact on my teaching, but also on the pupils I taught. The pupil engagement, relationships and behaviour were so much improved. The following strengths project which Karen worked with me on for the pupils was so successful we are rolling it out across the school.

  • Deborah Shilling

    I have worked with Lucy for over a year. She is extremely professional, knowledgeable and most important down to earth. She can empathise will all the parents and be supportive and constructive with her ideas to support school and home which are not just generic targets but are targets that the children actually needs to move forward. I would highly recommend her work to parents and schools, as a SENCO I can honestly say she has been an asset to our inclusion team.

  • Parent of primary aged pupil, Tunbridge Wells

    I found Karen to be extremely supportive whilst maintaining a professional and clear approach. She has a wealth of knowledge and put clear practical steps in place to help me get things back on track.

    Mentally and emotionally I felt much stronger and able to cope with the tasks in hand. The steps I took really helped me and I have continued with the advice.  My children responded well and the balance shifted to a much more manageable and calmer state. I would highly recommend Karen to anyone looking for guidance and experienced advice in parenting.

  • SENDCo

    We have a fantastic working relationship with Jodie who is very kind, patient and supportive towards staff, children and parents. Jodie always provides a professional, sensitive and pertinent service. We are very grateful.

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