About Me
Hi, I am Juliet, a Clinical Psychologist who has worked in children's mental health for almost 15 years. My main areas of expertise are with children who are adopted or in foster care, children's trauma, working with displaced children (asylum seekers or refugees), and community psychology/systemic thinking.
I have been illustrating psychological concepts and sharing on social media platforms for a few years now. Many examples of my drawings can be found under the illustration tab, my Patreon page (the P icon above), or in my Etsy shop. I also recently co-authored and illustrated an introductory clinical psychology book that you can buy here.
Experience
I started my career in psychology caring for older adults, and volunteering with people who were homeless. I then worked with young people with eating disorders after my undergraduate degree before firming up a path to child psychology by working in schools for five years. Here I gained experience in assessment, intervention, multiagency work and training teachers.
After five years I left schools for the NHS, and worked in a specialist CAMHS for children in foster care and those who are adopted. After going away to complete my doctoral training, I returned as a qualified clinician to this service, spending three of my days a week working with children and families displaced by war and conflict and two with children in foster care.
I have experience and knowledge in attachment, developmental trauma, eating disorders, learning disabilities, anxiety, OCD, emetophobia, anxiety, physical health, traumatic stress, neuropsychological testing, wider systems work, consultation and creative work.
Qualifications and training
Starting with a degree in Psychology, I went on to complete a Masters in Clinical and Community Psychology, a Foundation in Systemic Practice, and a doctorate in Clinical Psychology. I am also a qualified cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) therapist.
As a keen learner, I have attended lots of training courses on topics such as: attachment and developmental trauma, self harm, safeguarding, family therapy, parenting support, mental health first aid, and autism. Most recently I trained as a dyadic developmental psychotherapy practitioner (level 1).
Identities
As someone who takes a critical view of how our identities interact with the world and others, I feel I should be transparent about my identities: I am a white cis gendered heterosexual female who grew up in a primarily working class community/family in Cornwall. I now embody a middle class lifestyle but hold community values very close to my heart and identity. I have diagnoses of ADHD and dyslexia, which I only see as a disadvantage depending on the context.
Equality and diversity
I am LGBTQ+ friendly and attuned to marginalised identities such as race, disability or sexuality. I am aware of the impact that ongoing discrimination in the form of overt or covert prejudice and have on people and can hold compassion towards this. I choose to not only reflect on and change the unconscious bias's that I might bring to my work, but be active in changing oppressive ways of working.
Where the Art comes in!
As a child I always enjoyed drawing. This interest in art was fostered by my teachers who allowed me the space in the art room to do this. Since then I have attended the odd evening class but never thought of my art as anything more than a hobby. During lockdown and in the throws of my training I learned to draw digitally and somehow my scruffy little drawings became quite popular. I tend to produce one illustration for non-commercial public use weekly and carry out commissions on top of this when I have time. My creative skills extend beyond drawing and I have been involved in projects to translate dense policy documents into accessible reads.
I am sometimes open for commissions and creative work, but often this has to be either aligned with my passions/values, or be financially rewarding. Please do submit a request or email to discuss.
Education and Experience
2019-2022
Doctorate in Clinical Psychology
University of Bath
2018-2019
Assistant Psychologist
Thinking Allowed Bristol
2017-2018
Masters in Clinical and Community Psychology
University of East London
2012-2017
Lead learning mentor
Bristol Free School
2002-2012
Various positions in various work places
Clinical Psychology Training: Three days a week in six placements over three years. Several hundred hours of clinical training in a range of therapy modalities and clinical skills. Research in community led approaches.
Facilitating training with foster carers, adoptive parents and social workers. Offering consultation to social work teams and schools. Providing 1:1 therapy to children living away from birth parents
This training involved cognitive behaviour therapy, family systems therapy, critical issues in clinical psychology and community psychology
School based work, assessment, 1:1 therapy, group work, SEMH planning and provision, safeguarding work, family support, project management, service development, supervision, staff training.
Work in hospitality, homelessness, domiciliary care, an eating disorder unit, child care, and support work.