Child and Family Issues

The consultancy offers assessment, advice, mediation and therapy in relation to the following areas:

  • Family Therapy
  • Behaviour Management within the home
  • Family Issues in Divorce and Separation
  • Individual Therapy
  • Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Cognitive Analytic Therapy for Children, Adolescents and Adults
  • Therapy for Partners
  • Non-Legal Mediation

If you would like more information or would like to book an appointment, please contact us.

 

Our Psychologists and Therapists who may be able to help include:

John McKeown, MA (Hons), M Ed Psych, PGCE, AFBPsS: Chartered Educational Psychologist, Managing Partner

John McKeown is the Clinical and Managing director of MPA and has been an Educational Psychologist who has worked both within the local authority service and as an independent consultant for over 25 years. He works across the full age range from young children to adults. His experience includes particular expertise in assessments for general learning and specific learning difficulties (Dyslexia), behavioural management and adjustment issues related to promoting effective learning and emotional development.

He has a particular experience in both low and high functioning autistic spectrum conditions. His work extends to the interaction between school, college, family and community in the development and support for children, adolescents and adults. He has considerable experience in working as an expert witness in the courts on educational and child care matters as well as the special educational needs and disability tribunal.

 

Dr Stephen Briers, Chartered Clinical Psychologist

Over a decade of varied professional experience in assessment and treatment has equipped Stephen to work with the psychological needs of clients across the age range. His work as author, presenter and onscreen psychologist for several BBC and Channel 4 series has established a public profile that continues to create a high demand for Stephen’s clinical services.

Before completing his clinical doctorate, Stephen worked at a child development unit at Cambridge University where he was involved in research into the impact of postnatal depression. On qualifying he was employed by the NHS in HIV and Psychosexual Health, working with clients presenting with a diverse range of mental health needs. During this time he developed a particular interest in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). As one of the Lead Associates at MPA he carries responsibility for coordinating the clinical activity of the organization.

He is chartered by the British Psychological Society and is registered with the Health Professions Council.

Assessment

Stephen employs a range of techniques for assessing psychological factors impacting upon mood, cognition, personality, behaviour, and global functioning. He regularly administers psychometric tests in the course of his clinical and legal work and is mindful of the value of such instruments as a source of reliable evidence in testing out hypotheses and establishing outcomes.

Therapy

Alongside his other commitments, Stephen continues to maintain and develop his clinical practice. He enlists various approaches and theoretical perspectives, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (about which he has written a best-selling book), systemic, psychodynamic and solution-focused techniques. He is a qualified practitioner of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing – a widely validated treatment for trauma. His approach is genuinely integrative and Stephen always seeks to tailor treatment to the specific needs and expectations of his clients. He offers clinical interventions to children, teenagers and adults, as well as working with couples. A brief sample of the issues he works with include:

  • Depression and Anxiety
  • Behavioural issues in children and adolescents
  • Post-traumatic stress Disorder
  • Psychosexual health
  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
  • Eating Disorders
  • Emotional and adjustment disorders
  • Relationship issues
  • Sexual abuse
  • Life coaching and identity issues

Legal

Since 2004 Dr Briers has regularly been jointly instructed as an independent expert witness for the Child and Family Courts. His varied background equips him to provide comprehensive assessments of families. He is qualified to evaluate both the needs of children and the mental health issues and parenting capacity of the adults in their lives. He has contributed to Child Care Proceedings conducted in both East and West Sussex. He has also provided evidence in a limited number of forensic and personal injury cases.

In his legal work Dr Briers combines formal psychometric assessments with clinical observation and appraisal, always seeking to provide robust evidence and clear arguments for any opinions offered. He is very conscious of the responsibilities of the expert witness, the specific agendas of the courts, and the imperative to provide a reliable, highly professional standard of reporting within agreed timescales. In making recommendations Dr Briers is mindful that experts need to identify relevant services and also stipulate criteria and thresholds against which an individual’s therapeutic progress can be effectively measured.

Dr Briers has enjoyed extremely positive feedback from solicitors, barristers and judges regarding the quality of his assessments. He seeks to keep his skills and knowledge updated and relevant, for example recently undertaking Story Stem training at the Anna Freud Centre to enhance his assessment of attachment.

Training

Training and consultation continues to be an active part of Stephen’s portfolio. His media profile has created various public speaking opportunities, including most recently a role as a keynote speaker at the national CPHVA conference held at the Brighton Centre in 2011. He is also involved in teaching on the Child Protection course run jointly by Sussex University and the Sussex Partnership NHS Trust. His previous work as a lecturer for the Open University, his media role, and his writing career mean that he is very used to translating complex psychological ideas into an accessible and engaging form for both lay and professional audiences alike. Stephen has also been involved in the supervision of health professionals including nursing teams, health visitors, and other clinical psychologists.

 

Dr Peter Jakob, Chartered Clinical Psychologist

As a Consultant Clinical Psychologist in the NHS, Dr Peter Jakob is Lead for Complex Cases in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in East Sussex. With a background in social work, Peter is also a Systemic Family Therapist. He has over 28 years of post-qualifying experience working with children, young people, adults and families. In addition to his NHS role and involvement in MPA, Peter runs Partnership Projects, an organisation that provides a range of innovative consultancy, training and therapeutic services relevant to complex systems such as educational and social care settings.

Peter is at the vanguard of introducing Non Violent Resistance (NVR) techniques to this country. NVR is an innovative systemic approach to managing entrenched behaviour problems within families and institutions. Peter has found that where trust has broken down due to behaviour problems, aggression or violence, NVR offers resistance to abuse and at the same time reconciliation, enabling helpless adults regain their authority.

Peter also organises and speaks at international conferences focused on promoting NVR and other aspects of psychological therapy.

He is chartered by the British Psychological Society and registered by the Health Professions Council.

Assessment

Peter specialises is the assessment of parents’ ability to change within the child’s time-scale where there are child protection concerns, especially within families where there are many different stress factors. He further specialises in risk assessment of sexually harmful behaviour in young people and adults.

Therapy

When working therapeutically with clients, Dr Jakob draws upon a comprehensive ‘toolbox’ of methods including Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Family Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Trauma interventions, Non-Violent Resistance Therapy and Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy. Recently, he has begun using DDP (‘Dan Hughes therapy’) in working with looked after children and foster carers.

Peter’s philosophy has always been to work collaboratively with his clients, helping them recognise and use their own strengths, resources and knowledge. By helping clients to uncover unexpected possibilities, Peter has always found that instilling hope and confidence can catalyse rapid and profound change. He maintains the importance of avoiding blame in therapy and respecting clients as experts about their own lives.

The approaches he uses not only help clients achieve a fresh perspective on their lives and relationships, but also develop practical strategies to bring about change in the here and now.

In addition to offering general clinical psychology services, Peter specialises in:

  • Violence, destructive behaviour and behaviour problems in children/young people and in adults
  • Treatment of sexually harmful behaviour
  • Trauma
  • Anxiety
  • Recovery from sexual or physical abuse
  • Therapy for child protection and in multi-agency contexts
  • Looked after children

Training and Consultancy

Peter provides training nationally and internationally in Non Violent Resistance Therapy, and in therapeutic approaches to multi-stressed families that are suitable for work in multi-agency contexts. He offers consultancy focused on the needs of NHS and local authority organisations that are responsible for the care of vulnerable service users, with a special emphasis on issues pertaining to abuse, violence, and child protection.

 

Alison Lesley, Psychotherapist

Alison Lesley is an experienced psychotherapist who works clinically with adults, couples, children and their families. She completed a four-year training at the Institute of Psychotherapy and Social Studies and graduated with an MA in 1999. Prior to this she was employed as a Mental Health Therapist within the NHS for more than 20 years in the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service. During that time and since she has also worked with The Priory Group, Family Placement services and Employees Assistance programmes.

Therapy

Alison’s clinical work with adults and young people includes relationship difficulties, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, sexual abuse, attachment and systemic problems. She has pursued additional trainings in Family Therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy at the Maudsley Institute of Psychiatry.

Alison offers an integrative approach based on the philosophy that each person is unique and therefore requires an intervention appropriate to their individual needs. She adopts an interactive, non-directive stance and is prepared to answer questions as well as ask them.  She is always happy to be challenged. Her aim is to enable clients to gain insight, learn to know and understand themselves and make sense of their past experiences and relationships. She believes that in this process the client becomes able to make changes to the way they relate to themselves and others. She starts from a position of ‘not knowing’ and joins with the client in exploring what emerges. Alison describes this as a shared process which, although painful at times, can ultimately lead to a new and more peaceful way of being in the world.

She is a member of the Forum of Independent Psychotherapists and is an accredited by the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy.

 

Dr Joanna Livingstone, (BSc: DClinPsych), Chartered Clinical Psychologist

Dr Livingstone works half time between private practice and the NHS. She works with adults and children providing a mainly cognitive behavioural therapeutic (CBT) approach as well as systemic principles to a range of emotional and behavioural problems. Tailoring specialist CBT programmes at home or school for children and adolescents with specific learning and/or behavioural problems is often an integral part of this approach. Emotional problems treated include anxiety, depression, panic, phobias, relationship issues, and obsessions.

 

Frankie McLean BSc (Bristol University), MSc (University College London, 1995) – Principal Associate MPA Ltd

Mrs McLean worked for the NHS between 1995 and 2003 and has worked in private practice since 2003. Her specialist field is children and families with a particular interest in families in crisis; childhood trauma and neglect. She has 14 years experience of undertaking expert assessments for the Court in care proceedings, private law proceedings, compensation claims and pre-proceedings assessments. She is also involved in the supervision and training of other clinical psychologists who are beginning to undertake such assessments.

 

Terry Moriarty, M.A., PG Diploma in Counselling

Terry is a very experienced Counsellor who spent many years teaching prior to her completing her diploma in Counselling in 2000. She has worked extensively with students and staff both in mainstream and special education and has an additional qualification as a Teacher of the Deaf.

She has been working as a freelance Counsellor in four local secondary schools, two of which are mainstream schools, and two special schools. She has worked with young people who present with a wide range of needs and difficulties, including young deaf people, those with physical and medical problems, others who are on the Autistic Spectrum and teenagers with emotional and behavioural difficulties. She sees young people whose concerns range from family breakdown, depression and anxiety, school refusal, bullying and anger management.

Her long career in teaching coupled with her current experience as a counsellor has enabled her to work closely not only with young people, but with families, carers, educators and other associated professionals. Her background in Drama has been another valuable tool in empowering clients and enabling them to work in a related sphere

 

Veronica Rosenberg, Chartered Clinical Psychologist

Qualified as a clinical psychologist in 1976, Veronica Rosenberg has over 30 years experience of working with children, their families or carers in the NHS. Veronica has worked as a Consultant Clinical Psychologist in a variety of NHS settings, including Child Development Centres, Paediatrics and CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services). She has been in private practice since 2001. She is well known locally having worked in Sussex for over 30 years.

Assessment

Veronica conducts specialist assessments of children with neurological and developmental difficulties, including children on the Autistic Spectrum. She employs a variety of clinical techniques to assess children who have suffered psychological trauma as a result of accidents.

Therapy

Veronica works therapeutically with a broad range of emotional and behavioural problems in children and adolescents.

Veronica believes in taking a very careful initial assessment to ensure that the right treatment programme is offered and then creates a personalised treatment package. She specialises in short term therapy and aims to make sure that the needs of her younger clients are met within a practical timescale.

She draws on both cognitive behavioural and systemic traditions and is a trained practitioner in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) – a reputable and effective technique used in the treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. She is a specialist interest in childhood trauma and has a special interest in working with families facing chronic or life-threatening illnesses.

Veronica is chartered by the British Psychological Society and is registered with the Heath Professions Council.

 

Rachel Sievers, MA, PG Dip CCS, MRCSLT, MASLTIP

Rachel Sievers is an Independent Speech and Language Therapist, who has many years' experience of working with children and young people with speech, language and communication impairments. She has worked in a wide range of settings, including health centres, mainstream and special schools, and has provided training for parents, carers and staff.

Rachel works with clients of 3-18 years and with adults who have had communication difficulties from an early age. Clients can be seen at either school/college or at the offices of McKeown Psychology Associates in Brighton.

Rachel will normally carry out a speech and language assessment that may enable you to gain a better understanding of the individual's difficulties and strengths. Strategies for improving the individual's communication and access to learning situations are suggested.

Assessment is often followed by blocks of speech and language therapy sessions on an individual, paired or group basis, as appropriate. Structured activities and games or role-play and discussion are used to help develop the individual's communication skills, using strengths to support weaker areas. Clients also benefit from being taught strategies to cope more effectively with their difficulties.

Therapy targets are set and reviewed on a regular basis. Liaison with school or college staff and support to parents is also offered to facilitate and extend the individual's developing skills.