Training and Consultancy Services

At McKeown Psychology Associates we recognise that well trained staff exude confidence and lead to improved sales and productivity. Our psychological expertise can also be used to help teams and organisations become more effective. By pooling the skills and expertise from different psychological and related disciplines, MPA's Consultancy and Training interventions can be specifically tailored to your needs. Within our Organisation we have experts across the spectrum of psychological fields including clinical, educational and organisational psychologists. We can direct you towards expert advice in nutrition as diet can strongly contribute to a person's psychological state and thereby his/her performance at work.

We can assist you to identify and reduce the costs associated with sickness, absenteeism, conflict, poor performance and lack of motivation among your employees. Carefully planned training interventions can pre-empt problems and can contribute significantly to the development of managerial skills and employee well-being.

Our training packages can include any, or a combination, of the following:

Change Management

  • Managing change in organisations
  • Handling Mergers and de-mergers
  • Helping Teams cope with transition
  • Team building days
  • How to manage redundancy

Coaching and Mentoring Services

  • Personally tailored programmes
  • Development of peer mentoring schemes in the organisation
  • Personal development for managers

Encouraging Health at Work and Managing Workplace Stress

  • Evaluating the work environment
  • Stress awareness training for managers and key staff
  • Development of Employee Support Schemes
  • Counselling skills training
  • Drugs, alcohol and smoking programmes
  • Advice on appropriate nutrition
  • Training for Managers in handling difficult individuals

Preventing and minimising conflict in organisations

  • Workplace mediation
  • Training up in-house mediators
  • Conflict resolution skills for managers
  • Harassment and bullying

Equal Opportunities

  • Diversity and disability
  • Assessment and Selection processes
  • Ethnic minority and Gender issues

Service Quality

  • Internal quality issues
  • Customer care
  • Training for Staff 'at the sharp end'

Crisis Management and Trauma Intervention Services

  • Recognition and management of critical incidents
  • Training up in-house debriefing staff
  • Support for staff in critical services
  • Trauma Counselling

We can also provide a range of similar services tailored to meet the needs of schools and colleges, providing help with issues such as:

If you have a training need you would like to discuss with us, please contact us.

 

Our Psychologists who work in this field 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.

 

Lynne Spencer, MSc. C.Psychol.

Lynne Spencer is a Chartered Occupational Psychologist who has worked with both organisations and individuals. She worked initially as an HR manager in industry and at the BBC, then specialising as a consultant in assessment, psychometrics, team building, organisation and career development, training and coaching. She is the author of 'Life and Career: A workbook for Managers' available from Amazon, and is a member of the editorial board of the magazine 'Coaching At Work'.

John Revell, BA (Hons), MBA, Dip Clin Psychol, Dip Couns: Chartered Clinical Psychologist

After completing his degree in Psychology at Sussex University, John completed his professional training as a Clinical Psychologist in 1987. He also has a counselling qualification. He has experience of working as a Clinical Psychologist at Consultant level in the NHS. Having more recently obtained a Masters in Business Administration at Brighton University, John has a special interest in organisational consultancy and training. He has experience of medico-legal reporting and has appeared in court as an expert witness.

 

Dr Tara O’Neill, Chartered Clinical Psychologist

Over twenty years NHS experience of working with adults, families, adolescents and children has equipped Dr O’Neill to work flexibly with people experiencing psychological issues in a competent, flexible way.

Tara has a national profile as an expert in working with adults with complex mental health issues, particularly those associated with mental health, personality difficulties and substance misuse. She is regularly invited to present on the subject at national and international conferences and has been involved in strategic projects at a national level to improve services to people individuals with complex mental health issues.

On qualifying as a Clinical Psychologist Tara, was employed by the NHS in a mental health team and whilst there developed a programme to work with young people with mental health and substance misuse problems. She went on to work at the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health, a national policy and practice development ‘think-tank’ for two years to help other NHS services develop their responses to clients with combined mental health and substance misuse issues. After two years in the post she returned to the NHS as a Consultant Clinical Psychologist to lead the development of “Dual Diagnosis’ (mental health and substance misuse) services working with clients presenting with a diverse range of psychological needs. During this time she worked across the range of mental health services and also spent time working into substance misuse and homelessness services. The post had a significant training and supervision remit, which provided an opportunity for Tara to work with a wide range of staff groups. Despite this work being focused predominantly in adult mental health services Tara has retained a strong interest in ‘early intervention’ working with children and young people. In 2011 Tara left the NHS to focus on working in independent practice. In addition to the work she carries out with MPA she also runs her own independent practice, Psygroup which has both a therapy and training/ development and supervision arms.

Dr O’Neill is chartered by the Health Professions Council and is a chartered member of the British Psychological Society and the Division of Clinical Psychology .

Assessment

Tara employs a range of techniques for assessing psychological factors impacting upon mood, cognition, personality, behaviour, and global functioning. In addition to employing high level interviewing skills, she regularly administers psychometric tests in the course of her 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

Since making the move from the NHS in late 2011, Dr O’Neill has established a thriving therapy practice at MPA. She describes her therapeutic orientation as ‘integrative’, drawing ideas from theoretical perspectives including cognitive behavioural therapy, psychodynamic theories, systemic models and attachment theory all within a solution focused framework.

In using an integrative approach Tara aims to tailor treatment to the specific needs and expectations of his clients. Tara offers clinical interventions to children, teenagers and adults, as well as working with couples. A brief, but not exhaustive, list of the issues she works with are detailed below:

  • Depression and Anxiety
  • Substance misuse issues
  • Stress
  • Behavioural issues (children and adolescents)
  • Post-traumatic stress Disorder
  • Eating Disorders
  • Emotional and adjustment problems
  • Relationship issues
  • Sexual abuse
  • Personality issues
  • Psychosis
  • Bi-Polar problems

Legal

Dr O’Neill is available to take instruction as an independent expert witness for the Child and Family Courts and Criminal Courts. Her varied clinical and consulting background equips him to provide comprehensive assessments of individuals and families and her time spent speaking at conferences provides has given her the skills to communicate her ideas to an audience, which is directly applicable to giving evidence in court proceedings. She is qualified to evaluate both the needs of children and the mental health issues and parenting capacity of the adults in their lives.

In her legal work Dr O’Neill combines formal psychometric assessments with clinical observation and appraisal, always seeking to provide robust evidence and clear arguments for any opinions offered. She 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. She has undertaken training with Bond Solon in order to ensure high quality report and presentation in cases in which she is instructed.

Tara keeps her skills and knowledge updated and relevant, for example she has recently undertaken training with Bond Solon on expectations of Expert Witnesses and has also recently completed Prof Patricia Crittendens Course on the DMM (Dynamic Maturational Model) to enhance her understanding of assessment of attachment and psychopathology.

Training

Tara runs a successful training and practice development practice outside of her work with MPA, which focuses on enabling services to engage with people with complex needs. She is involved in helping services work using psychological models and is very interested in the new ideas associated with Psychologically Informed Environments (PIE’s).

She enjoys an excellent reputation as a trainer at a national level and has been involved in the roll out of national training programmes in partnership with the Department of Health, CSIP and other national bodies.

Tara has also been involved in the supervision of health professionals including nursing teams, health visitors, staff from non-statutory sector services and other clinical psychologists.