I am a Registered and Chartered Consultant Psychologist with 24 years of experience. My passion is to empower you to understand, manage, and maximise you and your family’s psychological well-being.

I am registered as required by UK Law with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC); Registration Number PYL21743. I am a Psychologist Specialising in Psychotherapy (RoPSiP) as recognised by The British Psychological Society (BPS). I am an Honorary Senior Lecturer in Psychology. I hold a European Certificate in Psychology (EuroPsy). I am  a Chartered Scientist (CSi). I am also a member of The Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health. 

I am an expert witness to the family and crown courts, parole boards, and mental health tribunals. I have received further training in relation to this and have been providing expert reports for over 20 years. In recognition for my length of service and contribution to psychology, I am an Associate Fellow of the BPS (AFBPsS); BPS Registration Number 092426.

I qualified in 2000 in forensic psychology and initially worked across the scope of the criminal justice system, including working into courts, probation services, youth offending teams, police services, as well as prisons and special hospitals.

I then took up post within the NHS and practiced as a psychologist at St Nicholas Hospital for eight years. During this time, I developed, ran, and published treatment programmes. I worked into the Sexual Behaviour Unit, a joint local initiative assessing and treating those deemed a sexual risk to adults and children.

I created a highly successful group psychoeducational programme for psychosis and complex mental health. As a result of the programme, participants’ understanding of mental health improved, their commitment to taking medication improved, and their levels of insight increased. The paper was published in The BPS Clinical Psychology Forum Journal and it continues to run to date.

I was then approached by the sister young people’s forensic mental health service and invited to redesign their risk assessment and relapse prevention service. During this tenure I developed, ran, and evaluated a successful group therapy programme for sexually harmful young people. This programme resulted in the reduction of two rape myths (erroneous beliefs that drive sexually abusive behaviour) they were more confident in their ability to change and manage their behaviour, and their ability to manage their anger increased. The paper was published in the BPS Forensic Update Journal.

Upon leaving the NHS in 2017, I took up post at Teesside University to manage the forensic psychology masters programme and redesign the psychology curriculum.

I remain active in academia: I conduct research, supervise theses, sit on the ethics committees of various universities, and continue to guest lecture.

After leaving Teesside University, I provided consultancy for various services. I set up a critical incident debriefing programme for a number of inpatient wards, I advised on treatment programmes for children and young people within various NHS services. I then developed a critically needed assessment and treatment programme for victims and perpetrators of sexually harmful behaviour. I also provided child assessments for family court mediation services where it is vital that the voices of children are heard during divorce proceedings.

I have made a number of media contributions, including, for example, the BBC:

I am cited in books, for example:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Murderous-Minds-Psychopathic-Neurological-Manifestation/dp/1605984981

I provide pro bono consultancy services to charitable organisations such as the NSPCC and SEED (Support and Empathy for people with Eating Disorders). I routinely supervise assistant, trainee, and other qualified psychologists as well as other mental health professionals. 

In a climate of budget reduction, decreased access to mental health services, and increased waiting times, I was driven to set up My Family Psychologist in 2020. Whilst I retain my specialism in forensics, I now have the time to provide therapy to those with more frequent presentations such as depression and anxiety for example. My forensic expertise affords me the skill to be able to treat routine wellbeing matters with confidence and ease.

I have Enhanced Status with The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) in order to work with children and vulnerable adults. I continue to adhere by the standards of the British Psychological Society (BPS) and The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). I engage in routine professional development and reflective practice ensuring that I continue to provide excellence in my practice.

At the heart of my practice is an optimism that every one has the capacity to utilise appropriate evidence based psychological techniques in order to grow and maximise our psychological wellbeing.

Want to know more about my personal journey through practicing psychology? Click here.

If you would like to know more about how My Family Psychologist can help, call us on 07801 079555 or email luisa@myfamilypsychologist.com