About Us

Dr Ellie Atkins

I am a Consultant Clinical Psychologist with extensive training and experience. My career includes more than 30 years working with children, young people and families, and I work both in the public sector and privately seeing children and families in distress. My NHS work at the London Neonatal Operational Delivery network, and previously at St George’s Hospital and in CAMHS compliments my private practice, and ensures I keep up to date with the evidence base, literature, access training and work alongside colleagues of other professions. I was an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society and am registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). I regularly attend training events to ensure I am continually developing and updating my practice.  I also use supervision to think about my work and ensure that I am offering the best possible service to anyone who comes to see me. I abide by the British Psychological Society’s professional practice guidelines.

I regularly teach a range of professionals including doctoral trainees, medical staff and allied health professionals as well as training in voluntary organizations. I provide supervision to Clinical Psychologists and allied professions of counselling and psychotherapy.

Qualifications

• Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) registered Clinical Psychologist. Registration number PYL25975. You can check my registration here.
• Member of the Association of Clinical Psychologists (ACP) and chair of the Children, Young People and Families network
• Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (University of Surrey)
• Masters degree in Psychology and children with special needs – Passed with distinction (University of London)
• Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology (Buckinghamshire Chilterns University)
• Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Development (University of London)
• BA (Hons) – First Class with Honours and School Commendation (University of Exeter)

Training courses completed includes Infant Mental Health (University of Warwick), Complex Trauma (UK Trauma society), Parental Mental Health (ACHIP), CBT for trauma in young people (British Psychological Society), Complex grief (Child Bereavement UK), EMDR (a treatment for trauma; EMDR works), Compassion Focused Therapy, ACT (acceptance and commitment therapy; BPS), Narrative Exposure Therapy (A treatment for Trauma), Perinatal Mental Health (British Psychological Society), Sleep difficulties (Association of CAMHS practitioners), Mindfulness in child settings (British Psychological Society), Interpersonal Therapy training (University of Surrey), Working with parents and very young children (Tavistock Clinic), Safeguarding children Level 3 (St George’s NHS trust), Narrative therapy (AFT), Schema therapy (International Schema therapy), Working with deaf children (NDCS), CBT for complex problems and Mindfulness with children and young people.

I set up and run the Surrey Psychology book club and am actively involved in the Psychologists for Social Change movement. I feel passionately about supporting people who are struggling because of the challenges life has thrown at them and regularly blog on mental health, big feelings and managing life. I am the co-chair for the Children, young people and families network of the Association of Clinical Psychologists (ACP-UK) and am actively involved in the organisation.

I set up Headspace Guildford 11 years ago and manage the practice as well as seeing families. I manage the referrals and most of the telephone consultations.

Dr Holly Thompson

I am a Clinical Psychologist and have over eight years experience working with individuals across the life span with a wide spectrum of psychological difficulties. I have worked in a variety of settings including social care teams (with looked after children), education settings (in a pupil referral unit), the private sector (inpatient and forensic secure settings) and in community services (e.g. Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services).

In addition to private practice, I work in a local Child and Adolescent Mental Health service offering psychological assessment and intervention for children, young people and their families. My approach is to deliver a compassionate, personalised service drawing on evidence based interventions to reduce psychological distress and enhance resilience. I remain up to date with the evidence base and UK policies and frameworks that may impact those I work with.

I am a member of the British Psychological Society and am registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). I work in line with the British Psychological Society’s professional practice guidelines.

Qualifications:

• Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) registered Clinical Psychologist. Registration number PYL37593. You can check my registration here
• British Psychological Society (BPS) Chartered Clinical Psychologist
• Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (University of Surrey)
• Master’s degree in Mental Health Studies – Passed with distinction (Kings College London)
• BSc Psychology – Upper Second Class with Honours (University of Southampton)
• Registered with the British Psychological Society as a Clinical Psychologist.

Training courses completed recently include Compassion Focused Therapy (Balanced Minds) and Systemic factors in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (Oxford Cognitive Therapy Centre).

Dr Anna Shipton                                                              

I am a Clinical Psychologist and have been working in the NHS to support children, teenagers and their families since qualifying ten years ago. I worked in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) for a number of years, supporting children with a broad range of difficulties, including anxiety, low mood, and low self-esteem.

For the past few years, I have worked part-time in Paediatrics at the Evelina Children’s Hospital where I have specialised in working with children affected by neurodevelopmental conditions, including autism spectrum disorder, ADHD and learning disability. As well as providing diagnostic assessments, we also offer therapy for common associated difficulties, such as with anxiety and low mood, learning, challenging behaviour, and sleeping and feeding issues.  

I regularly work with schools and local services to help think about the best ways to support children and have provided teaching, training and consultation to parents and professionals in a variety of different contexts. I think that it is important to work with the system around a child, as well as the child and family themselves, to help better understand and support them with the difficulties they may be experiencing.

I work in an integrative way, drawing on a range of evidence-based approaches including cognitive behavioural therapy, narrative therapy and mindfulness. I am also experienced in creatively adapting these approaches for children with neurodevelopmental differences. Through attending training events and conferences, and having my own supervision, I have regular opportunities to reflect on and develop my practice and keep up to date with new research and developments in the field.

Qualifications

• Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) registered Clinical Psychologist. (Registration number PYL25914)
• Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (University College London, 2010)
• BA (Hons) Natural Sciences (Part II Psychology) (Cambridge University, 2004)

Training courses completed include Parenting the Anxious Child “From Timid to Tiger” (British Psychological Society, BPS), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (through Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Trust), CBT for Children and Adolescents (Oxford Cognitive Therapy Centre, OCTC), Working with Children with ASD (Association of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, ACAMH). Safeguarding Level 3 (GSTT).

 I am also trained in the use of gold-standard ASD assessment tools, the Autism Diagnostic Interview ADI-R (parent interview) and Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule ADOS (child play based observation).

Gabby Donaldson

Gabby is Assistant Psychologist at Headspace Guildford.

I am in my final year of my undergraduate Psychology BSc (Hons) degree at the University of Surrey. Previously, I have worked with several individuals with different psychological needs, including work in a Special Educational Needs and Disability school and work with a music therapist. I have just completed a placement year in a school, working as a Learning Support Assistant to provide 1:1 support for specific emotional and behavioural needs. I am working towards becoming a Clinical Psychologist in the future.

Training courses completed recently include Trauma: triggers, treatment and transformation: A multi-disciplinary exploration of trauma (British Psychological Society, BPS), Supporting Young People with Eating Disorders (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, CAMHS), Understanding Children’s Attachment Needs (CAMHS), Bereavement in Schools (Child Bereavement Trust), Supporting the Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing of Primary Aged Children (Oxford Press) and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (One-Eighty).

I am friendly, compassionate and aim to provide the best support and make a difference to positively impact individual’s lives.

Sarah Adewole

I am a Psychology undergraduate and aspiring Clinical/Counselling Psychologist. I gravitate towards positions of support and mentoring, acquiring extensive volunteering experience in care and mental health environments, amongst people from diverse backgrounds. This has been facilitated by my person-centred approach and training in Adult Mental Health First Aid. In addition, I have a special interest in holistic, spiritually-integrated approaches that seek to promote long-term change by addressing the unique needs of individuals.

Sarah is our summer intern for 2020. She will be working on projects including our August 2020 group programme, better considering diversity in our practice and many other things besides. We’re very glad to have her on the team.

Jemima Onih

I am a final year Psychology undergraduate student and an aspiring Clinical Psychologist. I have a great passion in ensuring that clinical psychology reflects the cultural diversity that exists in our world today and believe it is important that all patients receive treatment that is tailored specifically to them. I have had the opportunity to work under Clinical Psychologists in America and explore my passions further by looking at how the treatment of alcohol and drug abuse can effectively serve the communities that are under-represented in psychological research. In addition, I have also sat on a Mental Health and Suicide Prevention committee at Washington State University which aimed to address the stigma around mental health and equip both staff and students with the necessary resources to seek help.

Jemima joins Headspace Guildford as our 2020-2021 intern and will work on a number of projects including adapting therapy to meet the diverse needs, considering how we communicate our vision for an inclusive practice and developing resources for therapists. We are delighted to have her working with us.