Conversations about Consultation

After teaching for seven years in Dublin, Michael O’Loughlin earned a Ph.D. in Psychology from Columbia University in New York. He later trained as a psychoanalyst at Adelphi University on Long Island, New York. He is Professor in the College of Education and Health Sciences and in the Derner School of Psychology at Adelphi University. He teaches courses for teachers, school psychologists and clinical psychologists in training. Of the many books he has authored or edited, five of those books focus specifically on children and adolescents including Precarities of 21st century childhoods, released in 2023. He is also editor of the book series, Critical Childhood & Youth Studies from Bloomsbury. He directs the Adelphi Asylum Project. He has a private practice for psychotherapy and psychoanalysis with a strong emphasis on child, adolescent, and family work, on Long Island.Web: michaeloloughlinphd.com Faculty profile: https://www.adelphi.edu/faculty/profiles/profile.php?PID=0064

We're meeting with Bethanie Atinuke Sonola, year 2 trainee Educational Psychologist completing her doctorate at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust. This short episode is to say a big welcome to Bethanie. We learn about Bethanie and her journey into training and share are some of the things that she hopes the podcast will explore during her time as a co-host.

We are so lucky to have with us Dr Jeffrey Brown and Starr Greensky. Jeff is currently an assistant professor at San Diego State University, on the School Psychology Program and Starr is a Student and School Psychology intern, working with Jeff. We speak with Jeff and Starr about the development and application of Jeff's and other colleagues multicultural, gender, and sexually diverse affirming school‐based consultation framework. We also speak about contextual influences, colonialism and working with in a diverse community. We were so privileged to speak with Starr and Jeff, they shared such interesting insights. We hope you enjoy listen to this episode!

Dr Anwen Marshall graduated as an Educational Psychologist from Bristol University in 2021. She currently works in Bristol City Council where she also holds the role of ‘person-centred champion’. She supports person-centred work in her service and with colleagues. Before training as an Educational Psychologist (EP), Anwen worked as an Assistant EP in London for two-years, based in a primary school.For her doctoral research, Anwen explored EPs’ views on children and young peoples participation in consultation meetings. This involved of two phases of data collection, phase one was an online questionnaire and phase two consisted of appreciative informed semi-structured interviews with EPs. Her research found a difference between beliefs and current practice, where trainee EPs/EPs generally believed in the benefits of participation, but EP practice often not mirroring this. Attitudes, facilitators and barriers were explored and Anwen very generously shared some of these on todays episode. Anwen also share elements from the model for participation she created as a product of her research. The model considers both systemic strategies and practical meeting strategies. We were really privileged to speak with Anwen about her research and hope this promotes reflection on our practice.

We were so privileged to speak with Laleh Laverick in this episode about such a range of important factors influencing schools at the moment. Laleh speaks from a wealth of expertise and experience from her role as a Leadership and Management Adviser at Hackney Education as well as the various roles she has held in inner city primary schools for over 20 years. Prior to joining Hackney Education, Laleh served as an Executive Headteacher of 6 inner city schools. She was also an NLE linked to a Teaching School and as part of her work, she supported ‘Women Leading in Education’ and ‘BAME leadership’ programmes. Before becoming an Executive Headteacher, she worked in range of roles many of them in the field of inclusion and curriculum development. She has also served as a school governor. Laleh has published articles in the Chartered College of Teaching’s journal and in journals on Early Years Education. In recent years, she has supported school leaders through management and system changes. Laleh believes that schools are at their best when their vision and ethos are clearly communicated by school leaders to all stakeholders and the culture of schools is one of high ambition for their communities. We loved speaking with Laleh about so much of her experiences working in various roles in UK schools. We reflect on the current factors influencing schools in London and SEN departments generally, as well as the important role of understanding varying professional cultures when contracting and collaborating. We hope you enjoy listening to this episode and we look forward to reading some of your reflections about the topics discussed!