Wellbeing Education - Professional Training in Therapeutic Wellbeing Practice for Children and Young People

Course Leader / Director of the Wellbeing Faculty 

Jocelyne Quennell is former Principal of IATE and has been committed to its growth and development for 30 years.  She is registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) as a Drama Therapist and Art Psychotherapist.  She is also registered with the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) with the Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy College (HIPC).  She is course leader for the portfolio of training courses leading to professional Child Therapeutic Counselling.  She has been in the field for thirty years with a wide range of experience with adults and children.  She has been a supervisor and consultant for many organisations in statutory, independent and charity sectors and has been responsible for the supervision training for psychotherapists at IATE.   She was awarded an Honorary Fellowship from UKCP in 2009 and is committed to enhancing quality and increasing access in training and education.  The Wellbeing Faculty aims to raise awareness of the impact of adverse childhood experiences, promoting early help to increase access to therapeutic services for children. young people, families and organisations.  She has qualified with The Anti-Discriminatory Focus (TADF) and is a member of the Racial Justice group in the London ACEs Hub promoting inclusive practice. 

Course Convenor/ Wellbeing Faculty Administrator

Lorna Dighton is responsible for coordinating and administrating the wellbeing faculty programmes at IATE. Since graduating from Liverpool she has a rich history of work in related fields including: Research Assistant for a Member of Parliament at the House of Commons working closely with a Government Minister on issues concerning women and equality organised a cross-party National Women’s Day and nationwide parliamentary campaign.  She was an Executive Assistant at the School Food Trust which pioneered work on regulating food provision in education.  As well as volunteering in dyslexia support services in schools she co-ordinated volunteer programmes in the charity sector where she was responsible for child protection and safeguarding procedures and education.

Naomi Moore is a play and creative arts therapist, therapeutic wellbeing practitioner and clinical supervisor.  She is the team leader and wellbeing and mental health lead in a large mainstream primary school, secondary school and primary PRU where she manages smalls teams of practitioners and trainees.  She is additionally trained in various forms of parent-child work and specialised therapeutic approaches for working with neurodiversity, trauma and trauma-informed education.  She works in private practice supporting young people with a range of challenges including eating disorders and self-harm.  She has worked extensively with children, young people and families in multiple roles in the UK and overseas including schools, orphanages, hospitals and IDP camps.  She currently manages the weekend play and creative provision for sick children and their families at Great Ormond Street Hospital.  She is one of the founders and directors of Acorn Wellbeing Outreach and also teaches and trains on various aspects of mental health and emotional wellbeing.  In her spare time she writes therapeutic stories for children, young people and those that work with them. 

Lynda Miller is a UKCP HIPC registered psychotherapist who has developed services in a wide range of educational settings.  She is a supervisor for qualified and experienced clinicians who work with children and provides reflective practice opportunities for teachers in schools as well as students in training. She is interested in the relationship between therapy and education providing forums where teachers and therapists can work with the issues that impact schools managing challenging and difficult situations in the classroom.

Sheetal Amin is a UKCP HIPC registered psychotherapist and supervisor who has many years of experience working with children, adolescents, families and adults in statutory mental health services and residential care.  She has been the adoptions lead specialist and clinical lead for a CAMHS service and specialises in working with both adopted and looked after children with complex needs.  She has a consultative role with schools, social care professionals and CAMHS clinicians regarding this client group and supervises psychotherapists promoting multi-agency practice with children.  Sheetal also has a private practice whereby she provides individual psychotherapy to young people and adults, consults with independent providers of services for children and young people, offers clinical supervision to both qualified and trainee therapists and lectures on psychotherapeutic training courses.  She is also the current chair for the equality and diversity committee for children and young people within UKCP.

Polly Irvin is a UKCP HIPC registered psychotherapist who initially trained at Central School of Speech and Drama and been Theatre Director with her own Company Wild Iris.  She has experience in adult mental health and was based at the Priory for nearly seven years. She also works independently for Triangle which provides therapeutic services, training and advocacy for children with special needs and learning disabilities.  She has a private practice for psychotherapy and supervision and works creatively and relationally with young people. She has started a new post as Clinical lead at Rise delivering trauma focused therapeutic services to children and families suffering from domestic violence.

Isabelle is a Dramatherapist and Clinical Supervisor.  She has worked for many years in therapy in education, pioneering whole school approaches to wellbeing and managing pastoral care teams.  She is a strong advocate for trauma informed approaches and has worked both in the UK and overseas supporting schools and youth justice teams in developing their understanding.  She has a special interest in increasing awareness of neurodiversity, such as autism and ADHD and how to support these children and young people to thrive.  She is currently Clinical Lead at a school which specialises in supporting pupils with Autism, ADHD and Trauma, and provides Clinical Supervision for youth justice teams nationwide. 

Vaughan Titheridge is an HCPC registered Drama Therapist with a long history of experience in mental health and education working within the NHS and Schools including as a psychiatric nurse, deputy manager and clinical lead in an acute day service and lead therapist in children’s services, working with families, children and young people providing consultations, supervision and assessment of referrals.  Vaughan is currently working in a number of settings. He provides supervision for Common Thread, a specialist service for children and young people with emotional and behavioural problems offering creative solutions for looked after and accommodated children in a residential environment and training for those working in this area of social care and working with the school for learners who have become detached from mainstream education.   He provides group and individual supervision and debriefs, and is developing the training programme from a therapeutic perspective.  He works as an associate therapist and supervisor for TIPE working with Youth Offending Teams and families.  He oversees the training and development of the Dramatherapy Psychotherapy training Warsaw, Poland where he is guest tutor, assessor, supervisor for students and course convenor.  He works as a Drama therapist for  Adopt London South, an independent adoption agency based across four regions of London.   He also has a private practice. 

Marilynn Figueira is an Integrative Arts Psychotherapist with over twenty years of experience in the field.  She completed her first degree in Textiles and Furnishing Design before exploring training in Art Therapy.  She has always been interested in issues of race and culture, and has been motivated to support people with reference to intercultural issues in training, education and practice.  She has experience in primary and secondary schools and was a team leader at Kids Company.  She also worked at the Heart Yard in Lambeth on the Therapy Team.  She has trained in African-centred psychology and is able to bring her knowledge and expereince to the Wellbeing Faculty at IATE.  She is a tutor who is also enabling the Wellbeing Faculty to decolonise curriculum and ensure that all students of colour can gain access to a wide variety of world views influencing theory, philosophy and therapeutic practice with children and young people.  

Jessica Spenceley is a social worker and therapist, who has practiced both in the USA and the UK within a range of organisations and services. She has a wealth of experience in health and social care settings utilising an integrative and relational model of practice providing direct services to children and families. Her areas of specialism for teaching include: child protection and safeguarding, mental health, adoption, life story work, trauma and the Common Assessment Framework (CAF). Jessica has managed child protection and safeguarding services within the charity sector, and she is involved in work as a university lecturer, trainer, and provider of therapeutic and assessment services.

Koya Cassandra Conteh is a Therapeutic Cultural Activist, Child Therapeutic Wellbeing Practitioner and Drama Therapist who uses expressive forms of psychotherapy via therapeutic communication and the arts.  With a wealth of experience working within the helping field in youth work. creative mentoring and therapeutic key workings she specialises in working with individuals, groups and families who have experienced and been affected by trauma, specifically emotional issues, ACEs, CSA, violence and abuse, harmful practices and racial trauma.  As a therapeutic cultural activist Koya advocates for racial trauma-informed care in the fight for equity and liberation for melanin rich people and those of the global majority.  Through her freelance practice Koya embeds black psychology and Afrikan-centred healing approaches in addition to co-developing and co-facilitating anti-blackness development workshops for educational institutions and individuals.  Her focus is on 'being in action' to manifest the co-creation of new narratives, approaches and methods for therapeutic wellbeing practice.  

Sarah Bennett is a UKCP HIPC registered psychotherapist who also has many years of experience working in secondary schools as a teacher in Special Educational Needs (SEN). She is an artist and works as a creative psychotherapist in primary education.  She is committed to multi-disciplinary and multi-agency approaches in the school communities where she works as a teacher and psychotherapist. She also works with adults in organisations including LBGTQ at the Metro.  She has a private practice for psychotherapy and supervision in South East London and has been a tutor and integral contributor to the development of the Wellbeing Faculty since the beginning.

Joanna Parker is a UKCP registered Integrative Arts Psychotherapist MA and qualified Supervisor and trainer who trained at the Institute of Arts in Therapy and Education. She has worked clinically with both adults and children in a range of settings for the past thirteen years: schools, CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service), in a range of voluntary sector organisations, as well as in private practice. Jo has been the Young Oasis Lead for a 10 year period, managing a multi-disciplinary team supporting infants, children, young people and parent/carers affected by familial drug or alcohol misuse. Jo has specialised in working with vulnerable families where safeguarding issues are an ongoing concern. In 2016 she was the winner of Adfam’s Gary Seaman Award celebrating outstanding commitment from practitioners supporting families. One of her successful initiatives was the development of a programme of Outdoor Holiday Art Groups, collaborating with local artists, local galleries and organisations such as South East Dance and Brighton and Sussex universities. From this came the Art of Attachment, a high profile arts project funded by Wellcome and the Arts Council researching attachment. Jo is now based in London and is in a new role as Child and Family Therapist at PAC-UK, working with adoptive parents and their children. Before training as a Psychotherapist, she studied Fine Art (BA Hons). The use of traditional, as well as less typical, art materials underpins her therapeutic approach.

Stephanie Mattioni is a UKCP HIPC registered Psychotherapist fluent in French, Italian and English, providing psychotherapy services to people across different cultural backgrounds. While training in Integrative Arts Psychotherapy she completed placements in the charity sector and in schools. She has a thriving private practice in Chelsea. She has experience at the Richmond Counselling and Psychotherapy Service as well as Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trusts.  She is particularly interested in linking Jungian perspectives in creative and relational approaches to working with all ages and stages of life.  She is interested in supporting parents and teachers as well as children and families towards wellbeing.

Eugene Ellis is an UKCP HIPC registered psychotherapist with a wide range of professional experience working with individual adults, children and groups.  He works at Family Futures in post-adoption care and support as well as being a pioneering founder and Director of the Black and Asian Therapist Network (BAATN). He is trained to work therapeutically with the arts and can facilitate relational play to support the development and recovery of children and families through a wide range of creative media.

Amina Hajjaj Thomson is a UKCP registered Integrative Child and Adolescent Counsellor and Psychotherapist who trained at Terapia (Middlesex University) and has many years of experience working therapeutically with children, adolescents, families and adults in different organisations and settings. She has an Arts Therapies MA and trained as an Islamic counsellor and Psychotherapist. She has been working with families at Grenfell Tower Fire since July 2017. In 2007 she completed the Nafsiyat training in Islamic Counselling and Psychotherapy accredited by The Mohsin Institute in partnership with An-Nisa Society.  Her placement was at Marlborough Family Service and Amina is currently employed by RBKC (Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) working therapeutically with Grenfell families.  She has developed her own model of working called heartfulness.   She has experience working in the context of community development and housing setting up the Maja Housing Co-op and merged with Al Shahada Housing Association in 1999. She is the chair and director of Sunday Arabic School in Westminster since 2009 and she is a member of An-Nisa Society Women’s Helpline within local Muslim communities. She has contributed to the Wellbeing Faculty in 2015 and participated in supporting placements on community wellbeing. She is interested in inter-cultural issues and spirituality in the promotion of wellbeing for communities.

Christina Enright worked for sixteen years as a nurse in the NHS before completing a BSc in Psychology, Dip in Family Therapy and an MA in Child Psychotherapy. Over the past ten years, she has worked with children, adolescents and their families in a variety of settings, including schools and alternative education provision. Her experience is varied including direct work with children and young people, parenting capacity assessments, consultation to staff teams as well as service development.  Christina has a special interest in the brain, trauma and attachment; in particular how complex or developmental trauma impacts on the global development and mental health of the child, as well as its manifestations through presenting behaviour. She has developed and delivered extensive training and education programmes in these areas including the Kids Company ‘in-house’ and ‘out-reach’ professional development courses.

She is passionate about disseminating research evidence on the impact of trauma in child development. She has presented at many conferences on these subjects and is a committed educator raising awareness about the psychological implications of trauma, abuse and neglect. She has offered training within the NHS, social care and education. She has also delivered support programmes for staff in working safely and effectively with the most challenged and challenging children and young people. She frequently uses her specialist knowledge and experience with children who have endured attachment ruptures and trauma, to train staff within these sectors, as well as direct work with children, adolescents, birth parents, foster carers and adoptive parents

Anthea Benjamin is a UKCP registered Integrative Arts Psychotherapist, Adolescent Therapeutic Counsellor, Group Analyst and Supervisor. Anthea has worked extensively with children, adolescents, adults, families, Groups and couples for over 15 years in various settings including schools, charities, community projects and within the NHS.  She currently works as a therapist delivering training, running groups for couples at the Tavistock Centre for Couple Relationships and couples where there has been high conflict / DV. Anthea runs various groups in different setting, alongside therapeutic services of supervision both in organizations and within her private practice in south London.  Anthea has a special interest in working with trauma particularly sexual abuse, DV, personality disorders, dissociation, divorce and separations, developmental trauma, looked after children or adults who have been in the care system and / or adoption, exploring issues of identity with adults and children who have been placed trans-racially or via inter-country processes. Anthea offers group work, supervision services as well as individual therapy to many different organizations such as Barnardo’s, PAC-UK (formerly known as Post adoption Centre), Coram, Woman and Girls network, WDP and other services across London as well as within her private practice

Catherine O’Neill is a Speech and Language Therapist, Arts Psychotherapist and Registered Intermediary for the Criminal Justice System. She has many years of experience working in mental health and promoting the wellbeing of children and young people. She is a founder member of Intermediaries for Justice and specialises in communication with children in the courts advocating and mediating on behalf of vulnerable children.  She is a trained supervisor and enjoys working with BSc and MSc SLT trainees from City University and Art Psychotherapy trainees from Hertfordshire and IATE. She has worked for over thirty years in the NHS, charities and independent practice

Neil is a UCKP-registered integrative arts psychotherapist working with young people and adults in private practice and teaching at the Institute for Arts and Therapy in Education (IATE). Neil is an author, facilitator and organisational consultant offering specialist teaching/training focused on gender, sexual identities, power in the therapy room and intersectionality for frontline mental health professionals, students and organisations, such as Kooth, The Sunflower Network and various therapy and counselling trainings.   

Neil’s background also includes 25 years as a trainer/facilitator, researcher, youth work manager and queer community advocate – he founded Mosaic LGBT Youth Centre in northwest London and worked as an LGBT advisor to the first two Mayors of London. In 2017 the BACP University & College Journal published his article: ‘Young People: Not Straight, Not Narrow.’

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Nawal Asous is a UKCP HIPC registrant who graduated from the Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education in Integrative Arts Psychotherapy in 2004.  She has worked with refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers.  She delivered services with the Anna Freud Centre and the Dorothy Gardner Centre in Partnership with Sure Start supporting mothers who are Arabic speaking and would have been able to access therapeutic services.  This innovative and cutting edge work focused on social isolation. exclusion, racism, Islamophobia and many other relevant therapeutic issues.  She has been a consultant for parents in understanding children's emotional needs and worked extensively with black and ethnic minority groups in her clinical work.  She was clinical manager at the Tree House at Kids Company working with many children and families in Kilburn.  She currently works with Rape Crisis, Solace Women's Aid and Manor Gardens supporting women who have undergone female genital mutilation.  She works as a therapist for all nationalities from many different social, cultural and class backgrounds.  She speaks three languages including Hebrew, Arabic and English and has worked as an interpreter.  She is culturally competent in working with diverse groups and her original research was with Israeli and Palestinian children examining multi-cultural education in mixed nurseries.  She is committed to empowering women to achieve their potential and to support the best interests of children and young people.  

Joanna Ede is a UKCP registered Psychotherapist and a Social Worker registered with the Social Care Council of Wales. She has an BSc in Sociology and Social Anthropology as well as an MA in Social Policy. She has many years of experience working with children and families with complex needs, special educational needs and disability. She has experience in the NHS in mental health within secondary care services and currently works within a multi-disciplinary team in Swansea, Bridge End, Neath and Port Talbot. She has experience working with adults and children struggling with substance misuse and with children whose parents have issues related to substance misuse. She is currently establishing a charity providing sober-living accommodation in Neath which is for recovering addicts to integrate back into communities.

Beth Collier is a BACP registered Psychotherapist, Anthropologist and bushcraft practitioner. Her work explores relationships with people and with nature. Beth’s initial training was in Integrative Psychotherapy and has gone on to develop a nature-based private practice, seeing clients and supervisees exclusively in natural settings.

She has spent many years theorising our relationships with nature from an applied psychotherapeutic perspective, developing Nature-based Psychotherapy as an orientation of practice and provides professional training on the therapeutic use of nature through the Nature Therapy School.  Beth is the Founder/Director of Wild in the City, an organisation providing experiences in bushcraft, traditional skills and ecotherapy, using the skills of our ancestors to nurture a deeper connection with the natural world. She has a particular interest in supporting people of colour in finding their place in UK natural settings and creates opportunities for the representation of black leadership in nature.  Beth is a Trustee of the National Park City Foundation and a Fellow of the London Environmental Educators Forum. She has over 15 years research experience in the fields of human rights and psychological health.

Britto Belevendran is a UKCP registered psychotherapist and a priest.  He has extensive experience working with all sections of the community in London, and has taught in India, Singapore and Sri Lanka facilitating therapeutic approaches to wellbeing. He is a pioneer of interfaith, spirituality and wellbeing in mental health as well as intercultural work. He has a private practice for psychotherapy and is responsible for a parish community.  His background includes cultural anthropology and children’s folklore and he teaches on spirituality and the transpersonal in community wellbeing within the Faculty.  

Louis Sydney is a UKCP HIPC registered Psychotherapist who is trained in Psychosynthesis, Integrative Arts Psychotherapy and Child Psychotherapy. He has a wide variety of experience in different organisations including Family Futures Post Adoption Services.  His own organisation Attachment Matters provides therapeutic family consultation and he enjoys creating innovative training events for multi-disciplinary professionals working with children and young people. He is a supervisor and a trainer in the field who has taught in several HIPC recognised trainings.

Jess Skelton is a UKCP HIPC registered integrative arts psychotherapist with over ten years of experience working with children, young people and adults. She has a strong interest in developing innovative approaches and services that children and young people want to access that incorporate child development theories and psychotherapeutic thinking. She has experience in adolescent mental health, residential education for boys aged six-eighteen, residential outdoor activities for sports and leisure in holidays including movement and nature which is life affirming. She was responsible for mentoring within Camden Services and developed mentoring programmes for children and young people. She enjoys making use of bikes and the surrounding natural environment to promote wellbeing and develop interpersonal skills.

Odelia Aslan is a UKCP HIPC registered Psychotherapist who is also a qualified and experienced teacher. She has had experience of working in a hospice with children, families and adults; Lifeworks Community residential addiction centre; Wingfield Psychiatric ward; and in Private practice. She works at the University of Reading Counselling Service with young people in higher education.  She is a trainer and educator for people working with children and families.

Clair Lewoski is an IATE trained/ UKCP registered Integrative Child Psychotherapist and HCPC Registered Dramatherapist, whom has been working as a therapist since 1997. She has worked in education, CAMHS and an arts therapies trauma outreach service, where she specialised in work with Looked After Children. She set up a therapy service across 10 primary schools in the North of England, funded by The Children’s Fund which integrated work with mindfulness, massage and arts based therapies with children, their teachers and families. She currently works in private practice in Cambridge as a psychotherapist and UKCP registered supervisor and as a Mentalization Based Family Treatment Practitioner. In addition to teaching on the Well-Being Programme she teachers and supervises IATE child psychotherapists and counsellors. She is also one of 4 teacher/tutor on the Child and Adolescent Psychotherapeutic Counselling programme at Cambridge University. Clair is registered with both Gendered Intelligence and Pink Therapy as a therapist whom works alongside trans and gender questioning young people. 

Sam Hunter’s most recent work in theatre was as Production Stage Manager responsible for opening the world première of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child last July at the Palace Theatre in London. She has a wealth of experience in the West has also been the Show Director for the three Letters Live seasons at the Freemason’s Hall in Covent Garden and at Brixton Prison. Sam was the Production Stage Manager on the highly-acclaimed London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies, and has also held that role on the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, the Torino Winter Olympics in 2006 and the Athens Olympic Games in 2004. She was the Production Stage Manager on the 90th Birthday Celebrations for Nelson Mandela in Hyde Park in 2008, the Royal Gala launch of St Pancras International in 2007, the Royal Gala 80th Birthday Party for Her Majesty The Queen at Buckingham Palace in 2006, the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the Commonwealth Games in Manchester 2002 and the Opening Ceremony of the Millennium Dome in London.   Sam worked as the Associate Producer for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Pan American Games 2011 in Guadalajara, Mexico, and in 2014 repeated that role in Sochi on the Opening & Closing Ceremonies for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Russia. Sam worked in Brazil as Consultant Production Stage Manager for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and is currently in Baku, Azerbaijan, preparing the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the forthcoming 4th Islamic Solidarity Games. She is committed to the Wellbeing Faculty and has supported its growth and development in many ways.

Tina Leslie is a UKCP HIPC registered psychotherapist has been involved with the Faculty since its conception in 2009 and was a part of the first course development and validation team. She works in private practice as an Integrative Art Psychotherapist and supervisor and has thirty years of experience in the field of mental health working in both private and NHS Hospitals. Her clinical practice has been extensive including: acute psychiatric services, specialized addiction unit and an acute adolescent unit working with eating disorders and post-natal depression within a specialised mother and baby unit. Tina has taught at White Lion School in Islington and Kingsgate Community Centre. She has contributed to teaching at the University of Hertfordshire and the American School. She has provided extensive group work and individual experience both in the UK and abroad. Tina has also taught at an Art Therapy School in Finland for eleven years. She has a studio in London as a Fine Art Painter and exhibits her work on a regular basis.

Lizzie Smosarski is a UKCP HIPC registered psychotherapist and has worked therapeutically with children and adults for over twenty-five years. She is trained in child, adolescent and family approaches and is committed to the use of the arts in psychotherapy and supervision. She is jointly responsible with Jocelyn Quennell for the supervision training at IATE and is a teacher with experience in a range of HIPC approved training organisations. She is one of the visionaries behind the wellbeing practitioner training and has contributed to its development and progress for eight years since its beginnings.

Di Gammage is a UKCP HIPS Adult and Child psychotherapist.  She is registered with the HCPC as a Dramatherapist and with BAPT as a Play Therapist and the Association of Core Process Psychotherapists (ACPP).  Di has over twenty-five years of experience as a psychotherapist with adults and children.  She is author of the book ‘Playful Awakening - Releasing the Gift of Play in Your Life’ and is founder of the theatre company Potential Space.  She has a private practice for psychotherapy and supervision in Devon.