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THERAPY AND
PSYCHOLOGY TEAM

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Bryn Tirion Hall School has a dedicated Therapy and Psychology (TaP) team.

The TaP team provides advice and support for all school staff through training, consultation and intervention. Before pupils join BTH School, liaison with external professionals and services helps to ensure that we are well prepared to welcome them.

The TaP Team works at three levels within BTH School:
– with individual pupils and families,
– with groups of pupils
– with the whole school community: including individual and groups of staff

All members of the TaP team are registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) or The United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP). They are committed to their own Professional Standards and Ethics, including further training and continued professional development.

The TaP team is integral to the wider multidisciplinary team at BTH School working collaboratively with school staff to implement whole school strategic development work and evidence-based programs, interventions and approaches which promote positive outcomes for all pupils and their families.

Speech and Language Therapist: Debbie Parry

Debbie has over 25 years’ experience working with children and young people who have additional learning and complex communication needs.

She has worked as a consultant and highly specialist Speech and Language Therapist (SaLT) in the NHS and independently. She has set up therapy and clinical services and worked extensively at strategic and operational levels. She has spoken at conferences, supervised pupils and created bespoke training for families, carers, professionals and voluntary organisations.

At BTH, there is a strong focus on ‘inclusive communication’ and developing communication-friendly environments by reducing barriers to communication.  Debbie works with BTH staff to consider this and to ensure that all communication needs are catered for.

School staff screen every pupil’s communication skills when they join the school. Debbie is involved in assessing a pupil’s understanding and use of language, speech and social communication and interaction skills. Individual targets and intervention plans may be devised and are delivered by the staff or the onsite SaLT. Debbie may work directly with individuals and/or groups of pupils to develop their language and social communication skills, which are needed in everyday life.

Speech and Language Therapy has a range of benefits for the pupils at BTH School, including promoting positive outcomes and reducing the risk of negative outcomes.

“Languages and literacy are fundamental to human communication. They enable us to make sense of what is heard, read and seen, and thus to develop our understanding, empathy and our ability to respond and to mediate effectively”.
Welsh Government, 2020

Communication is a fundamental skill that impacts all areas of wellbeing and learning. It is recognised as such in BTH School.

Educational Psychologist: Dr Dan Small

Dan qualified as an Educational Psychologist in 2016 and has worked across the UK, joining the Bryn Tirion Hall School team in 2018.

Dan has provided staff training about a range of topics such as attachment theory, executive function in the classroom and Mental Health First Aid. Dan provides consultation and assessment to support the learning and psychological wellbeing of pupils and staff alike.

Dan has a particular interest in sleep, personal construct psychology, resilience, person centred planning and system thinking. His doctoral research focused on school staff wellbeing and he is committed to the application of psychology to support whole school wellbeing.

Psychotherapeutic Counsellor: David Taransaud

David is a UKCP registered psychotherapeutic counsellor, author and trainer with over 20 years experience working with vulnerable children and young people.

David joined Bryn Tirion Hall School in October 2018. In order to provide all the pupils in our care with a safe and therapeutic environment, David delivers a bespoke 12-day course to all of our staff (managers, teachers, LSAs, carers) on how to work therapeutically, empathically and creatively with emotionally wounded children and young people. He also works as a foreign consultant with ‘Alleviate Addiction Suffering’ in Karachi – Pakistan, and travelled to Kitgum – Uganda where he set up an Art Therapy centre in an orphanage for former child soldiers and young people affected by conflict and trauma.

He is the author of:

  • You Think I’m Evil: practical strategies for working with rebellious and aggressive adolescents (Worth Publishing; 2011)
  • I, Monster: positive ways of working with challenging teens through understanding the adolescent within us (Routledge; 2016)
  • Furia e sopravvivenza / Fury and Survival (F. dei Seigni; 2021)

David has also written articles for:

  • Attachment: New Directions in Psychotherapy and Relational Psychoanalysis
  • Play Therapy Magazine
  • Children and Young People Magazine

 

“Achieving my Elklan qualification was a huge bonus of working at BTH School. Debbie and Dan’s professionalism and enthusiasm for their subject shines through in their work, and their patience, expertise, empathy and ability to transfer their wealth of knowledge to education professionals is exemplary. I’m thrilled to have learnt so many new skills to support the language and learning development of the young people in our school!”

Staff Member

“The closely integrated work of the therapeutic and psychology team with teaching staff is a particularly strong aspect of the school’s work. This team works very effectively with pastoral staff to inform approaches to support pupils’ wellbeing, for example by contributing to pupils’ initial assessments and the development of pupils’ personal support plans. In addition, the therapeutic team leads valuable training in relevant areas such as mental health, adverse childhood experiences, and speech, language and communication. This innovative programme of staff development and the close collaboration between the therapy and education teams is having a powerful impact on developing the skills and empathy of all staff as reflective, trauma-informed practitioners.”

Estyn Report – March 2020

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VISIT BRYN TIRION HALL SCHOOL

We’re a warm and welcoming team at Bryn Tirion Hall School, we love to show visitors around our fantastic school and showcase our amazing students, get in touch to arrange a visit.

Contact the school on 01978 760 034