Dyslexia & Family Law

What services do I offer in the field of Family Law?

• Independent psychological advice in public, and private law cases.
• Involvement in casework where evidence is required to establish whether significant harm may be a factor to consider, or where questions of contact are at issue.
• Psychological assessment of children, and reporting on their levels of functioning and attachment.
• Advising the court on the emotional needs of each child, and how these needs might be met by the parents.
• Advising the court on the impact upon the children of acrimony between the parents, and any protracted litigation between them.
• Making recommendations about how contact should be arranged in order to satisfy the emotional needs of the child.
• Recommending how parents could best assist each child to achieve optimum benefit from contact with father/mother.

What is my experience in the field of Family Law?

• Involvement in Private law case that required me to conduct assessment of a child, and parents where mother was contesting father’s right to have residency of his daughter, despite her having a history of poor attachment to her child
• Private law case in which my instructions were to advise the court on the emotional needs of three siblings aged 18 months, 6 years and 9 years old, their attachment to both parents, and to address issues arising from this relating to contact and residency.
• Conducting assessments for court on children who have been the subject of child protection proceedings because of abuse or neglect, children with special educational needs, and have advised on how their needs can be met.
• I have provided psychological reports in personal injury cases and in cases being brought to tribunal under disability discrimination legislation.
• I am able to provide comprehensive, psychological assessment of children of all ages, produce clear and concise reports, and present my evidence at hearings in a convincing, coherent and well-argued manner.
• I am trained and experienced in a variety of up-to-date assessment techniques to elicit relevant information about children’s cognitive, behavioural, social and emotional functioning, and have developed a personal style and professional approaches and procedures to use with children that make the assessment process enjoyable for them and helpful for the court.
  

What kind of work does a typical assessment involve me in?

• Assessment of the child’s emotional functioning, attachment to parents, relationship with siblings, extended family
• Assessment of the child’s cognitive functioning and academic attainments as required
• An assessment of each of the child’s carers in terms of their cognitive abilities, and their capacities strictly in relation to their parenting role.
• An assessment of the parents’ relationship with each other, and how this might have a bearing on their abilities to be capable and effective parents.
• Exploration of alternative arrangements for the child’s ongoing care and future contact.