Dr Sharon Girdham
I am a Chartered Child and Educational Psychologist with a wide range of experience of working with children, young people, families, and schools.
I have over 25 years of professional experience, including roles within Local Authority Educational Psychology Services across the East Midlands and Lincolnshire. Since moving into independent practice, I have had the privilege of working as part of Psychology 360.
Prior to training as an Educational Psychologist, I enjoyed 14 years working as a primary school teacher and senior leader, both in the UK and internationally.
I have a Doctorate of Applied Educational Psychology from the University of Nottingham. I am an accredited Paediatric Autism Communication Therapy (PACT) Therapist, and have experience and training in Intensive Interaction.
I am a Chartered Member of the British Psychological Society and a registered member of the Health and Care Professions Council.
As part of my work with Local Authority services, and independent practice, I have worked with a wide range of educational settings supporting children and young people with diverse strengths and needs. This has included working collaboratively with specialist school settings to promote the development, wellbeing, and inclusion of children and young people with moderate, multiple, and complex needs.
I have extensive experience supporting autistic children and young people, as well as those with social communication differences. This includes contributing to NHS funded multidisciplinary assessments and discussion as part of the Leicester City, Leicestershire, and Rutland ASD pathway.
Family based work:
As a practitioner psychologist and accredited PACT therapist, I work directly with families to help parents, carers, and their child, to understand and feel more connected to one another, making everyday home life feel a little calmer and more manageable for everyone.
I draw on PACT therapy and Intensive Interaction to build connection and belonging through moment-by-moment engagement. My focus is to help staff and parents/carers to feel more emotionally attuned, to strengthen relationships, and to create shared moments of joy with the child.
School based work:
I offer a comprehensive range of assessment, intervention, advice, and consultation to support children, young people, their families, and schools. My work is always tailored to individual strengths and needs, and grounded in evidence based practice. Recently, this has included:
Using dynamic assessment principles to promote children’s learning and progress, through training and coaching with school staff.
Using motivational interviewing techniques to support secondary aged pupils experiencing emotional based school non-attendance, helping them to gradually reengage with education.
Using Personal Construct Psychology, including mini PATH approaches, to help children and young people share their views and what is important to them, and to support adults in developing their shared understanding of their pupils/child.
Working closely with Early Years settings to enhance language and communication development for all children, including pre-verbal children and those at the earlier stages of speech.
Supporting a school in reimagining their behaviour policy to better reflect inclusive and relational approaches, fostering an environment where all children and staff feel valued and included.
I have experience of creating and delivering a wide range of training packages for educational settings, aimed at building capacity and confidence among staff. Training I have recently delivered includes:
ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant training).
Precision Teaching and Direct Instruction.
Brief Functional Assessment and Multi Element Plan (to help support schools and Alternative Provisions understand and support challenging behaviour effectively).
Emotion Coaching.
I have supported in the delivery of doctoral training activities for Trainee Educational Psychologists at the University of Nottingham.
