Assessment |
Clinical Assessment
The purpose of assessment – This is a short piece of work undertaken to build a comprehensive understanding of the problem and needs of the child, of any parenting difficulties, or of the family system as a whole. It may involve meeting with parents, seeing the child individually, and liaising with any other professionals involved with the child. A feedback session and summary letter is provided as part of this process.
Assessment in itself can be beneficial to the understanding of a problem and may be all that is required. Alternatively, it can enable us to work collaboratively with families to formulate an appropriate treatment package.
What issues does the assessment cover? – The focus of the assessment may include:
-
A screen for mental health problems, such as (but not exhaustively) anger, self-esteem issues, depression, anxiety, OCD
-
To provide a framework to understand behaviour that may be bewildering or concerning to a parent/carer
-
To make sense of behaviour that may have arisen from trauma, abuse or neglect
-
A cognitive assessment to establish whether the child has any learning difficulties
Family Court Expert Witness Work
Dr. Young has experience of undertaking assessments of parents and children in the context of Care Proceedings, preparing reports and providing evidence in the court setting. Areas covered in assessments typically includes:
Parents
Parenting capacity
Mental health issues
Adult Attachment
Impact of histories of abuse (physical, sexual, emotional) on parenting
Impact of drugs/alcohol/domestic violence on parenting
Family dynamics
Ability to protect
Ability to work with professionals
Cognitive assessment
Therapeutic needs and signposting to relevant services |
|
Children
Attachment
Impact of trauma, abuse & neglect on development
Mental health issues
Sibling assessments
Cognitive assessment
Placement planning
Contact issues and needs
Therapeutic needs and signposting to relevant services |
Timescales for expert witness work - Reports are prepared between 10-12 weeks from receipt of the Letter of Instruction.
|
|
