Anna is Co-Principal Psychologist at the Adult Autism Practice. She is an Autistic psychologist, registered with the UK Health and Care Professions Council

Anna has a BSc (Hons) Psychology from Royal Holloway, University of London and a PhD Psychology from Keele University. She also has a Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Anna was a Lecturer in Social and Developmental Psychology before becoming a Post-doctoral Research Fellow on a joint project between the University of Sussex and Institute of Psychiatry, London, working with children and families

Anna then retrained as a clinical psychologist, returning to Royal Holloway, University of London to complete her DClinPsy training, where she worked supporting children, families and adults, completing specialist placements in neuropsychology and neuro-rehabilitation and with a national specialist inpatient and outpatient psychosis service

Anna has extensive clinical experience as a highly specialist clinical psychologist in the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) in a community mental health team and specialist psychological therapies service, working largely within a cognitive behavioural framework but also drawing upon motivational enhancement and psychodynamic, systemic and narrative ideas

Anna has contributed to shortlisting of DClinPsy applicants for a UK training course for several years. She has worked with a Neurodevelopmental Service for several years co-facilitating post-diagnostic groups for newly diagnosed Autistic adults

Anna is committed to working from a position of sincerely and passionately honouring and embracing Autistic identity and strengths. She views the process of assessment as one of collaboratively exploring and discovering Autistic identity and has personal experience of navigating the formal assessment process in discovering her own and her young person’s autism

She sees the discovery of one’s autism as giving the potential for reviewing one’s life through a new lens of understanding and reaching a perhaps unanticipated level of self-understanding and compassion. TS Eliot so wisely wrote that ‘the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.’

Alongside being Autistic, Anna self identifies as being ADHD. She has a particular interest in GSRD issues and neuroqueering.

Anna hopes that your assessment will allow you to set off on your Autistic journey and in doing so, come to a new relationship and understanding with yourself

Alongside colleagues in The Adult Autism Practice, Anna co-authored the recently published ‘The Adult Autism Assessment Handbook: A Neurodiversity Affirmative Approach’