Mairéad completed her Doctorate in Educational, Child and Adolescent Psychology (DEdPsyc) at UCL Institute of Education. Prior to this, she obtained an MSc in Psychology from the University of East London, graduating with distinction.

Mairéad has over ten years’ experience working as an Educational Psychologist across England and Ireland. She has worked with children and young people from early years through to post-16, in partnership with families, education professionals, and multi-disciplinary teams, across a range of settings including mainstream and specialist schools and private clinical services. She spent several years working for local authorities across London, carrying out comprehensive psychological assessments and developing an integrated psychological understanding to inform appropriate educational provision and recommendations.

Mairéad is trained in evidence-based psychological assessment and intervention and draws on a range of assessment approaches, including dynamic assessment and standardised tools, to develop a detailed understanding of each child’s profile of need, including learning and cognition, social interaction and communication, and emotional development. She has therapeutic experience delivering and advising on a range of interventions, including cognitive behavioural approaches, therapeutic play, and solution-focused work, and has experience supporting schools to develop emotional literacy and emotional support provision. She also has experience providing training to educators and parents and carers on a range of topics to support children’s learning, development, and well-being.

As part of her doctoral research, Mairéad designed and evaluated a literacy- and resilience-focused mentoring programme for looked-after children. Prior to completing her doctorate, she worked as a secondary school teacher for six years and also worked within a voluntary organisation providing counselling support to children and young people.

In recent years, Mairéad has developed a strong professional interest in the assessment and identification of autism and has worked within private clinic settings, contributing to autism assessments alongside multi-disciplinary teams. She is committed to ongoing professional learning and takes an inclusive, neurodiversity-affirming, strengths-based approach to her work. Mairéad works collaboratively with children and young people, their families, and wider professional teams, taking a holistic and validating approach to ensure assessments are meaningful and thorough, and lead to a clear understanding of each young person and how best to support them.