Professional Profiles

Juliet Newson – Health Visitor

Juliet is a registered nurse, health visitor and infant massage instructor with 17 years experience both in the NHS and private healthcare settings. She can advise with:

• Managing a new baby / sibling rivalry
• Colic
• General feeding advice, milk, weaning onto solids, healthy eating
• Toilet training
• Tantrums and behavioural issues

She has worked in various clinical settings in the UK and internationally in Kathmandu, Nepal. She has followed her particular interests in infant nutrition, parenting programmes and behaviour management for younger children and currently is a sleep therapist for Millpond Sleep Clinic. Juliet's strength is understanding and empathising with the pressures that parenting dilemmas can bring to bear on the whole family. 

Jackie Garwood – Health Visitor

Jackie is a community mental health nurse and health visitor with 15 years experience both in the NHS and private sector. She can help with:

• Behavioural problems in the under 5's:
• Tantrums
• Hitting / biting
• Sibling rivalry
• Toilet training
• Setting limits and boundaries with young children
  • Weaning advice and dealing with common feeding difficulties
  • Family support i.e. where mother has post natal depression
  • Families where there are underlying mental health issues

She became a health visitor after finding that there was so little support for her with her first child. Always interested in children's behavioural problems, she subsequently set up a behavioural and sleep clinic, which was enthusiastically supported by the local GP practices. Her background in mental health nursing combined with a special interest in women's mental health have helped her develop particular expertise in emotional issues such as post-natal depression.

Dee Francken Education Consultant

Dee Francken is a speaker for Parents Matter on a wide range of education issues such as making your child an independent learner, avoiding homework battles, tutoring, handling problems at school, the 11+ and secondary school transfer and making choices at GCSE and A level.

Dee has extensive experience in both Junior and Senior school education and has worked in the Maintained and Independent sectors. She is formerly Head of Junior School at one of London's leading Independent schools, and has been an advisor on the government's City Academies project and a consultant at the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority.

Tom Beardshaw Fatherhood Expert

Tom specialises in supporting fathers to promote their relationships with their children. His expertise lies in helping guiding fathers through the difficulties that can often be encountered during separation and divorce. He advises fathers who find themselves in the uniquely difficult situation that they often find themselves in, once living apart from their children.

Tom Beardshaw is Publisher of www.dad.info , a new UK website for dads. Previously, he was a Director of the Fatherhood Institute, which works to support and promote fathers' relationships with their children. He is a father of two boys himself.

After studying for a degree in Social Anthropology at the London School of Economics in the late eighties, he's worked in South Africa and London on environment and development issues and has spent the last ten years specialising in fatherhood, taking the issues to the UN and helping to change government attitudes towards dads - for example, by persuading them to introduce two weeks of paternity leave.

Jan Stimpson Parent Consultant

Jan Stimpson specialises in building close relationships with healthy boundaries by addressing relevant areas to each individual family.

• Emotional issues:
  • complex and simple
  • any age child
• Relationship and communication issues::
  • Between parent and child/teenager
  • Includes parent and parent relationship
• Family change::
  • Growing up – building ‘safer' independence
  • Separation and divorce
• Support for parents:
  • Mothers / fathers
  • Single parenting
  • Building resilience in our children
  • Work / children juggle, balancing needs of child with parent
• Discipline / behaviour issues::
  • Balanced with a good relationship
  • Any age child
  • Building co-operation, discipline instead of punishment

Jan runs parenting courses and workshops in family centres, community centres, adult education colleges and schools. She has worked at Brompton Cross, is currently working with Dr Peter King Lewis at the Lister Consulting rooms, she also runs a private clinic in Wimbledon. She is co- author of internationally best selling books including: Raising Happy Children and Raising Happy Brothers and Sisters (Hodder Headline). She contributes to a wide range of media: writing for all leading newspapers (including a Times column for a year), and debating parenting issues on radio (Women's hour, Radio5 etc) and television. She is a speaker for Parents Matter and also addresses a wide range of audiences including schools, charities (Centre for Child Mental Health) and mainstream businesses UBS, JPMorgan, Texaco, Herbert Smith, Allen and Overy.

Emma Sargent Parent Coach

Emma specialises in how to coach children to get more out of life. Her areas include:

• Confidence and self esteem
• Anxiety issues
• Understanding your child
• Relationship and friendship issues
• Helping children stand up for themselves
• Communicating effectively

She has written two books ‘Flying Start' and just published ‘Brilliant Parent.' She has spent the last 15 years working as a trainer and parent coach in the corporate and private sector. She has acquired a reputation internationally as an extremely knowledgeable, effective and inspirational trainer. She has a degree in psychology and is a certified trainer of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP).

Christine Bailey Nutritional Support

Christine is an experience and trained professional cook, nutrition, health and food consultant with over 16 years of experience and can advise on the following:

• Ante-natal and post natal nutritional support
• Feeding problems baby to child including faddy eating
• Obesity, weight concerns – failure to thrive
• Allergies, food and otherwise
• ADHD, food related
• Autism, food related
• Recipe support especially due to allergies/intolerances
• Celiac children
• Stress and nutritional support
• General health concerns, e.g. skin problems, asthma, poor immune health, specific health issues like auto-immune, thyroid, hay fever
• Digestive problems, constipation, diarrhoea, allergies to food, non appetite, worms, thrush, vomiting, tonsillitis

Christine was awarded Coeliac Chef of the Year 2008 by Coeliac UK. She is a member of the Guild of Health Writers and writes regularly for many national magazines and websites on nutrition, food and health. She is a cookery teacher, health consultant and lecturer at various cookery schools, adult education colleges, nutrition centres and childcare training centres. She teaches on a wide range of health, nutrition and food topics including Brain health, Stress, Food Allergies, Women's Health, Sports Nutrition, Ageing and Boosting Performance at Work.

John Quinn Bullying Expert

John has worked with and assisted thousands of children and young people affected by bullying. He can advise and support parents and teachers how to identify and handle all bullying related problems whether new or on-going.

John Quinn worked for the national children's charity, BeatBullying for 8 years as its Development Director. He supported schools and community organisations by embedding peer mentoring models, trained professionals in how to identify and handle bullying related problems and assisted in the development of policy and practice across nine government regions. He was also lead officer for Child Protection at the charity. He now works for the Red Balloon Learner Centres which provides full-time education for those children and young people who are too traumatized by bullying that they can no longer attend mainstream school.

Chris Smart Financial Consultant

Chris can offer parents financial information and guidance on:

• State benefits for parents
• Money saving tips for parents
• Protecting your family (wills, life and critical illness insurance)
• Saving for your child's future (child trust fund, education funding)
• Your future post children (pensions etc)
• Making a home for your family (mortgages etc)
• Independent financial advice

Chris Smart has been in the financial services industry for over 20 years. He speaks at baby shows offering parents information and guidance and runs a parents guide to money information service across the UK. He aims to help parents make an informed choice about the financial welfare of their family.

Dr Ellie Cannon Family Doctor

Ellie is a practising GP in north London both in the NHS and in private practice. She can support you in the following areas:

• Immunisations
• Medication
• Second opinions
• Discussing through what your consultant has said
• Normal development milestones
• Puberty changes and worries

After graduating from Cambridge and completing her training in London, she worked in hospital paediatrics before embarking on a career in general practice. As a result of her experience in child health she has a very family-orientated practice -she is also a mother herself to 2 young children. She writes weekly for the Mail on Sunday on a variety of topical health issues.

Shelley Gilbert – Bereavement Counsellor

Shelley can offer one-to-one bespoke counselling for the parents of bereaved children to enable the parents to support their children throughout this difficult time.

Shelley Gilbert BA (Hons) PGDPM, MBACP is the Director of Grief Encounter, one of the UK's leading organisations supporting children and their families after the death of a parent, sibling or someone close to them.
 
Shelley lost both her parents by the age of 9 which gave her personal insight into the issues facing bereaved children and understands how the loss of a loved one can have profound and potentially devastating effects on all concerned.

Shelley has a Post Graduate Qualification in Counselling and is a Senior accredited member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. Shelley was also a volunteer for Place to Be, an organisation that provides emotional and therapeutic support for children in primary schools.

Shelley is the author of a children's book ‘Grief Encounter Workbook.'
 
Shelley has been invited by many organisations to talk about her work with bereaved young people and has won Awards for her work. The most recent was Jewish Care's Minerva Businesswoman of the Year in 2008. Others include the Bank of America Local Hero Award in 2007, the Norwood Helping Hand Award in 2006 for recognition of exceptional dedication and in 2006 Shelley was awarded the AOL Innovation in the Community Award. 

Catriona Muir - Midwife and Lactation Consultant

Catriona has a wealth of experience in supporting parents in all areas of pregnancy, labour and birth. Her areas of expertise include:

• Antenatal advice during pregnancy
• Preparing for labour and birth
• Labour what to expect
• Breast feeding support
• Supporting parents in bonding with their baby
• The postnatal period- the early days.

Catriona has practiced as a Midwife since 1995 both in the NHS and private sectors.

Catriona is the Practice Midwife at The Birth Company in Harley St. London where the emphasis is on the provision of one to one individualised care for women and their families throughout the childbirth process. She runs antenatal clinics and workshops for parents on breastfeeding and birth preparation.

Catriona is also committed to her part-time work within the NHS where she enjoys caring for women and their babies throughout labour and in the early postnatal period.

Catriona is also an Infant Feeding Advisor and holds the qualification of International Board of Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLC). She is also an active member of the Lactation Consultants of Great Britain (LCGB).

Catriona's view is that unbiased, accurate advice can help to smooth the way. Research has shown that women who have access to good care from the appropriate health care professionals, enjoy a more positive birth experience and increased success with breastfeeding. Catriona believes in respecting and facilitating women's choice and provides information, help, and support to all mothers in the feeding and nurturing of their babies, whatever that choice might be.

Dawn Kaffel - Couples psychotherapist

Dawn Kaffel has been working as a marital therapist for sixteen years. She works in a multi disciplinary GP practice in North London and has a private practice in West Hampstead. She is a Relate Licensed counsellor working with couples and individuals focusing on their relationships and the need for change.

Coupleworks is an experienced London-based group of highly trained professional relationship counsellors. They have worked for many years with individuals and couples, specialising in helping people resolve problems and conflicts. Becoming a parent brings major life changes – relationship counselling gives insights and techniques which help to achieve better understanding of the challenges and demands of family life. This helps parents manage to work more successfully when looking at changes that occur in any relationship. Counselling can offer valuable strategies to better cope with difficulties whether long or short term, and help individuals and families feel more in control when faced with problems. All Couplework counsellors are registered and accredited with BACP, BASRT or UKCP and can offer face to face counselling or personalised telephone sessions.

Alison Brown Midwife

Alison is passionate about all areas of midwifery and can advise you on the following:

• Antenatal advice during pregnancy
• Preparing for labour and birth
• Labour what to expect
• Breast feeding support
• Supporting parents in bonding with their baby
• The postnatal period- the early days.

She is a registered nurse and midwife with 18 years experience working in both the NHS and private sector. Alison's strengths lie in advising and supporting new parents through their pregnancy, birth and the early postnatal weeks. She has special expertise in all aspects of infant feeding and is keen to support mothers whatever their decision may be. 

Tamar Pearlman - Speech and Language Therapist

Tamar Pearlman is a licensed Speech and Language Therapist with 11 years experience in the NHS and private sector. Since graduating from University College London, Tamar has worked in mainstream schools, community clinics, Sure Start and in Private Practice. She has provided training courses to Parents, Health Visitors, School Nurses, Nursery Nurses and School Teachers. Tamar specialises in working with children with the following difficulties:

• Language delay
• Language disorder/specific language impairment
• Language difficulties associated with bilingualism
• dysfluency (stammering/stuttering)
• Speech sound delay and disorders
• Dyspraxia
• Pragmatic difficulties (social interaction skills)