About Dr Seal
Education and Experience
Dr Seal is a Clinical Psychologist and Family Therapist with the following credentials:
- BSc Psychology (2005)
- Master of Research in Psychology (2006)
- Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (2011)
- MSc Systemic Family Therapy (2017)
- Registration with the Health Professions Council (PYL27016)
- Chartered member of the British Psychological Society
- Registration with the UKCP as a Family Therapist (2011171544)
- 13 years post doctoral experience in assessing and working therapeutically with children, families and adults in NHS and the private sector, working at Consultant Clinical Psychologist/ Lead Family Therapist level
- Dr Seal has also completed the BPS expert witness training
- Dr Seal works part time currently as a Lead Family Therapist in a Perinatal Mental Health Service, with a heavy focus on attachment, parenting, couples therapy and bonding in families. She has developed a Perinatal Specific manual on Attachment Narrative Therapy, which is in preparation for publication.
Personality and Approach
Dr Seal is described as warm, kind, non-powerful and good at listening by the families she works with. She was nominated for and won Doctor of the year and Mental health worker of the year when working as a psychologist in a high risk Eating Disorders service in Blackpool. One family also nominated Dr Seal as a Mental Health Hero and she was runner up in the North West. This indicates Dr Seal's skills at engaging and working with families with high complexity and needs. Her extensive training has taken a relational focus and specifically Dr Seal has skills in remaining curious when assessing to all possibilities, remaining neutral when working with multiple people, and holding engagement at the core of the work she does. This helps to put people at ease and allows them to express themselves and their story most effectively. Dr Seal is hard working, flexible and keeps to time
Dr Seal has expertise in the following areas:
Child and adolescents
- Attachment and relationship patterns and impact on functioning
- Child mental health assessment and intervention planning
- Risk assessment
- Complex mental health difficulties such as eating disorders and psychosis
- Developmental trauma and impact on functioning
- Cognitive assessment to give information on functioning
Family
- Trained as family therapist so highly skilled and competent in assessing family dynamics and relationship difficulties
- Attachment patterns in families and the impact on family members and family as a whole
- Assessing risk in families
Parental
- Parental mental health assessment
- Attachment patterns and strategies and the impact on relational functioning and parenting
- Assessing parenting style and competency through Meaning of the Child framework
- Parental cognitive profile
- Risk assessment