THERAPY AND
PSYCHOLOGY TEAM

Bryn Tirion Hall School has a dedicated Therapy and Psychology (TaP) team.

All members of the TaP team are registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) or The United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP). They are committed to their own Professional Standards and Ethics, including further training and continued professional development.

The TaP team is integral to the wider multidisciplinary team at BTH School working collaboratively with school staff to implement whole school strategic development work and evidence-based programs, interventions and approaches which promote positive outcomes for all pupils and their families.

Speech and Language Therapist: Debbie Parry

Debbie has over 25 years’ experience working with children and young people who have additional learning and complex communication needs.

She has worked as a consultant and highly specialist Speech and Language Therapist (SaLT) in the NHS and independently. She has set up therapy and clinical services and worked extensively at strategic and operational levels. She has spoken at conferences, supervised pupils and created bespoke training for families, carers, professionals and voluntary organisations.

At BTH, there is a strong focus on ‘inclusive communication’ and developing communication-friendly environments by reducing barriers to communication.  Debbie works with BTH staff to consider this and to ensure that all communication needs are catered for.

School staff screen every pupil’s communication skills when they join the school. Debbie is involved in assessing a pupil’s understanding and use of language, speech and social communication and interaction skills. Individual targets and intervention plans may be devised and are delivered by the staff or the onsite SaLT. Debbie may work directly with individuals and/or groups of pupils to develop their language and social communication skills, which are needed in everyday life.

Speech and Language Therapy has a range of benefits for the pupils at BTH School, including promoting positive outcomes and reducing the risk of negative outcomes.

“Languages and literacy are fundamental to human communication. They enable us to make sense of what is heard, read and seen, and thus to develop our understanding, empathy and our ability to respond and to mediate effectively”.
Welsh Government, 2020

Communication is a fundamental skill that impacts all areas of wellbeing and learning. It is recognised as such in BTH School.

Educational Psychologist: Dr Dan Small

Dan qualified as an Educational Psychologist in 2016 and has worked across the UK, joining the Bryn Tirion Hall School team in 2018.

Dan has provided staff training about a range of topics such as attachment theory, executive function in the classroom and Mental Health First Aid. Dan provides consultation and assessment to support the learning and psychological wellbeing of pupils and staff alike.

Dan has a particular interest in sleep, personal construct psychology, resilience, person centred planning and system thinking. His doctoral research focused on school staff wellbeing and he is committed to the application of psychology to support whole school wellbeing.

Psychotherapeutic Counsellor: David Taransaud

David is a UKCP registered psychotherapeutic counsellor, author and trainer with over 20 years experience working with vulnerable children and young people.

David joined Bryn Tirion Hall School in October 2018. In order to provide all the pupils in our care with a safe and therapeutic environment, David delivers a bespoke 12-day course to all of our staff (managers, teachers, LSAs, carers) on how to work therapeutically, empathically and creatively with emotionally wounded children and young people. He also works as a foreign consultant with ‘Alleviate Addiction Suffering’ in Karachi – Pakistan, and travelled to Kitgum – Uganda where he set up an Art Therapy centre in an orphanage for former child soldiers and young people affected by conflict and trauma.

He is the author of:

• You Think I’m Evil: practical strategies for working with rebellious and aggressive adolescents (Worth Publishing; 2011)
• I, Monster: positive ways of working with challenging teens through understanding the adolescent within us (Routledge; 2016)
• Furia e sopravvivenza / Fury and Survival (F. dei Seigni; 2021)

David has also written articles for:

• Attachment: New Directions in Psychotherapy and Relational Psychoanalysis
• Play Therapy Magazine
• Children and Young People Magazine