Meet the experts! CATCH is powered by a unique community of contributors — clinical psychologists, therapists, education specialists, social workers, and most importantly experts by experience — adoptive parents, foster carers, special guardians and people who have been adopted or fostered themselves.
All these experts are working to promote trauma awareness. The shared goal is simple: to create practical, evidence-based resources that empower parents, carers and practitioners to help children heal, grow and thrive. Together, our contributors are helping to make CATCH a trusted source of guidance and support.
Click on the profiles below to find out more about some of our contributors and see their resources.
Amy works at PACT as our Education Lead. She is an adoptive parent and also an experienced education professional.
Dr Andrea Warman trained as a children’s social worker and later taught social policy and social work in universities.
Professor Beth Neil is a professor of social work at the University of East Anglia. She has carried out a wide range of studies into adoption over the past 28 years, many with a focus on birth family contact.
Catherine Hockley started the charity Create Hope in 2015, which offers emotional support to children, young people and families in Berkshire.
Donna Stevenson started her career as a Nursery Nurse and a Primary School teacher. She developed a passion for supporting those learners with dyslexia, which led her to working for many years at the British Dyslexia Association.
Dr Georgina Hibbert is a Clinical Child Psychologist, chartered by the British Psychological Society and registered with the Health and Care Professions Council.
Gill Tree founded Adoption Academy in 2014. After being a foster carer, Gill became a single adopter in 2011 to a highly challenging boy, causing everything to change. She started teaching resilience programmes for adopters, foster carers and special guardians and has worked with many adoption and fostering agencies.
For over 20 years, Dr Julie Young has played a key role in several important national and international research projects exploring the experiences of adoptive parents, foster carers, kinship carers, children and birth families in different areas of family life.
Karima founded Berkshire Against Racism and recently graduated from the University of Southampton with a BSc in Sociology.
Dr Lauren Topper is a Clinical Psychologist registered with the HCPC and Chartered through the BPS, and a certified DDP practitioner. She works with children, adolescents and adults, in addition to providing support to parents.
Mary van der Merwe, a Parenting Practitioner, is a dedicated neurodiversity advocate with experience in supporting and training individuals and professionals on autism and trauma.
Dr Matt Woolgar is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist at the National Adoption and Fostering Clinic at the Maudsley Hospital in London.
Michelle Masters has worked in education for 20 years and is currently the head of a special school for traumatised secondary school students.
Dr Natalie Briant is a Clinical Psychologist who has spent more than 25 years working with children who are care experienced and have moved into foster or adoptive families.