Kitty Jack-Thomas is an Assistant Psychologist and Psychological Coach. She has an MSc in Psychology of Mental Health and Wellbeing. Prior to this, Kitty was a teacher and has educational experience across a range of age groups and cultural contexts in the UK and internationally. She has a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), as well as two other degrees from the University of London. As a member of the British Psychological Society (BPS), she abides by the BPS Code of Ethics and Conduct. She is also a member of the International Society of Coaching Psychology (ISCP) and the Association for Coaching (AC).
Dr. Burbach spent 30 years as a clinician, clinical lead, and service manager in the NHS before moving into the digital mental health sector. He has contributed to national research projects, has developed training courses accredited by the universities of Plymouth and Exeter, and published over 60 academic publications.
Frank has a special interest in working with families and has extensive leadership and research experience in this area including membership of national expert reference groups, the Journal of Family Therapy editorial board and chairing the Association for Family Therapy Ethics Committee.
Assembly was designed by a world class team of cross-functional clinicians and researchers with over 140 years of experience.
Whilst parents and teachers often have concerns about a child’s development this does not necessarily result in that child meeting the threshold for a particular diagnosis following a formal assessment. Many children have some difficulties (they can occur naturally on a continuum from mild to severe) but it is only when a group of clinicians reach consensus that a particular pattern of difficulties (sign & symptoms) meets the diagnostic criteria and are significantly higher than expected, that a formal diagnosis is made. This means that many children who are struggling and in need of support are denied it because they did not reach the exact cut-off for a diagnosis.
Unfortunately overstretched services have been designed to provide support only for the children who get diagnosed. Just falling short of a diagnosis doesn’t mean that the child would not benefit from the clinical skills of occupational therapists, speech & language therapists and psychologists but currently these are just not available. A diagnosis is obviously required before any medication is prescribed but all the other interventions can be helpful to children who fall just below the threshold. Our programs are based on principles from these therapeutic interventions which parents find incredibly helpful.
We understand every parent wants their child to reach their full potential. That’s why we offer a unique, integrated and needs-based approach, recognising the child’s needs to help make life easier.
Parents are critical. Parents know their child best, and can observe them in the home environment where children typically don’t need to ‘mask’ or hide their difficulties. Parents are uniquely positioned to tailor the child’s environment, including their own responses, and to help children learn new skills in a familiar environment. There is a strong body of research on the importance of parental involvement in any behavioural or emotional intervention of a child.
We have designed Assembly to empower parents to help their child develop.
As highly experienced clinicians, we have seen children develop across all of the interconnected dimensions, time and again. With the integrated needs-based approach that Assembly offers, we are confident that every child will be able to do so.