A Child Psychologist is someone trained in the field of child psychology.  Child psychology focuses on the emotions, cognitions and behaviour of children from birth through adolescence. Child psychology deals with how children grow and develop physically, emotionally, in learning and socially.

Child development is influenced by a number of factors.  Some of these are based on what goes on within an individual, such as genetics and personal characteristics. Development is however also heavily influenced by environmental factors such as social relationships, relationships within the family, socio-economic factors, exposure to opportunities for learning and the culture in which a child lives. A child’s environment is very important and their relationships, perception of their relationships, values and what children observe and experience will have a profound effect on how children think, learn and develop. This combination of factors will also have a profound effect on how they view themselves and their resilience in times of adversity. A child psychologist considers the complex interplay of factors when attempting to assess, understand and treat children displaying a variety of difficulties.

For anyone, including a child psychologist, understanding children and teenagers is an enormous task, so the study of child psychology is both wide and deep. The ultimate goal of this field is to study the many influences that combine and interact to help make kids who they are and to use that information to improve parenting, education, child care and psychotherapy other areas focused on benefitting children. By having a solid understanding how children grow, think and behave, parents and professionals working with children can be better prepared to help the kids in their care.

Clinical psychology represents the largest area of psychology.  Speciality areas within clinical psychology include child psychologists which focus on child mental health, psychologists focusing on adult mental health, learning disabilities, emotional disturbances, substance abuse, geriatrics and health psychology.

Clinical child psychologists often work in hospitals, private practice or academic settings. Child psychologists are trained in a range of techniques and theoretical approaches. Child psychologists specialise in treating emotional and behavioural difficulties, social difficulties, school and learning difficulties, family difficulties, children needing developmental support and assessing and treating neurodevelopmental concerns.  Visit our homepage for more detail on these areas. KindleKids Child psychologists are trained and experienced in assessing, diagnosing, treating and supporting children, teenagers and their parents in helping children reach their potential in all of these areas. The assessment and treatment methods used by clinical child psychologists are evidence based in scientifically validated research.  It is important for the child and their family to be able to relate to their child psychologist and child psychologists are usually talented in creating a rapport with children and able to establish a caring and trusting therapeutic relationship with them.

In order to establish the credibility of your child psychologist, it is important to ensure that they are accredited by the British Psychological Society and the Health and Care Professions Council.  Our Child Psychologists are registered with all the relevant professional bodies including:

• Chartered member of the British Psychological Society
• Registered with the Health and Care Professions Council.
• Member of the British Psychological Society Division of Clinical Psychology
• Member of the British Psychological Society Division of Educational and Child Psychology
• Member of  the Association of Child Psychologists in Private Practice
• Member of the Dyslexia Institute Guild.