Our Clinical Offer

Freya obtained her B.Sc. Psychology from the University of Manchester and started her career as a learning support assistant alongside Autistic college students instilling in her a passion for supporting Neurodivergent individuals to thrive in education. She gained experience as an Assistant Psychologist working within children’s community and adult residential services before completing her Clinical Psychology Doctorate in 2012 at Bangor University: dedicating her final year to understanding Autism throughout the life span.

Freya spent 8 years within different neurodevelopmental services in the NHS, pioneering new ways of delivering Autism assessment and intervention services for children and adults. She joined the Outcomes First Group as a Consultant Clinical Psychologist in January 2020 and as of April 2022 she was the group’s Head of Neurodiversity. In this role Freya spearheaded the group’s Neurodiversity Strategy, Ask, Accept, Develop, to strengthen and continually progress the group’s approach to the provision of education, care and clinical services to Neurodivergent individuals in an environment and culture which is conducive to their strengths and needs.

Freya took on the role of Chief Clinical Officer at OFG in April 2024; her focus is to continue to deliver and embed standardised clinical excellence across the group and deliver outcomes that lead to incredible futures for all individuals.

Dr Helen Hughes is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and the Head of Clinical Operations in the South.  After completing her Undergraduate and Master’s degrees in Manchester in the mid 1990’s, Helen worked as a Support Worker in Gloucestershire supporting people who had an Intellectual Disability. Following her first Assistant Psychologist post Helen went on to complete her Clinical Doctorate at the Universities of Coventry and Warwick.  Once qualified, Helen worked in a variety of inpatient, community and diagnostic services across the Midlands and South West before joining the Outcomes First Group in 2014. Helen is passionate about developing inclusive and empowering clinical services with robust governance processes.

Leanne obtained her BSc in Psychology from the University of Liverpool and then worked as a Residential Educator in a specialist school before completing her Post Graduate Certificate in Education at Warwick University and working as a Special Needs Teacher.  Leanne enjoyed working with children and their families to increase access to learning and reduce barriers to gain the best outcomes for young people.  She went on to gain experience as an Assistant Psychologist within an inpatient unit for women who had experienced complex and developmental trauma.  It was here that her interest and passion for working with trauma began. 

Leanne has worked with individuals with complex and developmental trauma within NHS services and various residential settings, education settings and within fostering and adoption services.  She is trained in a number of trauma therapies, such as Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy for Adolescents (DBT-A), Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR) and Therapeutic Life Story Work (TLSW) and incorporates all of the theory and practice from these in an eclectic way in her role.  Leanne enjoys learning from and sharing knowledge and practice with others, speaking at conferences, and she also leads a DDP Special Interest Group for Residential Settings for DDP trained professionals working across the UK.  Leanne has also recently joined the Division of Clinical Psychology Faculty for Children, Young People and their Families within the British Psychological Society (BPS), to support the work of Clinical Psychologists in Education. 

Leanne is passionate about supporting those working with young people in their recovery of trauma, in particular with care experienced young people.  A special interest is the importance of being aware of and recognising the impact of working with trauma on us as individuals and also as teams around the child/ren, with reflective practice being an integral part of developing and sustaining us as the best practitioners we can be.  At Outcomes First Group, Leanne has developed our Reflective Practice Group Model and also leads our Trauma Informed Practice Strategy, which includes our Lived Experience Expert Group and developing ways to embed practice.  Leanne enjoys contributing qualitative research, being passionate to understand how best to support trauma recovery.  Leanne is passionate about responding to behaviour without sanctions in an attachment and trauma informed way, using restorative and relational ways to develop empathy and strengthen relationships to prepare children for their future.       

Lucy is a highly experienced speech and language therapist with over 30 years of clinical experience. She has been an integral part of the Outcomes First Group since 2016, supporting both children and adults with complex needs. Lucy prioritises empowering individuals’ support networks to ensure consistent and high-quality approaches are used.

She’s excited to work with all speech and language therapists in the Group, as OFG is committed to wellbeing and clinically led strategies like AAD, TIP and Wellbeing.

Shirley is our new Head of Occupational Therapy! She has over 21 years of clinical experience in various settings in South Africa. Shirley has a master’s degree in advancing practice, with a focus on paediatric occupational therapy, learning disabilities and sensory integration. She’s an advanced sensory integration practitioner with a particular interest in autism-related sensory differences. Shirley is passionate about clinical supervision and developing the occupational therapy profession. She’ll be developing OFG’s occupational therapy provision and promoting best practices to support our clients.

Katie started as a teacher, but later became an Educational Psychologist specialising in social, emotional and mental health development. Since 2012, she has been Senior Educational Psychologist at OFG and a Wellbeing and Clinical Locality Lead since 2020. She is excited to bring her experience to her new role as Head of Psychological Practice.