Lou is a dedicated and creative Clinical Psychologist with experience of working with children, young people, adults, and their families across different settings. During a seventeen-year career, she has worked as a Clinical Tutor on the University of Surrey Psych D Clinical Psychology Training Programme within veterans, youth homelessness and substance misuse charities, as well as NHS services for looked after children and young people, paediatric hospital settings, early years services, and various adult forensic settings.

Her experiences have all contributed to a skill and knowledge base in supporting people across the lifespan, and the staff who surround them. Engaging multi-disciplinary teams through consultation, formulation, reflective practice, and innovative training approaches developed her interest in creating inclusive cultures of compassion and emotional authenticity in some traditionally authoritarian and challenging environments.

Lou endeavours to work with people to enable focus on ‘what has happened to you’ not ‘what is wrong with you’ within collaborative and co-produced formulations. She has a passion for trauma informed thinking and a desire to focus on the function of patterns and behaviours for the person within formulations. She is interested in the power of relationships and recognises the importance of how people are left feeling during and after their interactions with services.

Lou is an integrative and holistic practitioner, using a variety of psychological models and theory to collaboratively develop formulations; these include attachment and trauma models, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Compassion Focussed Therapy (CFT), Narrative Therapy and Systemic Therapy approaches. In addition to working therapeutically, Lou has recent experience of publishing research and delivering training to staff groups and external organisations. Her training has focused on helping charitable organisations to become Psychologically Informed Environments and thinking with staff about how they might work as teams to become more trauma informed.

Lou lives with an invisible health condition that requires her to be adaptable, courageous, and flexible. She believes that these experiences allow her an enhanced level of understanding and empathy and views them as unique qualities that inform her approach and style. She has a passion for advocating for others and seeks to promote, celebrate, and encourage inclusion, diversity and equality in the workplace and wider society. Lou feels that her distinctive and individual qualities allow her to think creatively and innovatively, and she views this as a great resource.

Lou will always take a non-diagnostic approach, being a formulation driven practitioner who values co-production and seeks to make all information accessible and inclusive to all. She is a strong believer that people will always remember how you made them feel, not necessarily what you have said, and it is this emphasis on the power of the relationship that Lou brings to all her work.

Lou is registered with the Health Care Professions Council membership number PYL 37769.

  • South Wales Doctoral Programme in Clinical Psychology – (DClinPsy)
    2015-2019
  • Masters in Forensic Psychology (MSc) – Kent University
    2004-2006
  • Psychology (BSc) – Swansea University
    2001-2004
  • A Disorder for Everyone online festival 2024 – Challenging the culture of psychiatric diagnosis
    A Disorder for Everyone, 11 hours, November 2024
  • Therapeutic Interventions for supporting children and young people with traumatic life experiences
    A Disorder for Everyone, Dr Margot Sunderland, 29th April 2024
  • Attachment, neurodevelopment and psychopathology (ANP) – Working with troubled families and individuals
    Ongoing until January 2024
  • Developmental Trauma for Professionals, Module 4
    Beacon House, October 2023
  • The Restoration of the Hijacked Self
    The Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, 1.5 hours, October 2023
  • A Disorder for Everyone online festival 2023 – Challenging the Culture of Psychiatric Diagnosis
    A Disorder for Everyone, 11 hours, September 2023
  • Developmental Trauma for Professionals, Module 3
    Beacon House, April 2023
  • Developmental Trauma for Professionals, Module 2
    Beacon House, March 2023
  • Developmental Trauma for Professionals, Module 1
    Beacon House, November 2022
  • 2nd International trauma informed care conference
    St Andrews Healthcare, 1 day, 2021
  • Introduction to open dialogue training
    NHS, 1 day, 2021
  • Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) level 1
    NHS, 1 week, 2019
  • Intermediate ACT Skills development
    Birmingham University, 2 days, 2018
  • An Introduction to CFT
    Paul Gilbert, 3 days, 2018
  • Mindfulness (MBSR/MBCT)
    Mindful Space, 8 weeks, 2017
  • Peters, L. M., Samuel, V. M., Hobson, C. W. (2021). Shining a light on the experiences of staff working with young homeless people: A grounded theory study. Children and Youth Services Review.
    Vol. 121,105843. Peters, L. M., Hobson, C. W.
  • Samuel, V. M. (2022). A systematic review and meta-synthesis of qualitative studies that investigate the emotional experiences of staff working in homeless settings.
    Health & Social Care in the Community, 30, 58-72.