Child participation currently holds a high profile within the field of educational psychology and has been the subject of increasing interest and research. The aim of this paper is to consider the potential merit in orienting the focus beyond participation in planning and decision-making and towards self-advocacy. Self-advocacy is an essential…

Supervision is a critical component of initial training and continuing professional development for applied psychology practitioners, and effective supervision is significantly related to the quality of the relationship between supervisor and supervisee. The core task of supervision is to engage in a relational process that provides containing and…

This article describes an initiative to evaluate the impact of educational psychologists' (EPs') casework. Previous studies have often focussed on evaluating processes or reducing outcomes to measurable units. The authors argue that qualitative research methods can be used to illuminate EP effectiveness. They describe a real world and…

The aims of this study were to examine the extent and nature of educational psychologist (EP) work related to children in care in five local authority educational psychology services in the south-west region. The study involved an initial internet-based questionnaire for the 107 EPs in these services (86% response rate), followed up by in-depth…

This study evaluates the work of a multi-disciplinary Behaviour Support Team developed to support schools in managing problematic behaviour. An evidence base to inform future service delivery is developed, using a model of evaluation which incorporates both quantitative, outcome data and more explanatory qualitative data, incorporating the views…

With the growing emphasis on accountability and evidence-based practice, evaluation has become increasingly important in the contexts in which educational psychologists (EPs) practice. This paper describes a Target Monitoring and Evaluation (TME) system, derived from Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) which was developed to evaluate outcomes of a wide…

The role of the educational psychology service in crisis support is well established. This paper examines a key aspect of this role, the impact on psychologists themselves, and reviews literature on secondary stress, considering the term "stress" itself as part of the discussion. It examines recommendations for professional practice and self care…

This paper outlines the development, within a small, rural educational psychology service in Wales, of a group consultation approach to service delivery. This involved educational psychologists offering consultation to small groups of teachers as an alternative to direct assessment work. The process of implementing the group consultation approach…

This small-scale study explored some aspects of the use of Pastoral Support Programmes, which were introduced by the DfEE in 1999 to promote social inclusion by reducing school exclusions. Issues explored were the level of involvement of educational psychologists (EPs), pupils, parents and other agencies, the conceptualisations of Pastoral Support…

This paper reports how consultative work with teachers can be supported by the use of letters. Letters were written by an educational psychologist (EP) after a consultation meeting with a teacher. Features of therapeutic letter writing and solution-focused brief therapy were used to increase the collaborative intent of the letters. Follow-up…