Dr Kat Gardner

My focus is on supporting children, young people and adults to understand their experiences and build lives that feel more manageable and meaningful. I qualified in 2010 and have worked across the NHS, private practice, higher education, and community initiatives.

I specialise in autism assessments and therapy with both neurodivergent and neurotypical individuals.  I co-founded Green Shoots Psychology in 2014 with Dr Anita Marsden and Green Shoots Psychology is a service rooted in neuroaffirmative values and compassionate care. My approach is clear, collaborative and tailored to each individual whether you’re seeking an assessment for your child, teenager, or yourself.

I’m passionate about helping families navigate the diagnostic system with confidence. Many parents I work with are not only supporting their child but also exploring their own neurodivergence. I offer a safe, validating space to make sense of these experiences and consider what support might be most helpful. Fostering positive neurodivergent self-identity is central to my work both in therapy and throughout the assessment process.

Alongside clinical work, I lead a postgraduate diploma program at the University of Exeter for mental health practitioners working with autistic young people and those with learning disabilities. I have also provided training to organisations seeking to improve staff wellbeing. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I co-founded a widely impactful Facebook group offering free mental health resources to over 3,500 members.

I live in sunny Brighton in a neurodivergent household with my husband and two primary school-aged children. Outside of work, I recharge through photography, live music, and campervan adventures in our VW Transporter, affectionately known as “Midnight.”

Although I am not currently taking on new therapy referrals at this time if you are exploring an autism or combined autism ADHD assessment, I’d be happy to talk through what might be helpful and what to expect.

Dr Anita Marsden

I have a special interest in raising awareness of well being, positive psychology, helping people to enjoy life more and changing the current stigma of having a “mental health problem”. I believe that to do this we need to be more open about our difficulties, ask for help and ultimately move to a more preventative way of working, turning the current illness model on its head, supporting every individual within our community to understand and develop their strengths. I love to facilitate workshops, introducing people to CBT, mindfulness, and other psychological techniques. I also have a special interest in global mental health and have taught internationally, volunteering for a charity in Sri Lanka.

I have conducted research into autism as well as researching how our beliefs can impact our parenting. I have worked within the NHS using systemic techniques (Family Partnership Model) to work alongside parents who are experiencing difficulties with their child’s behaviour. I love to support people to work through difficulties within their families and to get the most out of their relationships. I am currently working part time in the NHS assessing children with disorders affecting their development, learning or communication including; Autism, ADHD, Epilepsy and Cerebral Palsy. I have experience of working at Great Ormond Street Hospital in specialist Neurodevelopmental Services with complex and specialist cases. I think assessing an individual’s neuropsychological profile, finding out about their cognitive strengths and weaknesses can help give further understanding about them and help adapt the teaching environment or even the direction of their career path to maximise their strengths.

I really enjoy offering supervision to colleagues, helping to bring a new perspective to client work and have attended a BPS accredited supervisors training to support the development of my skills within this area.

Dr Niamh Ingram

I am a HCPC registered Clinical Psychologist with over decade of experience working in the NHS with children, adults and families. I support people experiencing distress in different forms. This may be in response to a sudden change, life transition, or traumatic event, or challenges related to living in this world as a neurodivergent person. I also support people with specific mental health difficulties (such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, generalised or specific anxiety and depression). At the heart of it, I help people make sense of themselves, relationships and experiences, and what matters to
them most now.

My approach is deeply compassionate and human. I believe in creating a safe space where people can be honest, ask for what they need from therapy and explore difficulties playfully. My goal is always to support clients to make personally meaningful and long-lasting change. To facilitate this, sessions focus on both deepening self-awareness and more practical steps such as techniques and strategies to practice. I draw on a wide range of models to help clients reach their goals, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical
Behavioural Therapy (DBT), Therapeutic Parenting, and Narrative and Systemic
approaches.

My specialist interests and areas of expertise:
Child and adolescent mental health
Working with families and parent-child/infant relationships
Understanding and managing distress-related behaviours in children
Neurodivergence and identity, including neuroaffirmative post-diagnostic support
Transitioning to parenthood
Supporting people who have experienced early life adversity
Nurturing self-compassion

I am also a passionate and experienced supervisor of colleagues and have attended
additional trainings in supervision best practice.