Psychological help to promote the development of young people

The aim of the Psychology Service is:

• to apply psychology to promote the well being, development and learning of all children and young people and to support their families, schools and other settings
• to use psychology to promote an understanding of equal opportunities enabling all children and young people to actively participate in plans and decision making which directly affect their lives
• to apply psychology to organisations in order to develop optimal services and provision for children and young people

The service consists of a team of psychologists who have a first degree in psychology, a master's degree in educational psychology and who are also qualified and experienced teachers. Plymouth psychologists have expertise in understanding how children develop, think, feel, learn and behave and in developing organisations to enhance child development.

What the service does

• Uses psychology to support all children and young people by providing training, consultation and project work for adults working with children
• Undertakes direct work with children and young people to assess, support and assist them in their development, learning and behaviour
• Works with schools and other organisations in developing whole school change, for example anti-bullying, school discipline, learning styles, effective teaching and learning and emotional intelligence
• Conducts research and evaluation projects in order to achieve high quality provision for children and young people.
• Works within a multi-agency context in applying psychology, the service uses developmental psychology to inform social policy

Access to the service is based on a consultative framework where the level of involvement is negotiated with the educational psychologist. Contact is usually made via a school or support service. In exceptional circumstances parents/carers may wish to contact the Psychology Service directly.