02381 924877
Meet the Team
Clinical and Counselling Psychologists are trained in many different psychological approaches which means we are able to use the ideas that are best suited to helping you make meaningful changes in your life.
It is important that we use the approaches that will help you make sense of your current difficulties, change unhelpful patterns and embed new ways of thinking, feeling and relating which will help you in the longer-term.
Dr Karen Quatermass
PsychD. CPsychol. AFBPsyS.
Director
I have been in private practise since 2006, assessing and treating a broad range of psychological issues with adults, teenagers and children.
Our aim for Questa is to bring together talented clinicians who collaborate to deliver the best possible outcome for clients.
Questa provides therapy as well as gold standard testing, assessment and broad-ranging support for neurodevelopment issues for children, families and adults.
Bandna Rekhi
CPsychol, AFBPSS
Clinical Director
With almost 15 years of experience in the field of psychology, I have worked in various settings including universities as Assistant Professor, the NHS as Senior Psychologist, advisor and supervisor for trainees and charities, among others.
I follow a person-centred, multi-formulation approach to understand the clients’ presentations and assist them in exploring adaptive styles of coping in their onward journey.
With a curious and non-judgemental attitude, I approach the privilege of being there to unpack the narrative that clients bring to therapy and explore ways to enable them to lead a more meaningful and values congruent life.
Rachael Cass
Practise Administrator
Rachael is the angel who keeps us organised, Whilst studying for a degree in Criminal Investigation with Forensic Psychology she finds time to handle all of our customer enquiries and manages our office functions with patience and humour.
Emmy Ligard
MBPsS, MSc
Assistant Psychologist
Emmy is an Assistant Psychologist at Questa. She completed a five-year course in Master of Science in Psychology at Örebro University, Sweden, and is currently gaining clinical experience in England. The course consisted of both theoretical approaches, clinical work, assessments, and scientific research. Emmy has experience in CBT, IPT, mindfulness, and assessing neurodiversities and can offer supportive interventions as well as ADHD coaching.
Sidonie Powles
BSc (Hons), MBPS
Assistant Psychologist
Sidonie completed her BSc in Psychology in 2021, and her MSc in Clinical Psychology in 2022.
Her experience includes working with children with ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder, as well as assisting adults with diverse mental health needs including anxiety and depression.
Child and Adult autism and ADHD assessment
Dr Natalie Roberts
BSc (Hons), Dip. Psych., D. Clin. Psych.
Chartered Clinical Psychologist
Dr Sophie Hughes
BSc (Hons), MSc, PGCert, D.Clin.Psych
Clinical Psychologist
My absolute passion and area of speciality is working with children, young people and their families across the broad range of mental health areas that affect children and young people.
I have worked in NHS specialist child and adolescent mental health services since 1999, working in community and in-patient settings. I have worked in an NHS specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service. My experience and expertise includes assessment and diagnosis of neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism and ADHD.
I am a Clinical Psychologist with experience of providing psychological assessment, formulation and interventions for children, adults and teams within the NHS and other organisations. I currently work for the NHS in an autism diagnostic service, I offer private adult autism assessments and I am a university lecturer in Psychology.
I am trained in a range of psychological models and therapies including EMDR (levels 1, 2, 3, and 4), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Compassion Focused Therapy. I am registered as a Practitioner Psychologist with the Health Care Professional Council (HCPC).
Dr Hannah Faust
BSc (Hons), D.Clin.Psy., C.Psychol.
Chartered Clinical Psychologist
Dr Katy Stevens
BSc (Hons), DClinPsych
Clinical Psychologist
I have worked in NHS Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) since qualifying from the doctoral programme at University College London in 2003, providing high quality treatments to children, young people and their families or carers with a broad range of mental health difficulties, with varying degrees of severity and complexity.
Every child is unique and will have their own set of strengths and areas of difficulty, and as such therapy will be uniquely tailored to that child or young person’s needs. Building a trusting, warm and positive therapeutic relationship is absolutely vital to my way of working, in order that we can create a safe therapeutic space that can lead to different and creative ways of thinking and being.
My experience as a Clinical Psychologist has included over 15 years working within the NHS and private sector. I currently work as a highly specialist trauma therapist and have extensive experience of working with individuals who have experienced recent and historic traumatic events and may be struggling with the effects of these traumas on their day to day lives. I also provide autism assessments for adults, supporting individuals to explore their unique profile and build an understanding of their strengths, difficulties and future support needs.
I approach my role as a clinical psychologist with compassion, warmth and acceptance. I work collaboratively with my clients to support them to develop an understanding of their own personal experiences and struggles to support a path forward that allows them to live life in line with their values. I understand that it can feel hard to approach assessment, diagnosis and therapy, and with a kind curiosity I focus on supporting my clients to feel comfortable and heard, helping the process to feel like a positive and safe experience. I have specialist experience of working within a compassion focused framework and bring this model and its values to my work, offering a compassionate space for my clients to explore their difficulties.
Educational Psychology
Behaviour Assessment
Julia Alfano
BA(Hons), P.G.C.E. MSc. Ed.Psy. MSc. Foren. Psy. MBPS, C.Psychol.
Educational / Child Psychologist
Charlie Giles
BSc, MSc, BCBA
Board Certified Behaviour Analyst
I am a fully qualified chartered Educational Psychologist, registered with the Health Care Professionals Council (HCPC), providing psychological assessment of cognition and learning, language and communication, social and emotional needs, and physical and sensory needs.
I have extensive experience working with children, young adults and families in a variety of contexts including schools, colleges, pre-schools, foster and residential care, secure units, with CAMHS, Behaviour Support Teams, the Virtual School, Social Care, and Youth Offending Teams.
I take a systemic approach to working with children and young people. I look at the presenting concerns and needs of the individual and explores what is happening in their life. This is carried out through a mixture of direct assessment and consultation with the family and place of education. Influencing factors may include family, school, learning difficulties, friendship difficulties, bereavement or some significant life event. I believe in working closely with parents to mobilise support for their child/teen and will offer personalised therapeutic support and guidance for the family.
Charlie Is a board certified behaviour analyst, working with both children and adults.
She completed her masters in behaviour analysis in 2008 and became a board certified behaviour analyst (BCBA) in 2009. Charlie has a particular interest in working with people with a diagnosis of autism and/or learning disabilities, helping them better to understand the behaviours that can prevent them from living the life they want so that appropriate interventions can be implemented to help achieve their potential. Charlie also has an interest in working with people around their phobias.
Charlie has gained her experience working in an independent behaviour analysis school for children with autism and also worked as part of a neurodevelopment team within the NHS for over 10 years, working with adults who have learning disabilities and autism spectrum conditions.
Charlie provides consultancy for child NHS services, behaviour analysis services for families and individuals and conducts autism diagnostic observations schedule assessments.
Charlie is registered with the Behaviour Analysis Certification Board (BACB) and the UK Society for Behaviour Analysts (UK SBA).
Individual therapy and coaching for children and adults.
Family therapy and support.
Dr Danielle McLymont
BSc (Hons), MSc, PsychD, CPsychol
Chartered Clinical Psychologist
I am a qualified Clinical Psychologist with over 14 years’ experience of working in the the NHS and in private practice. I have worked across various child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) teams and in acute paediatric hospital settings, to improve psychological and physical well-being. I offer psychological assessment and therapy to children, young people and adults with a broad range of mental health and emotional difficulties.
I am trained in a range of evidence based psychological models and therapies; including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), systemic and family therapy and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). I also offer cognitive assessments to look at a child’s intellectual ability and to identify the strengths and weaknesses in their cognitive profile. I am registered as a Practitioner Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).
Dr Carla Matias
PhD, DClinPsy, CPsychol
Chartered Clinical Psychologist
I am a Chartered Clinical Psychologist with over 10 years experience of clinical work with a variety of client groups presenting with a wide range of mental health difficulties, both in the private sector and in the NHS. Over the course of this work, I acquired extensive experience of several evidence-based psychological therapies scientifically proven to produce positive change in common mental health-related problems including difficulties with anxiety, depression, adjusting to traumatic/stressful events, low self-esteem, and relationship breakdown. I also have over 15 years experience of carrying out high quality research in the fields of child and adolescent mental health, parenting, and attachment. My research and clinical interests also include the understanding of mental health difficulties based on continuum views of experience (e.g. paranoid beliefs along a continuum of severity, from nonclinical to clinical levels).
I have considerable experience of working in multiple clinical settings, including child and adolescent mental health, adult mental health, older adults and adults with learning disabilities presenting with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), personality disorders and co-morbid mental illness in low-secure residential settings. My specialist clinical experience includes working with young adults presenting with a first episode of psychosis in an Adult Early Intervention Service (EIS), as well as providing highly specialist psychological input in inpatient and community rehabilitation services, offering treatment to adults presenting with complex and enduring mental health difficulties.
The psychological therapies I most frequently use are: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT), Schema Focused Therapy (SFT) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). Other therapeutic models that I draw upon include Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT).
Dr Jason Hill
BSc (Hons), MSc, PhD
Psychological Practitioner
Dr Jason Hill offers a safe and non-judgemental space where you can talk in confidence, with a view to working collaboratively together to address some of the challenges you currently face.
Jason has experience of providing one-to-one and group-based clinical interventions in the NHS and within the charity sector, targeting eating disorders, addictions, and specific mental health outcomes.
He completed his PhD in Psychology in 2022. His research included investigating the behavioural and psychophysiological processes underlying the human attention system, and how patterns of cognition and attention relate to clinical outcomes, namely depression and anxiety.
Dr Hill provides evidence-based psychological interventions and mindfulness-based training.
Dr Damaris Stuart-William Consultant Clinical Psychologist
Dr Damaris Stuart-William is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist with a wealth of experience in various roles within the NHS as well as in the private sector.
She has extensive experience in the inpatient and outpatient management of children and young people.
Damaris remains interested in new developments in the field and applies the best current evidence- based treatments and guidelines to help her clients.
She follows a person centred, multi-formulation approach to understand clients’ problems and their narratives. Further, she draws on techniques from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), mindfulness-based approaches, including Acceptance and Commitments Therapy (ACT), among other insight-oriented therapies. She is also trained in Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy.
Dr Lucy Furlong
BSc (Hons), Psych D., CPsychol.
Chartered Clinical Psychologist
I am a chartered clinical psychologist with 15 years’ experience working in the NHS and private practice, offering assessment and therapy for individuals and groups.
I assess and treat adolescents and adults with a broad range of mental health problems. Using an evidence based approach, I draw on a range of therapeutic models to tailor the therapy to the need of the individuals I work with.
Dr Alexandra Chrysagi
BSc (Hons), Psych D., CPsychol.
Chartered Counselling Psychologist
Dr. Alexandra Chrysagi is a HCPC Registered Practitioner Psychologist and an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. She offers a safe, non- judgemental space where you can talk in confidence, her clinic is currently held on Fridays.
Alexandra completed her doctorate in Counselling Psychology in 2012. Training included working with adults and adolescents with a wide range of difficulties including complex and longstanding mental health problems, personality disorders, anxiety spectrum disorders, depression, bereavement and existential issues. She is particularly specialised in treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and completed her doctorate research investigation into Bereavement.
Counselling Psychologists integrate a number of models depending on the needs of the client. Alexandra is able to deliver Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) commonly used to treat mood disorders, Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR) the most effective modality in treating trauma, DBT (Dialectical Behavioural Therapy) to help clients with Borderline Personality Disorder, ACT (Acceptance Commitment Therapy) developing strategies that help clients place more emphasis on the present moment and CFT (Compassion Focused) teaching compassion towards one’s self and others. She is also undergoing training in Schema Therapy (ST), effective for resistant clients with entrenched, chronic psychological disorders, including personality disorders.
Alexandra perceives therapy as a journey that can develop awareness and enable emotional growth. She is committed to working with my clients in a collaborative, non-judgemental way enabling her clients to feel understood and establish a road-map for a way forward.
Dr Christina Morberg Pain
BSc (Hons), Psych D., CPsychol.
Chartered Clinical Psychologist
I am Dr. Christina Morberg Pain, I’m a Chartered Clinical Psychologist and work with individuals with a wide range of difficulties such as low mood and depression, anxiety related difficulties (phobias, panic, generalised anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, and stress), anger, PTSD and trauma related difficulties. I also have long experience and extensive training in working with individuals with personality disorders, particularly individuals with emotionally unstable personality disorder.
I have over 15 years experience of working within different NHS services and I have worked in forensic settings, specialised personality disorder services, and adult community mental health teams. In those settings I have worked individually with individuals with diverse and complex mental health and personality difficulties but also provided group therapy, supervision to other healthcare professionals and consultation and training to staff teams.
The last five years I have worked in private practice. I am a certified MBT practitioner and undertook my MBT training at The Anna Freud Centre. I have provided training in MBT for healthcare professionals, and published a Swedish book on MBT theory and practice. I have undertaken post-graduate training in psychological approaches to risk assessment and management, CBT, and DBT. I am currently completing my training in EMDR and use CFT and Narrative Exposure therapy.
Gordon Urquhart
MSc, Adv Dip Cont/psych, UKCP
Contemporary Psychotherapist
Gordon Urquhart is a UKCP Accredited Contemporary Psychotherapist in the NHS and private practice. He has worked with people experiencing some of the most extreme circumstances that life can bring. He works to get to the heart of the challenges people experience in the many contexts of their lives. Clients find that his relaxed, practical approach ensures that they feel safe to explore, adapt and, where appropriate, change their experience of even the most difficult circumstances in their life.
Gordon uses a Contemporary Psychotherapy approach emerging from the work of the leading pioneers in the field who advanced our understanding of how people can recover from difficulty and manage their life in a way they are happier with. Contemporary Psychotherapy is informed by the most useful and current elements of psychotherapy practice with individuals and groups. It uses concepts, strategies, and specific interventions from a range of therapeutic orientations adapted to the specific needs of the individual, focussing on the causes of challenges, immediate needs and future wellbeing. This includes the management of your condition or situation, potential recovery, and personal development, for now and in the manageable future.
Dr Eliza Tucker
Psych, AFBPsS
Chartered Clinical Psychologist
I engage with my clients to help them to overcome their difficulties by working together in a safe and trustworthy environment, where the dialogue is the core of the therapy. I offer clients and their families a psychological understanding of their difficulties and interventions to improve their sense of wellbeing and reduce distress. I can provide therapy in English as well Polish.
I use a range of therapeutic approaches and tailor therapy according to the needs of the individuals I work with. The main models I use are: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT), Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) as well as EMDR.
Speech and Language Therapy
Sophie Burrows
BSc, MRCSLT, HCPC Reg
Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist
Sophie is a Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist who has worked in a range of Paediatric settings for both the NHS and privately since qualifying in 2010. She has over 8 years’ experience working in Autism diagnostic teams using ADOS.
Sophie is a key member of our multi-disciplinary assessment team as well as being passionate about working with children and their families to help identify and diagnose speech, language and communication needs in order to improve their communication skills so that they can thrive in all that they do. Providing good quality, evidence based therapy is at the heart of her work and she loves collaborating with families to ensure that her sessions are individualised, motivating and centre around the child’s or young person’s interests to ensure good outcomes from therapy.
Deeply experienced in supporting a wide range of communication difficulties in preschool and school aged children but with a particular specialism in identifying and supporting children with Autism. Sophie has a clinical interest in support Speech Sound Disorders and Developmental Language Disorder. Sophie is also certified in the Hanen More Than Words Programme (for parents of children with Autism or Social Communication difficulties)
Christina Hawkins
BA (Hons), PG (Dip), MSc, MRCSLT
Speech and Language Therapist
I am a speech and language therapist with over 16 years of experience working with children with a range of communication needs.
I specialise in providing assessment and therapy for children with developmental or acquired language difficulties, social communication difficulties and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
I started in private practice in 2019, having previously worked in a number of specialist neurodevelopmental teams in the NHS. I offer speech and language assessment and therapy for children and teenagers and work within multidisciplinary teams to provide diagnostic assessment for ASD or other neurodevelopmental conditions.