About Us
Valuing Minds is a Hertfordshire-based Educational Psychology consultancy providing services for 0 – 25 year olds, their parents or carers and their school or college in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and North London primarily.
We believe in putting children and young people at the heart of everything we do: whether that is conducting an assessment of a young person, contributing to the review of an Education and Health Care Plan (EHCP) or enabling a school management team to work more effectively together, so that the children in that school benefit from a clear strategy and an improved educational experience.
What’s on our mind?
Everything we do is focussed on our core values:
Integrity – we will tell it as it is. We won’t use jargon or language you don’t understand. You might not want to hear what we have to say but we will always act with integrity and respect.
Professional – every member of our team has the appropriate professional qualifications (and often many more!). We make every effort to build relationships to get the best results and our work will be done with precision and care.
Supportive – we care about everyone we work with – young people, their families, support staff, teachers, leaders and other teams. We aim to listen to, and hear, what everyone has to say and ensure they are empathised with and understood.
Understanding – we challenge ourselves to be curious about what we do – so we can really understand your circumstances and understand what’s going on.
Learning – we believe in lifelong learning, development and growth – for everyone. This includes the young people we work with, their families, those who support them, education providers, those involved in other professional capacities and ourselves.
All our work starts with a free consultation and follows the Valuing Minds process of:
We’ll find out what’s on your mind, your concerns, issues, needs and how you think we might be able to help. If we can’t help, we’ll signpost you to someone we believe can.
Following our assessments and conversations we’ll create a hypothesis and interpretation of all the information we have. This allows us to formulate a plan to implement.
We support those involved in the implementation of the plan created in the formulation step. These recommendations may include actions to be taken, training needs or similar.
This is where we look at how things are going and what will happen next. This might be naming desired outcomes or looking forward to the next steps the young person might take.
Our Team
The qualified psychologists working with Valuing Minds, whether employed by us or our associates, are all members of the British Psychological Society and/or Association of Educational Psychologists and are registered with the Health and Care Professions Council. Assistant psychologists have relevant qualifications and experience and work under the supervision of qualified members of the team.
This means you can be confident that they have demonstrated the level or knowledge and expertise required to practise as an educational psychologist in the UK. We work together as a team to ensure that we embody our values and processes into everything we do.
Everyone who works with us has been through the Disclosure and Barring Service (previously known as a CRB check). We have links with other professionals, for example, speech and language therapists, physiotherapists etc. and can involve them as and when appropriate.
We are always happy to be approached by other professionals to see if we can assist in creating the best possible outcomes for a young person.
Nicola Weisfeld, BSc, PGCE, MSc, Chartered Educational Psychologist, AFBPS
Director
Nicky has had a career spanning both education and business, previously working as a primary school teacher, a Local Authority Educational Psychologist and as a Business Psychologist, supporting both public and private sector organisations. She regularly becomes involved in individual casework and assessments, and special needs tribunals, as well as whole-school initiatives, in-service training for teachers and school senior leadership projects and mentoring. She is also a part-time lecturer on a Batchelor of Education degree course.
She is registered as an Educational Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council (Reg number PYL19003), is an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society (Reg Number 15301), a member of the Association of Educational Psychologists and a member of the Association of Child Psychologists in Private Practice.
She lives in Hertfordshire with her husband, daughter (when she’s home from University) and 2 cats, one of which has special needs (he has an extra toe on his front paws). When not working, she can be found on the golf course, volunteering with GirlGuiding, reading, cooking, involved in craft activities or taking her turn driving the village bus. She enjoys skiing and sailing, when conditions are right.
Dr Laura Gosling, BSc, DCCEPsy
Educational Psychologist
Laura always knew she wanted to work with children and young people, right from when she was in school. Unlike a lot of Educational Psychologists, she has never been a teacher, instead her work experience before professional training was all about working with children who were finding being in school really difficult. She trained at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, and was really influenced by their way of doing things. As a result, she is passionate about applying attachment theory in her work as well as using a life events framework to understand children’s social, emotional mental health needs.
Using consultation as a tool, she aims to explore people’s responses to their life experiences, considering important relationships, and the different contexts in which they live. Often, she doesn’t use fancy assessment tools or check lists, but sees herself as the tool through which her aim is to facilitate change. Knowing that this is possible is what really motivates her every working day.
In addition to the above, she is also mum to two young boys, who keep her extremely busy. On that note, any spare time she can grab she can often be found…drinking tea, reading a good book or enjoying time outdoors.
Diniyah Rehman, BSc, MSc, MSc, MBPsS.
Assistant Psychologist
Diniyah has specialised in Developmental and Educational Psychology after having completed a conversion Master’s in Psychology. In a former life, she worked as a ratings analyst for an insurance ratings provider in the City, before taking a career break to raise a family.
She currently resides in Buckinghamshire with her husband, two teenagers, a 10-year-old and two well fed rabbits. She is passionate about health and fitness and sees this as an important part of a holistic approach to mental and emotional wellbeing. When time allows, she enjoys reading novels and watching box sets.
Olivia Riddle BSc, MSc, MBPsS.
Assistant Psychologist
Olivia holds an undergraduate degree in Psychology and has specialised in Developmental and Educational Psychology at postgraduate level. She has worked with children and young people, both within an educational setting as a Teaching Assistant, and in a volunteering capacity, supporting those experiencing emotional difficulties. Her professional and practical experiences have contributed to a particular interest in the social, emotional and mental health needs of children and young people. In particular, she is interested in how individuals come to experience, understand and regulate their emotion. Prior to entering the field of psychology, Olivia worked as an Intellectual Property Paralegal for a number of years. She currently lives in Hertfordshire with her partner and their rambunctious Cockapoo, Murphy. She enjoys watching live music and comedy, walks in the countryside and photography.
Are you an experienced Educational Psychologist?
We are always looking for Educational Psychologists who share our values to join our team. Please take a look at our vacancies page or get in touch.