Dr Jessica Burdon established Psychology Together in 2017. Jessica is a registered Practitioner Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council, a Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society and a member of the Association of Educational Psychologists.
Jessica gained a first-class honours degree from Sheffield University in 2005. Following this she applied her knowledge and skills with children in a number of settings. These included developing packages to support the emotional well-being of children in a primary school, working as a nursery assistant and working for a charity to run an after-school club and projects for asylum-seeking, refugee and vulnerable children.
Jessica commenced her doctorate in applied Educational and Child Psychology at the University of Sheffield in 2008. She completed her doctoral research around the stories (or narratives) told about a group of vulnerable young people. This included looking at how young people's stories differed from the stories told about them and how language is used to construct identity. This research made it evident that connectedness and belonging are fundamental human needs.
Since qualifying as a Child and Educational Psychologist Jessica has gained experience in a number of local authorities. Jessica continues to work a day a week in a local authority in the Midlands where she previously worked full-time. This service shares many of the values and principles of Psychology Together. By continuing to work in a service Jessica ensures she remains up to date with local authority processes and is part of a team of practitioner psychologists.
Jessica has regular supervision with a practitioner Educational Psychologist.
Jessica has worked with children and young people with a wide range of strengths and needs and supported a variety of settings at a systemic level, including mainstream and specialist schools and pupil referral units. She is passionate about building strong relationships with children, families, schools and professionals. Jessica applies psychology in an accessible manner, to enable others to develop their understanding of complex situations and generate ways forward. Her work since establishing Psychology Together has been varied, responding to the needs of the settings she supports. This has included systemic work, such as facilitating meetings uses psychological tools to develop practice around meeting emotional needs in a primary school and training on a variety of topics. A range of individual casework has been completed to support understanding of needs, develop clear plans and enhance staff and parental confidence.
