Elaine Pennicott-Banks

I am a specialist Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist who has been working therapeutically with children, adolescents, their parents and families since 2010 and in child and mental health services since 2014.  Before that I worked as a university lecturer.  

I qualified as Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist with the Independent Psychoanalytic Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Association (IPCAPA) in 2018 and gained my professional doctorate in psychotherapy with UCL in 2020.

I have extensive experience of working with children, young people and their families, offering safe therapeutic space to process complex feelings and experiences. I can help children and young people (0-25) better understand difficult to say out loud thoughts and feelings such as sadness, anger, worry, or confusion. 

I am trained to help children to unlock what lies underneath their difficulties and better understand themselves. I tailor my approach to the individual child, and work in an age-appropriate way, assessing and supporting the whole child, their family or care network, through a combination of talking, play and drawing.

One of the aims of psychotherapy is to investigate the psychological meaning and significance behind actions, emotions and behaviours which can be understood as a communication of feeling and emotions that may struggle to find words. Psychotherapy works on an understanding that as the meanings of actions or thoughts are understood by a child or young person there becomes less need for the behaviour to be relied on to communicate a particular difficulty or situation.    

By exploring how a child or young person understands themselves, their relationships and the world around them Child and adolescent psychotherapy have a positive impact on relationships and behaviour in the home and school, and helps the child to become better able to concentrate, manage themselves and work through their emotions.