Author of the BUSS Model and Accredited BUSS® Practitioner,
Specialist Occupational Therapist and Play Therapist
My first training was as an Occupational Therapist and after three years of working in adult mental health services in York and Leeds, I’ve spent the rest of my career working in CAMHS teams in England and in Scotland. When I was working in Fife CAMHS (2005-2013), we were given the chance to develop a specialist CAMHS / Social Work team working with children who were looked after and this became the Springfield Project. It was during this time that I developed the BUSS Model.
We moved back to England in 2013 and I was pleased to be able to divide my time between the Oakdale Centre where I was able to continue the development of BUSS, and Leeds CAMHS service, where I headed up the ADHD assessment service and worked in the Leeds Eating Disorders Team. I was pleased, in 2018, to have the opportunity to be seconded by the Children’s Commissioner, to the Therapeutic Social Work Team and One Adoption West Yorkshire to continue to develop the BUSS clinical work as well as training staff in this way of working.
I have had many opportunities to do further study over the years and completed my MA in Psychoanalytic Studies in 1991 before going on to complete a number of clinical trainings. I currently work part time in Leeds CAMHS, seconded to fostering and adoption services and part time heading up the BUSS team in partnership with the Oakdale Centre.
My first book, Improving Sensory Processing in Traumatised Children (2016), was written for parents, carers and professionals to introduce them to the model and help them to think about whether this way of thinking might be helpful to their child. My second book, Building Sensorimotor Systems in Children with Developmental Trauma: A Model for Practice (2020), is a more detailed look at the model and its application. There is more information about these here.
Qualifications:
Professional Membership(s):
Head of Clinical Services and Accredited BUSS® Practitioner,
Child and Adolescent Therapist and Trainer
I have worked for over twenty years with children as a social worker, short breaks foster carer and art therapist. This has included working in residential care, as a child protection social worker and a therapeutic social worker, eventually managing a Therapeutic Social Work Team. This was where I first encountered Sarah’s innovative work and commissioned her to train and supervise some of the team in developing the BUSS model in our practice. It proved to be a pivotal moment in my career and in the work of the team with children looked after, underpinning the psychological therapies we had previously been offering in isolation. I have now been working with Sarah and the Oakdale BUSS team for the last three years, taking up a post as Head of Clinical Services in 2020. I’m involved in the training, direct work with families and training/ supervision of BUSS therapists.
Qualifications:
Professional Membership(s):
Accredited BUSS® Practitioner,
Therapeutic Social Worker
I have worked with children, young people and families for many years, beginning my career in youth work before working in children’s residential homes. It was here where I became increasingly interested in children’s mental health, attachment related behaviour and the impact of complex developmental trauma.
Since that time I have worked as a Social Work Advanced Practitioner within child protection teams and a Senior Therapeutic Social Worker, whereby I undertook a wide range of therapeutic interventions with Children who were Looked After or subject to Child Protection Plans. It was within that team where I met Sarah and was trained in the BUSS model.
The BUSS model transformed my understanding of developmental trauma and has significantly enhanced my practice; I now use this model as the starting block for all my therapeutic interventions and assessment of therapeutic need.
I thoroughly enjoy being involved in direct work with children and their families, as well as being involved in the training and supervision of trainee BUSS Practitioners.
Qualifications:
Professional membership
Accredited BUSS® Practitioner,
Adoption Support Social Worker
I have been working with children and families for the last 12 years. Prior to qualifying as a Social Worker, I worked in children’s homes predominantly with teenagers. This was my first experience of the impact of trauma and neglect. Prior to this I completed a degree in health and fitness, developing an interest in how the body moves and the benefits of physical activity.
My current role as an adoption support social worker has highlighted how beneficial BUSS is for the children and young people I work with. The opportunity to get involved in the training and delivering of BUSS has therefore been amazing for me. I am looking forward to having the opportunity to develop my knowledge of BUSS further and am delighted to be a member of the team.
Qualifications:
Professional Membership:
Accredited BUSS® Practitioner,
Specialist Occupational Therapist
I have worked with young people and their families for over 18 years in various CAMHS teams.
I have a special interest in the Sensory Processing Approach and have offered assessments and interventions using various models. I’m a Certified Practitioner in Ayres Sensory Integration Therapy and currently work with children in the Bradford looked after team, providing direct therapeutic intervention to young people in children’s homes and consultation to residential staff. This has given me a profound understanding of the sensory processing challenges associated with developmental trauma and their impact on children’s daily occupational performance.
I developed my interest in the BUSS model through my NHS work with Sarah Lloyd while working towards BUSS accreditation as well as being part of a special interest BUSS group.
Qualifications:
Professional Membership:
Accredited BUSS® Practitioner,
Occupational Therapist
I have enjoyed supporting children across different settings since completing my undergraduate degree in 2016.
I currently work as an Occupational Therapist within an adoption agency, whereby I have been delighted to have the opportunity to learn and develop my skills in the BUSS model. BUSS is an approach in which I value hugely when supporting children and young people who have unfortunately experienced early adversity. One of my roles working within the adoption agency has centred around developing and facilitating preschool LEAPlets BUSS groups for children and families across the region. It has been wonderful seeing the groups develop and grow over the past few years, and seeing the benefits of BUSS at an early stage in the children’s lives.
Having completed my BUSS accreditation, I am thrilled to be working as part of the BUSS team, delivering the BUSS intervention directly with families. It’s a joy working alongside families to support the development of their child’s sensorimotor systems through play and their loving relationships.
Qualifications:
Professional Membership:
Accredited BUSS® Practitioner,
Art Psychotherapist
I’ve predominantly worked in Fostering since 2008, supporting children’s Foster Parents, and other key supporting ‘network’ relationships such as Teachers, and Social Workers. I’ve also worked for many years with complex trauma in Adult Mental Health, mainly within a residential Therapeutic Community setting, and prior to this an Inpatient Psychiatric Service.
Like many who ‘discover’ BUSS, the potential to make a lasting and meaningful difference to children’s lives, to hopefully shrink some of the impact of early trauma well before they become adults, is both exciting and a genuine privilege.
Qualifications:
Professional Membership:
Accredited BUSS® Practitioner,
Adoption Social Worker
I have worked with children and families since 2010, initially as a nursery nurse and then as a qualified social worker. I have 8 years experience of adoption social work, in both family finding and prospective adopter assessment roles.
I have always been motivated by helping children to fulfil their potential, and my career in the adoption field has led me to become passionate about understanding and supporting children who have experienced developmental trauma. Outside of social work I am interested in movement, and teach aerial hoop classes – it is a privilege to watch my students develop their strength, control, and confidence. BUSS feels like a wonderful blend of the two!
Qualifications:
Professional Membership:
Accredited BUSS® Practitioner,
Child & Family Therapist
I am a PTUK qualified Non Directive Play Therapist holding professional registration with BACP. I have worked with children and young people for 20 years. Some of this time was spent helping primary aged children break down barriers to learning within an educational context. This consisted of delivering sessions to groups of young people to help tackle difficulties such as self-esteem, confidence, bullying and friendship. I also spent a number of years working with Looked After Children who display extremely challenging behaviour and experience social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. It was in this job that I began to be very interested in attachment and developmental trauma.
I currently work as a Play Therapist, supporting children and young people to improve their mental health and wellbeing and also support families and consult with schools about difficulties experienced by their pupils. I deliver NVR to Parent Groups and to individual families and am also a Certified Theraplay® Practitioner. I am really excited to be part of the BUSS Team and look forward to using these skills to further help children and families.
I am currently doing DDP Level Two.
Qualifications:
Professional Membership:
Accredited BUSS® Practitioner,
Play Therapist
Since completing my Psychology degree in 2011, I have had various roles working in mental health with both children and adults. Initially, working as a family contact worker- supervising contact between LAC and birth families, before moving on to support children with additional needs in education. During this time I also facilitated art/drama and movement classes for adults with mental health conditions as a mental health practitioner. However, my passion for supporting children led me to become a Play Therapist in 2019. I’ve gained invaluable experience of working with adoptive and foster families and it has been a privilege to provide support for children who have unfortunately experienced adversity in their early lives.
I’m thrilled to be part of the BUSS team, to be able to empower families to gradually rebuild their children’s bodily systems as well as nurturing their relationships using the BUSS model. I hope to bring my creative, playful and therapeutic experience to BUSS, develop as a practitioner and continue to support children and families.
Qualifications:
Professional Membership:
Accredited BUSS® Practitioner,
Occupational Therapist
I have worked as an Occupational Therapist for 14 years; 13 years have been working across Paediatric settings in Halifax and Leeds in Child Development, Neonatal care, Neuro
Rehabilitation and Neurodevelopmental care.
In 2021 I moved to work for Adoption Services in Leeds being given the opportunity to learn and develop my skills in the BUSS Model. I was thrilled to join the BUSS team working within this approach that I value in supporting children and young people who have experienced developmental trauma. Part of my role within adoption has centred around developing and facilitating the preschool BUSS group LEAPlets for children and families across the region. Seeing the benefits of BUSS over the past few years through
developing the groups and the individual work with children and families makes me excited to be able to deliver BUSS at an early stage in the children’s lives, but also to young adults and their families.
Qualifications:
Professional Membership:
BUSS® Training Delivery Team,
Clinical Hypnotherapist and Occupational Therapist
I have worked as an Occupational Therapist for over 30 years enjoying working in areas of paediatrics and the adult mental health services.
Whilst working as a Paediatric Occupational Therapist my knowledge of child development has been an important foundation to the BUSS model and how through playful activities we can develop undeveloped systems.
I qualified as a Clinical Hypnotherapist over 10 years ago. Hypnotherapy is a form of therapy that utilises the power of positive suggestion to bring about unconscious changes to our thoughts, feelings and behaviours. I have been fortunate to guide and witness some amazing changes to people’s lives.
I am excited to be a member of the BUSS team in working alongside such passionate and inspiring people, to enable the development of a child’s sensory motor system and support the emotional journey of their carers.
Qualifications:
Professional Memberships:
Accredited BUSS® Practitioner,
Clinical Specialist Occupational Therapist and Integrative Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist
Jo qualified as an Occupational Therapist in 1993 and has worked with children and families across a range of NHS, school, community and charity settings. Jo’s extensive post-graduate training has enabled her to work with young people with physical, sensory, and neurodiverse conditions as well as those who have experienced trauma, living within the care system and adoption. Jo is a co-director at Leap Children’s Therapy, a private occupational therapy practice in Buckinghamshire. Jo also has 6 years experience of working in a therapeutic adoption support service.
Passionate about emotional and mental wellbeing, Jo has undertaken additional training and qualified as a Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist in 2019 and qualified as an Accredited BUSS Practitioner in 2023. Jo offers BUSS with children, young people and families from her base in High Wycombe.
Qualifications:
Professional Membership:
BUSS® in Education Practitioner,
Specialist Teacher
Suzanne is a passionate and experienced teacher, trainer, supervisor and coach. Having worked across many sectors including Business and Social Care as well as Education, Suzanne is both highly knowledgeable and very relatable. She has had many years of experience learning about the impact of early life adversity and the benefit of a relational approach, both in the classroom, and at an LA Virtual School. Suzanne is passionate about sharing this knowledge with as many practitioners as possible to improve the education outcomes and lives of all children, including our most vulnerable. Suzanne has worked with schools, school leaders, governors, social workers, foster carers, adopters, Educational Psychologists and SEN teams nationwide.
After working alongside the BUSS team to deliver LEAPlets in her role with Calderdale Virtual School, Suzanne has trained in BUSS and works with us as a BUSS in Education Practitioner.
Qualifications:
BUSS® Parent Mentor
I’m an adoptive parent and attended early BUSS training in 2015. We saw the amazing impact on our son’s emotional regulation and I was keen to learn more. I am now involved in delivering training and supporting families using the BUSS model.
closeBUSS® Parent Mentor
I’m an adoptive parent who has worked with Sarah for several years in delivering training, working to support families and training practitioners. I’ve seen huge physical and emotional differences in my own daughter as a result of using the BUSS model.
closeBUSS® Parent Mentor
I’m an adoptive parent to two. I first heard about BUSS through our play therapist. It made so much sense! It has made a huge difference to my daughter, both with her bodily and emotional regulation. Now I support families and help to deliver training using the BUSS Model.
closeBUSS® Parent Mentor
I’m an adoptive parent and a foster carer. I was introduced to the BUSS model by Katie Wrench and worked with her with our son and the difference we have seen is amazing. I now support families in the mentoring sessions and help delivering training.
closeBUSS® Parent Mentor
BUSS® Parent Mentor
Director, BUSS Model Ltd
A group of colleagues and I founded The Oakdale Centre in 1998. Since then, the centre has provided a multi-disciplinary psychological therapies service across the age range.
I met Sarah a couple of years after that when she approached us with a view to developing her private practice at the Centre. I was immediately drawn to her warmth, authenticity, curiosity and the care and compassion she showed her clients. She is a gifted and knowledgeable clinician and highly regarded as such in her field.
Sarah and her family then returned to Scotland and we met up again when she came back to Yorkshire and told me about the work she had been doing on what is now known as the BUSS model. I read her first book and listened to her talk passionately about what she had discovered.
We soon agreed to work together and I was honoured when she asked whether the Oakdale Centre might collaborate with her to extend the reach of the BUSS model by setting up programmes to train practitioners and work with young people and their families.
I feel fortunate to be involved in this ground-breaking initiative that is profoundly improving the well-being of children with developmental trauma.
My role in BUSS is to provide the corporate infrastructure and organisation structures required to support Sarah in the roll-out the BUSS model.
This role is an absolute joy and I feel privileged to be part of this exciting venture.
closeConsultant Psychologist
I’m the Clinical Director at the Oakdale Centre. My key role as Clinical Lead is to support the clinical work of practitioners, ensuring high-quality assessments and evidence-based interventions are provided. I am also Safeguarding Lead.
Professionally, I am a Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Systemic Practitioner and EMDR Therapist and registered with the Health Professionals Council. My background is largely within child and family mental health, neuro-developmental disorders and learning disabilities. My roles prior to Oakdale included being Clinical Lead for services across London, Leeds and South Gloucestershire providing Positive Behaviour Support to families where the home placement is at risk of breakdown due to challenging behaviour.
Part of my role at the Oakdale Centre is to provide clinical support and leadership to the Adoption Support Service which provides specialist assessments and therapeutic interventions to young people who are adopted and their families. Here, my specialist interests include the neuroscience of developmental trauma and the impact of early adverse events on the developing brain.
As such, I have been delighted to be involved with the BUSS programme and the wonderful work of Sarah Lloyd. I have first hand experience of the positive outcomes following a BUSS assessment and treatment plan. My role in supporting the implementation of the BUSS model has included providing support to ensure the model is continually evaluated using feedback from both professionals and parents as well as supporting the development and quality of the BUSS training offered to professionals.
closeBusiness Development
I am a Director of BUSS Model Limited and the Oakdale Group.
In the course of a career largely spent leading psychological therapy services on behalf of the NHS, I have developed an ever greater appreciation of the value of both prevention and early intervention – the critical importance of addressing issues quickly, before they can worsen and amplify.
This conviction led to my interest in BUSS, and after attending a seminar on the BUSS methodology; witnessing the critical difference the model makes to the development, growth and potential of children who have experienced adversity early in their lives, I was delighted to be invited to become a Director of BUSS Model in 2019 and hope to contribute to its growth and development over the coming years.
closeOperations Director
Head of Finance
Professional Memberships:
Head of Training and Development
I’m an adoptive parent who has worked with BUSS for several years in delivering training, working to support families and training practitioners. I’ve seen huge physical and emotional differences in my own daughter as a result of using the BUSS model, and I’ve been privileged enough to see the huge impact that the BUSS Model has made on other families too. Having jointly run a training and consultancy business for many years, I’m really excited to now be Head of Training and Development here at BUSS.
We offer training in the BUSS Model for individuals and organisations interested in developing their skills in this area. There are two main routes for this, the first is for practitioners who are going to use BUSS with children and families they are working with. The second is a BUSS in early years groupwork training, which can either be delivered as a programme that is run by education colleagues in schools, or practitioners working therapeutically with children and families in adoption and fostering services.
My role is to develop and support our training services and client relationships across the UK. Our hope is to make BUSS accessible nationwide and grow our multi-disciplinary team of highly skilled BUSS practitioners as well as supporting organisations in becoming self sufficient in using the BUSS model themselves.
BUSS Model Administrator & Accounts Assistant
I joined the BUSS Team at the Oakdale Centre in December 2020. During this time I have provided administrative support to both the clinical and training arms of BUSS, primarily supporting families through the BUSS programme from the first point of contact to the end of intervention, liaising with the team around the child. I have also helped to develop and prepare materials for clinical work, training events and the website.
It has been an honour to see BUSS grow at such an incredible pace. The hard work and dedication of the BUSS practitioners and the commitment of all of the staff at Oakdale is truly inspiring and I am grateful to be part of such a passionate team. It is rewarding to see the impact on children and young people on their journey through the BUSS programme, alongside the positive feedback from their parents / carers, teachers and social workers about their progress.
My previous experience of working with children and young people across different settings contributed to my interest in wellbeing and supporting individuals throughout life events and challenges.
closeBUSS Model Senior Administration Officer
I joined the BUSS team in September 2022 – I’m very excited to be part of this team where the practitioners are all so enthusiastic and experienced.
I have previously worked in the banking sector for over 20 years, then I moved to the Therapeutic Social Work Team in Leeds as their senior admin officer. The work in that team was much more rewarding – working as part of a team supporting children who are looked after or on a child protection plan. I was lucky enough to have worked there with Katie Wrench for nearly 17 years.
I met Sarah Lloyd when she joined the Therapeutic Team to share the BUSS model with the workers and could see the benefits of this work with children and families. This interest has led me to want to be part of this BUSS team.
My role as a senior administration officer in the team will be to help and support the team and to respond to social workers and families helping them through the referral process.
closeAssistant Psychologist
I am an Assistant Psychologist for the BUSS team. My first degree was in Psychology and I then studied a Masters in Cognitive Development. After working in a support role in a school, I’m pleased to join the BUSS team as an Assistant Psychologist to support the development of the research base for BUSS.
closeIf you would like to search for anything on our website, please type here and click ‘search’
