Established in October 2000, the Psychology Department manages the referral and assessment process for current and prospective clients. The team consists of a Chartered Counselling Psychology Manager, a Behavioural Psychologist, a Trainee Counsellor, undergraduate psychology volunteers and a Consultant Psychologist.

The team works alongside staff to promote autism specific psychological support and intervention to individuals using Hoffmann services, and also provides internal and external training and consultation as well as offering diagnostic and behavioural assessments.

The Psychology Manager, who is a Chartered Counselling Psychologist, offers the following services based on individual assessment needs:

-Counselling
-Social Skills courses
-Needs assessments
-Diagnostic Assessments
-Consultations and attendance on case conference and review meetings
-Training in therapeutic support on Autism and Asperger Syndrome
-Clinical supervision for professionals working with clients with an Autism Spectrum Condition.


Clinical supervision for professionals working with an Autism Spectrum Condition

Hoffmann Foundation provides a specialist clinical supervision service for professionals working with clients with an Autism Spectrum Condition . This service is suitable for social workers, counselling /clinical psychologists and those in training , counselors/trainee counselors , health and criminal justice professionals , employment advisors and mental health professionals and managers.

The service is run by the Psychology Manager who is a chartered Counselling Psychologist.

The Behavioural Psychologist works alongside staff and residents in their own environments to provide the following:

Positive intervention strategies for managing behavioural difficulties
Training and support in Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA)
Training in Structured Learning

The department also disseminates the latest research on Autism and Asperger's Syndrome and this information is published via the 'Focus on Autism Newsletter', published quarterly on the website. The team is regularly supervised by a specialist autism consultant psychologist.

Trainee counselling and clinical psychologists, trainee counsellors as well as psychology graduates are encouraged to work within the department on placements where training, supervision and professional development in Autism Spectrum Conditions is provided.

Dr Kassy Drossou, CPsychol,
BPS and HPC reg, MSc (Hons), MSc, BA, BSc (Hons)
Chartered Counselling Psychologist, Psychology Manager

Kassy is a Chartered Counselling and Health psychologist registered with the British Psychological Society (Registration no: 163877), the Health Professions Council (Registration No:616428) and the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy. She has been working at Hoffmann Foundation for the past 8 years and is currently managing the Psychology department. She provides Autism and Asperger specific counselling and psychotherapy. Kassy is an integrative therapist who uses a number of therapeutic approaches which range from Cognitive Behavioural, Psychodynamic, Person-centered and Existential models. The needs of the individual will determine the type of approach used. In addition to counselling and therapy, Kassy's therapeutic model is used within other areas of practice such as the social skill groups, diagnostic assessments, needs assessment, training and supervision of psychology trainees. Her doctoral thesis focused on 'How clients with an Asperger Syndrome Diagnosis experience the therapeutic relationship'.

Dr Niki Daniel, CPsychol
Behavioural Psychologist

Niki joined the psychology department at Hoffmann Foundation in September 2008. She is working alongside staff supporting adults with autism, by developing positive intervention strategies for managing behavioural difficulties as well as teaching skills. She is also involved in delivering training on Autism Awareness and TEACCH.

Niki has 10 year's experience in the field of autism, and her training includes Applied Behavioural Analysis, TEACCH, ASD diagnostic assessments and other psychometric assessments (Level A). She is also particularly interested in autism research and has been involved in projects as a member of the Autism Research Group (ARG) at City University, and at the Centre for Research in Autism and Education (CRAE) at the Institute of Education. Her PhD investigated 'Face Processing in Children with Autism'.

Hoffmann Foundation provides a specialist counselling service for individuals with an Autism and Asperger Syndrome diagnosis based on an assessment of individual needs. This service is normally offered in blocks of twelve sessions, but commonly individuals require longer blocks of therapy.

The service is run by the Psychology Manager and trainee counsellors who have an in-depth understanding of Asperger's Syndrome, Autism and related conditions. The way different individuals with Autism and Asperger's syndrome experience their world will inform the type of therapeutic approach used. The aim of counselling and psychotherapy is to provide the individual with an opportunity to work towards living in a more satisfying and resourceful way. Common topics that people seek help with include social anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, addictions, relationships issues, difficulties around low self-esteem as well as coming to terms with a 'new diagnosis'.

The Psychology Department runs social skills courses that are designed to address the needs of high functioning clients on the autism spectrum. These courses focus on developing social skills using a combination of psycho-educational and psychotherapeutic models. The service is run by a Chartered Counselling Psychologist and a trainee psychologist/ counsellor.

Consistent with latest research evidence (Paxton, 2008) the course utilises the principles of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Applied Behavioural Analysis to teach individuals on the spectrum the skills necessary to cope with social situations. The course is offered in a block of 8 sessions and includes an outing.

Topics that have been previously explored in this group include: recognizing and exploring feelings, building awareness on feelings, becoming better at reading facial expressions and body language, social anxiety, depression and anger and how to deal with these.

The Psychology Department offers a diagnostic assessment clinic for the diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome and other Autistm Spectrum Conditions for both children and adults. The diagnostic assessments are conducted by our Chartered Counselling Psychologist and a specialist ASC Consultant Psychologist. The following diagnostic tools are used:

Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule ( ADOS)
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V)
Developmental History Questionnaire
Social Responsiveness Scale

Every effort is made to provide a comprehensive assessment within the diagnosis so that individuals have some way of understanding this. The diagnostic assessment takes a whole day. In addition, a half day follow up service is provided free of charge to allow individuals to discuss the content of their diagnostic assessment should they wish to do so. Individuals find this follow up very useful.

Funding can be through the NHS, PCTs, social services or privately funded. Concessions are offered depending on individual circumstances.

The Psychology Department offers 1:1 support sessions based on the principles of Applied Behavioural Analysis. Applied Behavioural Analysis refers to the scientific method of managing behaviour by observing the relationship between the behaviour and the environment.

Teaching involves breaking down the tasks into meaningful components that can be taught separately with the use of reinforcements and rewards. ABA has been extensively used as an intervention method for individuals with autism and has been proved to be very effective in dealing with behaviour difficulties and skills teaching.

The Psychology team currently offers the following training both internally and externally:

Autism and Asperger Syndrome Awareness
Structured Learning
Applied Behavioural Analysis
Reflective practice on working therapeutically
Basic Counselling skills

The Psychology Department has a strong research background in Autism and Asperger's syndrome and the practitioners are fully committed to ensuring that Hoffmann Foundation keeps abreast of all current research and translates this research into best practice for our individuals who use our services.

The Psychology department promotes and supports psychology graduates and undergraduates who are interested in the field of Autism. Every effort is made to help those on placement to carry out their research project where such projects are considered to be of value to the individuals that use our services.

Dr Kassy Drossou
Psychology Manager

Fanz House
99 - 101 Gray's Inn Road,
London WC1X 8TY

Telephone: 020 72696933