SAI
SAI Conference
Thank you to all those near & far that travelled for our first sai conference at malone house, belfast
to Celebrate a Collaboration, Innovative Thinking and Working Interventions
The SAI Team
Éadaoin Bhreathnach
Clinical Director SAI Centre
Éadaoin is an Occupational Therapist, and Clinical Director of the Sensory
Attachment Intervention Centre at Ash Cottage in Northern Ireland. She has worked
in the Field of Developmental Trauma for over forty years. Her model, Sensory Attachment Intervention, was developed as a response to those who were unable to participate in the therapeutic process without becoming overwhelmed. She recognised that the key to successful intervention is regulation of arousal states via the senses and co-regulating relationships. Éadaoin’s clinical approach has received international recognition by fellow clinicians. Her current focus is on collaborative research with academics and clinicians on how sensory processing and attachment patterns influence regulation of arousal states. In 2024 she was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by Sensory Integration Education for her outstanding contributions to the advancement and promotion of Sensory Integration education, practice, and training.
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Claire Pemrick
Claire is a consultant Occupational Therapist. She has a special interest in children’s
occupations and how they evolve, using both evolutionary and occupational science lenses. She founded the Jump Start Centre in 2011, based in Essex. It focuses on strengthening the family system, a core tenet of SAI. Claire integrates this with her specialist training in Internal Family Systems (IFS), including Level 2 ‘Intimacy from the Inside Out’ training, and Relational Life Therapy. Claire is co-founder and author of the EcoSensory Therapy Model, an evidence-based practice approach to
therapeutic intervention in nature spaces. She is a visiting lecturer at the University of Essex and is currently completing her Ph.D., researching the dynamic relationships between adolescents and their parents, and how their daily occupations are shaped by broader, interconnected systems.
Tessa Scully
Tessa is a Consultant Occupational Therapist, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and
Neuroaffective Touch graduate with over 20 years clinical experience. Now based in London, she started her career in New Zealand with dual roles working in mental health and paediatrics. She set up workshops for “Creating Calmer Classrooms” for those affected by the Canterbury earthquake. Tessa became the first OT in the UK to work with adopted children directly within a local authority Post Adoption Team, establishing a role for Occupational Therapy which is now far more widespread. Tessa is passionate in supporting those affected by secondary trauma. She has worked extensively with adoptive parents, foster carers and professionals to address their own regulation needs by introducing body-based tools for embodiment and providing guidance on enriched environment provision.
Emma Smith
Emma, is a Consultant Occupational Therapist and Co-Director of Juniper Tree Therapy based in Yorkshire. She has worked for over 20 years with children and young people facing social deprivation, adverse childhood experiences, and developmental differences or disabilities. Her roles have included conducting a full-
service audit within a CAMHS in-reach service at a Young Offenders Institute, which led to funding approval for a programme supporting young offenders in developing sensory regulation, occupational engagement, and social integration skills. She contributed to the delivery and evaluation of the Barnardo’s Pyramid Plus model, a psychosocial intervention for children implemented in primary schools across the Northeast of England. Additionally, Emma managed children’s camps in Yorkshire with the Kings Active Foundation, supporting the delivery and evaluation of programmes for families from challenging or disadvantaged circumstances.
Nick Smith
Nick is a Consultant Occupational Therapist based in Yorkshire. He is the Co-Director of Juniper Tree Therapy which predominantly uses Sensory Integration and Sensory Attachment Intervention approaches. He has experience of working in independent, NHS and local authority services, including Special Education Schools in England. He has also provided SAI assessments for statutory agencies in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland. Nick is particularly interested in the impact of developmental trauma on postural control and motor coordination/Dyspraxia. He is currently involved in collaborative research analysing
children’s sensory motor behaviours, physiological responses and narrative during
CAPA assessments. Nick worked with Éadaoin Bhreathnach to jointly develop and formalise her ‘SAI Trauma-Informed Clinical Observations Protocol’ an adaptation of Ayres Clinical Observations for children who have experienced trauma and abuse.
Chris West
Chris West is a Consultant Occupational Therapist. She is a Somatic Experiencing
Practitioner, and a NeuroAffective Touch Practitioner. She is one of the co-founders
of the EcoSensory Therapy Model, which uses local nature spaces for therapeutic intervention. Chris has over 30 years’ experience of working with children, young people, and adults with a range of mental health, learning, and physical health needs. Her clinical focus is working in secure residential care with young people and
adults who have sensory processing differences and attachment difficulties, often as a result of developmental trauma. In 2024 She was instrumental in establishing the first Regulating Garden in England, at Atkinson’s Secure Children’s Home. In 2024 Chris was awarded Advanced Practitioner status with the Centre for Advancing Practice, in conjunction with NHS England.
Guest Speakers
Steve Farnfield PhD
Steve is a social worker, play therapist and developed the Child Attachment and
Play Assessment (CAPA). The CAPA uses the established narrative story stem procedure to screen children and young people age 3 – 18 yrs for developmental trauma. Now semi-retired he was a lecturer at the Universities of Reading and Roehampton - at the latter he was director of the Play Therapy programme and
founded the MSc in Attachment Studies based on Crittenden’s Dynamic Maturational Model (DMM) He was a licensed trainer for a variety of DMM assessments and together with Paul Holmes co-edited the 3 volume Routledge
Handbooks of Attachment that bring together the DMM and ABCD models between the same covers. The CAPA grew out of his PhD at the Tavistock Clinic and University of East London and represents a career focused on trying to make life better for maltreated and disadvantaged children.
Fan Zhang
Fan is a child psychologist with research and clinical interests in the theory and assessments of attachment, as well as their clinical
application. Fan has held posts such as post-doctoral research fellow, research supervisor, and expert witness to the family court in England. She is also an accredited trainer of the Child Attachment and Play Assessment (the CAPA). She was awarded the Family Relations
Institute and the International Association for the Studies of Attachment Fellowship in 2023. Currently Fan is working on the clinical applications of integrating the CAPA and SAI.
Claire Ginty
Claire Ginty is an experienced occupational therapist with 20 years' experience, specialising in attachment, trauma, and sensory integration. She holds an MSc in Attachment Studies, a postgraduate certificate in Sensory Integration and a certificate in Systemic Family Therapy, with training also in Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy. Claire has contributed to research on physiological regulation and attachment, supported EASI and a range of studies, and collaborated with university programmes both in the UK and abroad. An international lecturer and conference presenter, she mentors students and clinicians, advocates for OT in policy and education in Romania and the UK, and maintains accredited advanced training in sensory, attachment, trauma, feeding, and neurodevelopmental approaches. Claire is committed to multidisciplinary practice and ongoing professional development.
Elizabeth Cann
Designated Nurse and Improvement Lead for children in care, care experience and Professional Nurse Advocate NHS Devon Integrated Care Board RN, BMid (Hons), BSc (Hons) QSIR, PNA.
Elizabeth is a Registered Adult Nurse whose career spans Emergency Medicine,
Intensive Care, and high-risk and community Midwifery, before transitioning into specialist community public health nursing. She specialises in Children in Care services and has held the role of Designated Nurse for Devon since 2017. Working both regionally and nationally, she contributes to improving outcomes and the lived experience of children and young people as they move through
care, with a focus on getting the right support at the right time and in the right way. Although not an Occupational Therapist, she introduced Sensory Attachment Intervention to Devon through a Children in Care lens, leading a
successful pilot that equipped specialist nurses and foster carers with practical tools to support regulation in highly traumatised children. This work is underpinned by the principle that therapeutic interventions are only effective
when a child can regulate and meaningfully process them.
Helen Johnson
Helen qualified as a Social Worker in 1999 and has worked independently since 2009, specialising in attachment and trauma-informed practice. Her work includes formal assessment of attachment and trauma in children and adults and the delivery of therapeutic interventions, as well as training, consultancy, and supervision to multi-disciplinary professionals.She works closely alongside multi-disciplinary teams, specifically with Sensory Attachment Intervention (SAI)–trained Occupational Therapists, to develop and implement integrated, formulation-led intervention plans. Her practice includes the use of video review of parent–child sessions to support parental reflective functioning and greater capacity to mentalize in respect of self and other. She is trained in the full range of developmentally sequenced attachment assessments associated with the Dynamic Maturational Model (DMM) of Attachment and Adaptation. She is an accredited VIG practitioner and also trained in the SAI School-aged Just Right State Programme.
Ben Grey
Ben is a social worker, chartered psychologist, and a Principal Lecturer (for Research) on the Doctoral programme in Clinical Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire. He is a former director of the pioneering Attachment Theory, Research and Practice postgraduate programme at the University of Roehampton. He developed the Meaning of the Child Interview (MotC) and has published widely on attachment, caregiving and child-welfare. He is author of 'the Meaning of the Child: Making Sense of Parent Child relationships' Ben has over 25 years’ experience of assessment and consultation using attachment methods and procedures in Family Court, Adoption, and Child Welfare settings. He is co-director of Cambridge Centre for Attachment 'author of 'the Meaning of the Child: Making Sense of Parent Child relationships.
Georgia Monk
I am a qualified Clinical Psychologist working in Hertfordshire within Older Adult Mental Health and a Specialist Memory Service. I studied Psychology at the University of Liverpool in 2013, before completing a Master’s degree in Health Psychology at the University of Bath in 2017. I moved to London in early 2019, where I gained several years of experience working in primary care mental health services. This work led to my acceptance onto the Clinical Psychology Doctorate at the University of Hertfordshire in 2022, which I completed in 2025. The subject of my thesis was embodied attachment in parent-child relationships, exploring how discourse-based caregiving patterns related to physiological regulation patterns. In my current role, I work with older adults and their families across community service settings. I assist in the diagnosis of a range of cognitive conditions and support people to live well with life-changing diagnoses.
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Helen Bowkett
I am Helen Bowkett, Registered Manager at Atkinson Secure Children’s Home. I began my career here as a support worker, arriving with a deep curiosity about the young people we care for and the challenges they face. My motivation came from my own experience of being adopted and given the chance to grow up in a safe, nurturing environment. I wanted to give something back and create opportunities for others to thrive. I progressed through several roles, including many years in case management, where I strengthened my commitment to ensuring that care, education, and health remain the golden threads woven through every aspect of the home. As the manager, I am driven by the belief that, as a collective team, we can influence and improve outcomes for young people so they can return to their communities with hope and stability. I lead with empathy, curiosity, and an openness to innovation that benefits the young people at the heart of our work.
Mick McCallan and Joe Gillen
Mick McCallan and Joe Gillen are the Co-Founders of Tearmann Care Ireland Ltd, bringing over 40 years of combined frontline experience across statutory and voluntary children’s services. Both began their careers as Residential Support Workers and progressed into qualified social work and leadership roles. Mick has worked in the sector since 2001 and qualified as a Social Worker in 2006. Joe has 17 years’ experience in residential childcare and qualified as a Social Worker in 2011. Throughout their careers, they have supported children and young people affected by developmental trauma, disrupted attachment, and complex relational histories, witnessing a significant increase in the intensity and complexity of need within residential care. Both are certified Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (TCI) trainers, and Mick is an accredited Practice Teacher committed to developing reflective practitioners. Tearmann Care was founded in response to the gap they identified between young people’s relational trauma needs and traditional care models. Their vision is a specialist, sensory-attachment and trauma-responsive home where safety, co-regulation, connection, and relational repair are embedded in everyday practice.
Clodagh Carroll
Clodagh Carroll, Assistant Director of Services Barnardos Republic of Ireland.
The Just Right State Pre-school and School Aged Programme;
A Trauma Informed Approach to Providing Services for Children and Families
Clodagh brings over 20 years of child welfare and protection experience across Ireland and Australia. Holding a postgraduate degree in psychology, her career is rooted in evidence-based practice. Her early frontline leadership with the HSE in Dublin and Department of Human Services in Melbourne built an expertise in trauma and complex family dynamics. Since joining Barnardos in 2015, Clodagh advanced to her current position, where she now oversees ten frontline teams across Dublin 8, 11, and 15, as well as services supporting Traveller mothers in the Dóchas Centre. Her work is grounded in openness, respect, and a commitment to empowering families while acknowledging the challenges and histories that shape their experiences.