SAI Conference

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.

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.