About Us

Who are we?

A small team of people who share the same values and are passionate about supporting children and families. We want to see children thrive and families feel heard and empowered to source the best interventions for their children’s needs.

The Team

Andrea is a HCPC registered Occupational Therapist, with particular expertise in working with people who have experienced trauma, and issues with nervous system regulation. In addition to gaining an MSc in Occupational Therapy, she has also completed additional training in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and Sensory Integration.

In her work with women and children, Andrea has developed and managed a number of projects in local authority Sure Start Children’s Centres and Schools in Croydon. She has a particular interest in how trauma affects the relationship between the mind and the body in relation to function, and in practice she has specialised in working with families who have experienced domestic abuse, children who have experienced developmental trauma and children with Sensory and motor challenges.

In her work with babies she has developed an innovative programme that draws on a wide range of clinical skills to help babies develop strong sensory and motor systems and build resilience for the future. She is also passionate about the arts and using creativity and play in therapy, and holds a BA (Hons) Painting and Printmaking degree from the University of Surrey. One of her favourite quotes is, “When we activate play systems we de-activate stress response systems” (Sheila Frick).

Michelle is a building surveyor, volunteer and adoptive parent to a child with adverse childhood experiences and special needs which has been the most fulfilling but equally the most challenging learning of her life.

Her promise to the adoption agency to strive for the best for her child, led her to attend a workshop with Andrea on trauma informed sensory work which proved to be life changing for both her and her child. The ongoing collaboration between Michelle and Andrea focusing on the nervous system and the simple accessible techniques and tools to repair and strengthen mind and body connections has made her an essential voice in engaging with other parents and sharing her experience.

Eloise has worked in both Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and Perinatal services. During her time in CAMHS she completed both Autism and ADHD assessments and led on ADHD parent groups providing support and psychoeducation.

Eloise is also trained in parent-infant interaction therapies, looking at the impact of the attachment relationship on emotional, sensory and physical development, and has provided therapeutic support (utilising CFT, CAT, MBT, DBT and ACT therapies) to parents, infants, children and teenagers.

Throughout her career, including her doctoral thesis, she has focused on the impact of trauma and its links to sensory difficulties across different age groups.

Jane is founder and CEO of Jubilee Parenting, which since 2002 has developed and delivered a range of parenting courses including those supporting parents whose children have additional needs, working with over 2,500 families in deprived areas of Croydon.

Since 2013 Jubilee Parenting has been commissioned by Croydon Council to deliver courses to parents whose children have social and communication difficulties. These are delivered to parents pre diagnosis whilst children are waiting to be seen by CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services). The majority of these children later receive an ASD diagnosis.

A parent of three, Jane has lived experience of parenting SEND children and is passionate about empowering SEN families.

Most recently she has been working with the National Autistic Society helping deliver courses for SEND parents.

Why was Encounter started?

To create experiences that help people feel whole, healthy and happy. We essentially offer therapeutic and educational services but want to move away from some of the traditional notions of clinical practice and create a service that is easy to access, nurturing and family focused, whilst simultaneously offering excellent clinical care and evidence-based practice.

How did it start?

With an innovation project originally funded by the Home Office, which was Andrea’s first break away from traditional services. It was a group workshop programme for women and children experiencing domestic abuse and it was the first programme developed by Andrea and supported by Jane that we ran back in 2010. Since then, we have gone to build a range of services to support families at different moments in their lives, always focusing on empowering families and seeing their strengths.

Why the focus on experience?

The main reason is because in the years that Andrea has been working with people who have experienced abuse and the resulting trauma, one thing has consistently stood out – that is the importance of helping people have a different experience. So if somebody is living in fear or anxiety it has been our job to help them experience a sense of safety and calm, even for 10 minutes in a session, and that is how things start to change for that person – through having a different experience to their current reality.

This can happen in many ways but a great way to start is with the body and the sensory systems, as they are foundational in shifting the residual imprint of traumatic experience. The rational part of our brain that helps us make decisions and think has been identified by research as being fairly useless at squelching sensation, managing emotional arousal and regulating triggered stress responses.

Therefore if nothing else, it makes perfect sense to work with the parts of the brain, mind and body that are driving the experiences – and that is our aim though all the services we offer.

How will that be done?

Encounter offer a selection of therapeutic services ranging from one to one therapy sessions to small groups. The services offered are for babies, children and adults, as we believe in working with the whole family and providing education and skills to support healthy child development.

For example, our Encounter Hope workshops teach parents essential skills for supporting sensory and motor development but also provide a place to meet and connect with other parents in the local community.