About Shira Barkan Tal
My Approach
I am a clinical and counselling psychologist and child psychotherapist, with specialist training in parent–infant psychotherapy and extensive experience working with infants, children, adolescents, parents and professionals across health, social care and early years services. My work is grounded in understanding emotional and developmental difficulties within the context of relationships, and I offer psychological assessment, therapeutic intervention and professional consultation informed by developmental psychology, attachment theory and psychoanalytic thinking.
Adolescents
I offer psychological therapy for adolescents experiencing difficulties with their mental health, emotional wellbeing, relationships or sense of self.
Therapy provides a confidential space to slow down, think, share and reflect. Together, we explore their current difficulties and symptoms, and develop a shared understanding of the connections between their thoughts, feelings, emotions and behaviours.
My approach is collaborative and reflective, helping adolescents make sense of their experiences and develop a deeper understanding of what may be underlying their current difficulties. Alongside this reflective work, I can also introduce practical psychological and behavioural techniques to help adolescents manage stress, anxiety and difficult emotions in their day-to-day lives.
Therapy offers a space where young people can feel heard, understood and supported to explore experiences that may be difficult to put into words, while also developing practical ways of coping with their difficulties.
Infants & Young Children
I work with infants, young children and their parents to understand emotional and developmental difficulties within the context of their relationships and wider environment.
My work focuses particularly on difficulties associated with stress, disrupted attachment, trauma, developmental difficulties and neurodevelopmental differences. Depending on the child’s age and needs, therapy may involve the child and parent together, or individual work with the child alongside psychological support and guidance for parents.
I draw on developmental psychology, attachment theory and psychoanalytic thinking to understand the child’s experiences and the relationships around them. The aim is to create a space in which difficulties can be understood, relationships supported and new ways of responding can develop.
My Experience
I am a HCPC registered Clinical Psychologist and Counselling Psychologist, and a BACP registered psychotherapist. I am trained in developmental and vocational psychology, with postgraduate specialist training in parent–child psychotherapy. Over the past decade, I have worked across a range of clinical and statutory settings, including community mental health, perinatal services, early childhood development centres, and local authority services.
My clinical experience spans assessment and therapeutic intervention with infants, young children, adolescents, parents and families presenting with complex emotional, relational and neurodevelopmental needs. I have experience working with young people experiencing mental health difficulties in both NHS and local authority settings, alongside my work with children and families.
I have particular expertise in early relationships, intergenerational trauma, and the emotional impact of caregiving under pressure, as well as experience supporting young people with emotional and mental health difficulties.
I currently work within NHS Perinatal Mental Health services and Local Authority settings in the UK, alongside ongoing involvement in multidisciplinary and cross-agency work.
My approach is thoughtful, reflective and collaborative, combining psychological understanding with practical therapeutic approaches tailored to the individual needs of each child, young person and family.
How I work
My work is grounded in the understanding that early emotional development unfolds within relationships, and that difficulties in infancy and childhood often reflect broader relational, developmental, and contextual factors.
I draw on developmental psychology and attachment theory to understand how early experiences shape emotional regulation, behaviour, and relationships. Particular attention is given to the parent–child relationship as a central context for growth and change.
Parent–Infant and Parent–Child Psychotherapy
I offer therapeutic work that supports parents and children to better understand one another’s emotional communication, especially where there is distress, disconnection, or uncertainty. This may include dyadic work, parental reflection, and emotionally focused intervention.
Neurodevelopmental Understanding
I have extensive experience working with children with neurodevelopmental differences, including autism and developmental delay. My work integrates careful assessment with relational and emotional understanding, supporting families to make sense of their child’s development without reducing the child to a diagnosis.
Working with Complexity
I am experienced in working within contexts of trauma, safeguarding concerns, and multi-agency involvement. I value thoughtful formulation, collaborative working, and holding risk alongside empathy and curiosity.
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