Conversations about Consultation

About Conversations about Consultation

Welcome to our podcast, Conversations about Consultation. This is a series of digital audio files, made with a wide range of guests who have been generous enough to share their thinking on the topic of consultation in education. Our aim is to provide thought-provoking and engaging content that you can access at times and in places convenient to you, growing out of our shared interest in consultation. Emma teaches a module on consultation as part of the doctoral training in Child, Community, and Educational Psychology at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust. Jessica, Emily, Bethanie, and Zahra are either current or former doctoral students from the Tavistock and Portman Educational Psychology training. Our current co-hosts, Bethanie and Zahra, work in or are on placement in local authority settings, where they use consultation in their practice. Consultation has any number of different definitions and models. Given our training and background, we are especially interested in consultation as it is used in schools and community settings. We see consultation as a particular type of professional helping relationship, one that holds central the idea that it is the relationship between the consultant and those with whom they work that makes the difference. However, one aim of Conversations about Consultation is to speak with guests who perhaps use different lenses, modalities and approaches and who offer something unique and distinctive that can complement or contrast with our own. It may be a current trainee on a different programme whose research interests include consultation, or an early career practitioner reflecting on consultative working in schools. We speak with experienced practitioners from other disciplines who bring their expertise in working with children young people and their families; as well as psychologists who have been working in the field of consultation research and practice for many years. We hope you will find a conversation to listen to that engages your interest, offers a different perspective or even just provokes a new question or idea that leads to further conversations of your own. You can follow us on BlueSky to join in the conversation at @CACpodcast.bsky.social

Publisher

Emma Ní Chinnéide, Zahra Ahmed and Bethanie Atinuke Sonola

Category

education · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

16 May 2021

Latest episode

29 Jun 2026

Latest episodes

32 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   29 Jun 2026

   Matching in Consultation Pairs - Dr Courtenay Barrett

   Dr Courtenay Barrett is an associate professor in the school psychology program at Michigan State University, a licensed psychologist, and a nationally certified school psychologist. She received a Fulbright Scholar Award in 2023 to conduct research at the University College Cork, Ireland. She is an Associate Editor at School Psychology, a former Associate Editor for the Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, and a member of the Editorial Boards for the Journal of School Psychology and School Psychology Review. She currently has a gubernatorial appointment to the Michigan Board of Psychology. Her research interests are focused on implementation science, specifically consultation, coaching, and collaboration as a means to support implementation, economic evaluations of school-based programs and practices, and data-based decision-making to qualify students for special education services and the relation between these services and student outcomes. She has published over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and several book chapters on these topics. Note: this podcast episode was recorded prior to the publishing of the UK government's Schools White Paper Every Child Achieving and Thriving (2026) Related Articles & Books Clinkscales, A., Barrett, C. A., & Spear, S. E. (2024). The Role of Racial Match Between Students and Teachers in School-Based Consultation. School Psychology Review, 53(2), 123–136. https://doi-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/2372966X.2022.2087477 (https://doi-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/2372966X.2022.2087477) Barrett, C. A., Burns, M. K., Maki, K. E., Clinkscales, A., Hajovsky, D. B., & Spear, S. E. (2021, November 4). Language Used in School Psychological Evaluation Reports as Predictors of SLD Identification Within a Response to Intervention Model. School Psychology. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/spq0000485 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/spq0000485) Amna A. Agha & Courtenay A. Barrett (19 Feb 2024): Process Logs: A Tool to Promote Self-Reflection During Consultation Supervision and Document Consultee-Centered Outcomes, Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, https://doi.org/10.1080/10474412.2024.2318749 (https://doi.org/10.1080/10474412.2024.2318749) Barrett, C. A., Newman, D. S., & Bagasrawala, L. (2026). Paradigm compatibility within school consultation: Offering insight into consultee resistance. Journal of school psychology, 115, 101523. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2025.101523 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2025.101523)

2. 

   3 Jun 2026

   Cultural-historical activity perspectives in consultation - Dr Simangele Mayisela

   Dr Simangele Mayisela, is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) and a registered Educational Psychologist in practice. She was a three consecutive year(2014-2016) Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa Fellow and NRF- Innovation grant holder for her Doctoral research. Among the several research awards she has received, is the Female Academic Leaders Fellow (FALF) at Wits University (2021-2022). Her primary research interest is understanding the intersection between human development and intrapsychological functions from an African perspective, psychodynamic and cultural-historical activity perspective - a multi-disciplinary paradigm. We loved speaking with Simangele about Educational Psychology practice in South Africa, her research and her perspectives on consultation.

3. 

   13 May 2026

   System-wide Consultation - Shannon Steven

   Shannon Steven is a school psychologist who has worked in education for over 18 years and is a keen advocate for the profession. Shannon loves to learn and is passionate about the promotion of the wellbeing, and the prevention of illbeing of young people in schools and in the wider community. She has experience working across the Department of Education, Catholic Education and Independent school systems, in primary, secondary, composite and boarding contexts. Shannon is a registered teacher, has taught ATAR and has completed her Master of Psychology (Counselling) at Curtin University, and the Masters of Applied Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology (MAPPCP) at the University of East London. Shannon is a Past President of the School Psychologists Association of Western Australia (SPAWA) and the Australian Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools Association (APACS) and continues to be on the APACS committee. Shannon is currently a lead psychologist at Catholic Education WA and works part time in private practice. In todays episode we reflect on transitioning to a system-wide consultation service delivery model and what she and her colleagues are learning along the way.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Spotify

4.9 / 5

10 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 21 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

11

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

81

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.