Dr Bernadette Carelse has worked as an Educational Psychologist (EP) since 2006. She is registered as an Applied Psychologist with the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) and a member of the Association of Educational Psychologists.   

From 2006, she worked at Hackney Education, as a ‘maingrade’ EP.

During 2008 she began her doctorate training and completed this in 2012, and was awarded a Doctorate in Educational and Child Psychology in 2013. Her research has been presented at the “Engaging with Methodology” conference at the University of Sussex, the Mindfulness in Society Conference, “Implementation Science” conference, Cambridge and the “Mindfulness, Education and Transformation” conference at Wollongong, Australia.

In 2015, she was promoted to Senior Educational Psychologist and specialised in approaches to mental and emotional wellbeing. She has taught mindfulness at her workplace – and to her local community – including Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). This was part of an organisational strategy for staff wellbeing.

In 2020, she delivered training on trauma-informed approaches to a team of Educational Psychologists. During the COVID pandemic, she initiated and ran a series of online mindfulness courses for school staff, social workers and other keyworkers to support their wellbeing under significantly difficult circumstances. 

She also set up a ‘working group’ to exploring interventions to reduce exclusions and support children and young people with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs.  This included training for school staff in mindfulness, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy  and Emotional Coaching.

In September 2022, she took early retirement and until 2024, worked as a ‘locum’ Educational Psychologist in London and offered psychological services to directly to families.  For more information contact Dr Carelse.