About Shira Barkan Tal
My Approach
I am a psychologist and parent–infant psychotherapist with extensive experience working with infants, children, parents, and professionals across health, social care, and early years services.
My work focuses on understanding the emotional and developmental needs of young children and their caregivers, particularly where there are experiences of stress, disrupted attachment, trauma, or neurodevelopmental difference.
I offer specialist psychological assessment, therapeutic intervention, and professional consultation, informed by developmental psychology, attachment theory, and psychoanalytic thinking.
My Experience
I am a HCPC registered Clinical Psychologist and a BACP registered psychotherapist. I am trained in developmental and vocational psychology, with post-graduate specialist training in parent–child psychotherapy. Over the past decade, I have worked in 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 intervention with infants, young children, parents, and families presenting with complex emotional, relational, and neurodevelopmental needs. I have particular expertise in working with early relationships, intergenerational trauma, and the emotional impact of caregiving under pressure.
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. I aim to create a space where complexity can be held, emotional experience can be understood, and meaningful change can emerge over time.
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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