MEET THE TEAM

We are a group of professionals working together to help support children and families.

Our people are at the core of what makes the Kent Autism Assessment such a unique and fulfilling place to work. We’re proud of the diversity of our staff, with each member contributing their unique skills to the projects we’re working on. Together, we’ve planned and executed some of the most innovative and cutting edge experiments. Find out more about our team members below.

DR. JOSHUA NICE

Clinical Psychologist

Josh has always had a passion for helping to support children, young people and their families with neurodevelopmental and mental health problems. He enjoys working with an enormous diversity of children and young people with a range of presenting problems.

The most important principle in Josh's work is being sensitive and compassionate to children and their families needs.

Josh is trained in both the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule -2nd edition (ADOS-2) and the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) which are considered the ‘gold standard’ in Autism Spectrum Assessment. He is also trained in carrying out ADHD and Cognitive assessments. He is involved in autism research at the University of Kent.

Josh trained as a Clinical Psychologist between 2010-2013 at The University of Surrey. Subsequently he has worked in a range of NHS services including 6 1/2 years in Child Health completing hundreds of autism assessments, CAMHS working with children and families with mental health problems and the Emotional Well-being team working with children and families in school based services.

DR. CHRIS MARSHALL

Senior Clinical Psychologist

Chris currently works in the NHS in a community Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) in West London. His work involves assessment and treatment of a wide range of psychological difficulties that can affect children between the ages of 5 and 18 and their families. These include the different types of anxiety, depression, self-harm and issues relating to problems with emotional regulation.

Chris received training in both the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule - 2nd edition (ADOS-II) and the 3Di (Parent Assessment) several years ago. He uses these gold standard assessments of autism in his practice.

Chris has recently started work as a Principal Clinical Psychologist in West London. Before this he worked as a Principal Clinical Psychologist in Richmond CAMHS and the neurodevelopmental (ASD & ADHD) service in South West London. He also has several years’ experience supporting Looked after Children, their foster carers and the network of services supporting them.

For the past 18 months (2022-2023), Chris worked as Course Director for an MSc in Clinical Associate Psychology at Royal Holloway University London. This role involved teaching Psychology graduates about a range of mental health presentations in children and young people and their treatment. A significant part of teaching involved familiarising students with ASD and ADHD

Joshua and Chris both trained on the Clinical Psychology Doctorate at The University of Surrey between 2010 and 2013. Before training as a Clinical Psychologist, Chris worked for eight years as a youth worker in a Pupil Referral Unit (school for children permanently excluded from main stream education) and local CAMHS service. While he worked as a youth worker, he completed a Masters course in Developmental Psychopathology at the University of Reading.

TARA MCDERMOTT

Speech and Language Therapist

Tara qualified as a Speech and Language Therapist in 2013 from the University
of Strathclyde, Glasgow. Since then, Tara enjoyed a rich career in the NHS,
abroad and in HSCNI supporting children, young people and professionals in
understanding and developing speech, language and communication skills.
Tara is passionate about supporting neuro-diverse children, young people and
adults and completed ADOS, Earlybird, Cygnet and Gestalt Language training.
She regularly delivers training to adults, parents and families with an Autism
diagnosis.
Tara is a member of the HCPC, RCSLT and ASLTIP. She is a fully licensed
SLT.

JODIE HERBERT

Speech and Language Therapist

Jodie qualified as a Speech and Language Therapist in 2019 from City University, London. Jodie works part-time for the NHS and has considerable experience working with pre-school children and families, supporting them through the Autism diagnosis pathway. Jodie has also worked within Specialist Resource Provisions, supporting young people to develop their speech, language and communication skills in both Primary and Secondary settings. Jodie's current job role within the NHS involves working as part of a multidisciplinary team alongside Developmental Paediatricians, and is trained to deliver the Autism Diagnosis Observation Scedule-2nd Edition (ADOS-2).
Jodie is passionate about empowering neuro-diverse children and their families to be able to expand their knowledge and skills and be able to communicate in both a meaningful and enjoyable way using a range of therapeutic techniques.

DR. CHRIS CLARKE

Educational Psychologist

Chris graduated with a doctoral in Educational, Child and Adolescent Psychology
from the Institute of Education, University College London in 2012. After completing
his doctorate, Chris worked at Kent County Council as an Educational Psychologist.
In this role, Chris was part of the crisis co-ordinators group managing resources for
schools who experienced a critical incident. This role also required support the Local
Inclusion Forum Teams, completing the psychological advice for Education, Health
and Care needs assessments, and working with schools and other professionals to
support young people in schools.

Chris left Kent County Council in 2018 and started working for a large multi-academy trust covering
the south and east of Kent. In this role, Chris is responsible for designing and
delivering a mental health strategy for all young people, as well as working with the
SENCOs to ensure children’s needs are identified and being supported through
targeted strategies and interventions. Chris is seconded one day a week to the
Institute of Education, University College London where he teaches lectures on
research methods, statistics, and supervises doctoral research projects. He has
published in a range of academic journals. Chris is a values-led psychologist,
working with schools to teach children inclusively and with compassion and to
support their developing social, academic and overall well-being.

Meet the Team: Lab Members