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Biography

She completed a PhD exploring children’s cognitions surrounding inter-parental conflict in 2010 and since then has worked clinically in child and adolescent services. She is passionate about offering evidence-based treatment to young people and families and have dedicated her career, to date, to developing specialist knowledge and skills in working with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Related Disorders. She is a BABCP accredited practitioner ensuring that she maintains high standards of delivering Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and has also completed a number of further training courses in parenting practice and systemic ways of working, enhancing my ability to work alongside families. She completed her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology in 2015, supervised by Professor Paul Salkovskis, and since training she has been fortunate enough to work with Paul and a number of leading experts in the field of OCD and child anxiety disorders, including Dr Victoria Bream, Professor Cathy Creswell and Professor Polly Waite. She has worked at the National and Specialist CAMHS OCD, BDD & RD Team for 4 years on and off and now holds a full-time position with the team, working with leading practitioners in the field of paediatric OCD and related disorders. Her role involves working directly with children experiencing severe OCD, and their families, offering a manualised CBT approach. Many of the young people she sees have co-morbid neurodevelopmental conditions which has taught her to develop skills in adapting treatment to meet diverse needs. She also offers supervision to colleagues and teaching and training to clinicians from CAMH services across the country, alongside completing and supervising research in this field. Her experience to date, has taught her how varied and impairing OCD can be for young people and families. She is committed to offering gold standard treatment, continuing her own professional development and sharing skills and knowledge to improve access to evidence-based care and support young people to achieve recovery from their OCD and related disorders.

 

Area of Expertise, Specialism or Research Interests

Since qualifying Sasha has worked in specialist CBT clinics supporting young people and adults to overcome OCD, anxiety disorders and depression. She is especially interested in paediatric OCD and emetophobia, fear of vomiting, and is involved in a number of research projects that seek to improve treatment and enhance access to evidence-based therapy for young people with these diagnoses.

 

Education and Training

Further Education:

2010-2012 DClin Psych at University of Bath

2007-2010 PhD Developmental Psychotherapy at the University of Cardiff

2006-2007 MSc Social Science Research Methods at the University of Cardiff

2003-2006 BSc Joint Hons Psychology and Criminology

 

Training:

2008 Incredible Years Basic Parent Group Leader Program Professor Judy Hutchinson (Swansea)    Incredible Years ADVANCE Parent Group Leader Program, Professor Judy Hutchinson  (Bangor University) 

2011 'Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule' observation training (Haverford West) 

'Evidence Based Approach to Mental Health Problems in Brain Injured or Neuro Developmentally Disordered Children’(Cardiff)

2012 CBTe for Anorexia Nervosa, Professor Chris Fairburn,

2013 Treating Complex Trauma and Dissociation Jacqui Dillon & Eleanor Longden

2015 Using CBT to treat BDD In adolescents N&S OCD, BDD and related disorders team

2016 Transference Focused Psychotherapy Professor Otto Kernberg

2016 Level 1 Developmental Dyadic Psychotherapy Professor Dan Hughes

2017 Adapting CBT to treat anxiety disorders in young children Professor Helene Loxton

2018 CFT for young people Katherine Lucre

2018 Suicide Prevention Training Jason Wear

2018 Clinical Supervisor Training

2019 How to be an Inspiring Trainer

2019 CBT for PTSD Martina Muller

 

Publication:

Peer reviewed publications:

Creswell, C., Walters, S., Halldorsson, B., & Lawrence, P. J. (2021). Anxiety disorders in children and young people. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology.

Barton, J. A. L., Salkovskis, P., & Walters, S. (2021). Investigating the diagnostic specificity of attachment and relational needs in hoarding disorder. Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, 30.

Walters, S. L., Salkovskis, P.S., Halldorsson, B., & Elgie, S. (2020). A preliminary investigation of excessive reassurance-seeking and attachment related behaviours in adolescents with OCD. Journal of Obsessive Compulsive and Related Disorders 24, 1-7.

Walters, S., Loades, M., & Russell, A. (2016). A systematic review of effective modifications to cognitive behavioural therapy for young people with autism spectrum disorders. Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 3(2), 137–153.

Walters, S., Hogg, L. & Gillmore, C. (2015). Evaluation of a tailored training programme to improve the assessment

and treatment of trauma in an early intervention in psychosis service. Psychosis: Psychological, Social and

Integrative Approaches, 8, 226–237 Cowdrey, F.A. & Walters, S.L. (2013). Salvatore R.Maddi: Hardiness, turning stressful circumstances into resilient growth. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 8, 265­267.

 

PhD Thesis:

Walters, S. (2010). Inter­parental Conflict and Children's Externalising Problems during the transition from Primary to Secondary School.

 

Book Chapters: 

Shelton, K.H, Walters, S. & Harold, G.T. (2008). Children’s appraisals of relationships in stepfamiliesand first families: Comparative links with externalizing and internalizing  behaviors. In J. Pryor (Ed). The International Handbook of Stepfamilies. Policy and Practice in Legal,  Research, and Clinical Environments (pp 250­277). Wiley.