Welcome to Aspire

Dr Chantal Basson (she/hers) is a Senior Clinical Psychologist with 15 years post qualified experience, specialising in child and adolescent mental health in neurodiverse families. She is originally from the UK where she worked in the National Health Service, as a Consultant Child Psychologist, in a Senior Leadership role and as a clinical lecturer for Doctoral Students at The University of Manchester as well as teaching at multiple universities and across a number of NHS Trusts during her career to date. She has travelled extensively, as well as lived and worked in a variety of multi-cultural communities. 

Dr Basson uses a compassion focused community approach. In addition to her Clinical Psychology doctorate, she is a qualified Family Therapy Systemic Practitioner, accredited by The Association of Family Therapy. With this training, Dr Basson has specialised in helping families with children who have Intellectual Disabilities and / or Autism Spectrum Conditions. She also works in this way with long term childhood conditions such as diabetes, families who are struggling to get along and young people with medically unexplained physical symptoms. She also has experience working with Looked After Children in care, neuropsychological rehabilitation, Cognitive Analytic Therapy informed approaches, chronic pain, and psychosomatic presentations. As well as working with people with neurodiversity and physical disabilities, Dr Basson practices from a position of lived experience having lived with a hearing impairment since her childhood. This gives her a unique perspective when understanding the impact of disabilities on young people, adults and families. 

She has a number of specialist skills and training for assessment, formulation and intervention in her area of expertise including:

• EMDR Level 1 trained
• Child EMDR trained
• Cognitive Analytic Therapy informed approach 
• Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) (Level 1)      trained
• Specialism in differential diagnosis for Complex      Autism and Attachment presentations
• Autism and Suicide Risk
• Attachment-based Positive Behavioural Support      approach 
• Psychodynamic and systemic understandings of trauma      in order to help families both understand and manage behavioural      difficulties in children
• Low mood and anxiety 
• Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-II)      assessor 

During her career, Dr Basson has developed a systemic assessment and formulation method to understand and work with teams when there are complex cases, where teamwork is key to help a young person thrive or when there are team relationship difficulties. She has been working with this method for over 16 years and used this to help teams in residential homes, fostering and adoption settings, mental health teams and teams within large organisations. Dr Basson has also provided training to large numbers of doctoral students, Human Resource Managers and Organisational Development teams on this topic. 

Dr Basson has worked for 10 years in a Consultant Clinical Psychology Leadership role within the NHS. She has specialised in Leadership Development in others and has helped numerous health and social care professionals develop their leadership roles and identities. She has helped guide mental health and support services in an effective organizational direction and uses clinical and organizational psychology theory and practice to bring out the best in aspiring leaders. Dr Basson has also specialized in compassionate methods of helping health care organisations develop deeper understandings within and about their organisations and how leadership effects their care outcomes, vision and trajectory. 

As part of this work, Dr Basson has developed a method to understand and work with teams when there are team relationship difficulties and / or complex cases where teamwork is key to help a young person thrive. She has been developing and working with this method for over 16 years and used this to help teams in residential homes, fostering and adoption settings, mental health teams and large organisations. Dr Basson has also provided training to large numbers of doctoral students, Human Resource Managers and Organisational Development teams on this topic. 

Dr Basson has conducted or supervised clinical research on resilience in foster carers and in staff teams/support workers, depression and chronic pain, and bullying and eating disorders.

Dr Basson has featured in multiple digital and written media promoting mental health and wellbeing in children and families. She has been instrumental in the system wide mental health response to the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic for children across Greater Manchester.