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Hesley Group provides consultant-led, in-house clinical leadership embedded across services.
Positive Behaviour Support sits at the centre of The H.E.S.L.E.Y. Integrated Model. Our consultant-led clinical leadership and multidisciplinary teams help ensure support remains evidence-informed, person-centred and focused on improving quality of life. Our integrated teams support assessment, formulation, Positive Behaviour Support, communication, sensory regulation, colleague coaching and regular review of outcomes over time.
This approach helps people experience increased wellbeing, improved communication, greater stability, and more meaningful participation in daily life.
Meet The Consultants
Dr Zoe Bradshaw
Consultant Clinical Psychologist,
Head of Applied Psychology
Erica Craig
Consultant Speech and Language Therapist,
Head of Allied Health Professions
Dr Maciej Danilewicz
Consultant Psychiatrist
& Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist
Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) is central to our approach. It is values driven, evidence-based and practical.
Focusing on people’s rights provides our ethical compass, guiding our approach to working with people. We understand that behaviours that challenge often arise from the interactions between a person’s needs, communication, sensory processing, emotional wellbeing and environment.
Through consultant-led clinical leadership and multidisciplinary working, we create capable environments that support stability, safety, quality of life and meaningful progress. PBS is a compassionate approach that helps people experience a good quality of life while reducing the risk of behaviours that challenge.
We understand that every person we support has distinctive requirements in terms of communication, sensory processing, emotional wellbeing and quality of life. That’s why there is a dedicated in-house team of therapists and clinicians employed by Hesley Group.
The Therapeutic Services Team
Hesley Group’s Therapeutic Services Team provides individual and group support for people, depending on what each person needs. They work closely with support teams, providing training, coaching, support and advice. Equipment ranging from communication resources and adapted cutlery to weighted blankets is also provided.
Applied Psychology
Our Applied Psychology Team includes psychologists, behaviour therapists and assistant practitioners who work alongside support teams to understand each person’s emotional, social and behavioural support needs.
The team works with people we support and their support teams to develop a Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) plan. This summarises and communicates the person’s preferences, strengths and needs in order to achieve the best quality of life possible and to support those around them.
Occupational Therapists (OTs) and Therapy Assistants
Our OTs and Therapy Assistants get to know each person through enjoying activities together and completing formal and informal assessments with the person and their family and carers. They collectively agree what the person wants or needs to do to add meaning to their life.
Many OTs within the team have further training in Ayres Sensory Integration. They assess how people use or rely on their sensory processing skills and how their environments may affect levels of calm or distress. They will then find the right support approaches, helping the person to regulate their own reactions and sensitivities.
This approach helps the person engage in daily activities more comfortably and confidently, and may support them to try new experiences.
Speech and Language Therapy (SLT)
The SLT Team supports each person’s speech, language and communication development. We value all types of interaction and the SLTs and Therapy Assistants aim to reduce barriers to communication by promoting an inclusive communication approach. This can include using different types of communication such as:
• Photographs and symbols
• Makaton Signing
• Accessible information or social stories
• Objects of reference
• Electronic approaches (such as iPads)
They might also support colleagues in using Intensive Interaction, an approach that takes the skills of the person and builds on them in a relaxed, enjoyable way.
Speech and Language Therapists also have a role in making sure that everyone has safe and enjoyable mealtimes. Each person who lives in a Hesley Group service has an assessment to see if they have any difficulties with eating and drinking (dysphagia). If someone needs extra support with their eating and drinking, the SLT puts guidelines in place to help them.