JIM WALKER - CURRICULUM VITAE
Professional Profile
I carry out expert witness Risk Assessments in Family Court Proceedings. For four years I was a key member of the Clermont Child Protection Unit in Brighton. Since 2006 I have been practicing independently, receiving regular commissions to undertake assessments.
Being an expert social worker, psychotherapist and play therapist allows me to adopt a holistic view of my client’s situation. I am an expert on trauma and attachment theory, having had a number of articles published around the subjects.
My wealth of experience of complex child protection cases, along with my unique combination of skills, makes me a perfect choice for assessment assignments.
Professional Qualifications
1980 Certificate of Qualification in Social Work, South Bank University.
1986 Approved Social Worker under the Mental Health Act, CCETSW.
1990 Dip in Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychotherapy and Social Studies.
1999 P.G. Cert in Adolescent Mental Health, Tavistock Clinic.
2002 MA, Clinical Psychoanalysis, The Guild of Psychotherapists/ University of Hertfordshire.
2002 Dip in Play Therapy, Rusland College.
2005 EMDR Training, Level 2.
2007 EFT Training, Level 2.
Assessment experience
I have expert knowledge and Assessment Practice experience in the following areas:
- Risk and parenting assessments in public law proceedings - care proceedings.
- Medico-legal assessments in child care and psychiatric situations.
- Anger management.
- Assessment of risk of sexual offending by adults and adolescents.
- Family assessments of kinship care in the context of care proceedings.
- Family assessments in private law cases - residence and contact disputes.
- Assessment of suitability for psychotherapy in adults and children, including capacity to change.
- Assessment of the attachment relationship between children and their carers.
Risk Assessments
As a key member of the Clermont Child Protection Unit - a recognised provider of specialist risk assessments for the Courts and Child Protection Procedures – from 2002 to 2006, I carried out a large number of complex and wide-ranging risk assessments in child protection cases.
I have considerable assessment experience involving substance abuse, domestic violence and learning difficulties. I have a particular interest in risk assessments following injuries to babies or children.
I am trained in the administration and coding of the Adult Attachment Interview and have wide experience in its use.
PSYCHIATRIC EXPERIENCE
I became an Approved Social Worker under the Mental Health Act in 1986. I have worked in a psychiatric hospital and a therapeutic community.
SEXUAL ABUSE
I have an MA in Clinical Psychoanalysis, awarded by the Guild of Psychotherapists and the University of Hertfordshire. A key part of the course, entailed carrying out a wide-ranging study on men who sexually offend against children.
Whilst at the Clermont Child Protection Unit, I facilitated a Protective Parenting Group for women whose partners posed a risk of sexual offending. I am practiced in the area of sexual abuse, having assessed a number of men and adolescents with a history of sexual offending.
ANGER MANAGEMENT
I am an experienced and knowledgeable anger management assessor. My approach is to understand what feelings trigger the anger - such as, feeling humiliated - in my client, and then to see, if they can learn to manage the trigger feelings, without resorting to aggression or violence.
CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS
I am proficiently trained in Narrative Story Stems and am an experienced assessor of both children and adolescents. I have extensive knowledge of attachment patterns in children and have experience of observing contact between children and their birth parents.
PARENT-INFANT PSYCHOTHERAPY
I have received expert training at the renowned Anna Freud Centre in parent-infant psychotherapy. This allows me to work therapeutically with mothers and their babies, particularly when they are facing a particular risk, such as issues of attachment. My training focused on assessing the quality and potential for change of parent-infant relationships.
Therapeutic work with adults
Fifteen years experience as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist - from my private practice in Lewes - has allowed me a broad experience of working with a range of clients and various areas of concern, such as working with trauma, dissociative states and post traumatic stress disorders.
Social work experience
I have considerable experience as a social worker, including working in a psychiatric hospital, a child and adolescent mental health service, a GP practice and an area office. I became an approved social worker under the Mental Health Act in 1986.
Lecturing and Training
2003-Present Associate Lecturer, the University of Sussex, Social Work.
I have been an Associate Tutor at Sussex University since 2003. I have taught on a number of courses including the PQ1 programmes and the Child Care Award.
1993-2001 Crawley College, Therapeutic Counselling.
I taught on the Counselling Diploma at Crawley College for eight years. My role included lecturing on counselling theory, facilitating groupwork experiences and tutoring the students.
Professional Affiliations
The College of Psychoanalysts, UK.
General Social Care Council, registered independent social worker. Ref: 1030243.
Published Work
The Relevance of Shame in Child Protection Work.
Journal of Social Work Practice, Vol. 25, No: 3, September 2011.
The Relevance of the Concept of Dissociation in Child Protection.
Journal of Social Work Practice, Vol. 23, No.1, 2009
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*this is an electronic version of an article published in the Journal of Social Work Practice'. The Journal is available online at www.tandfonline.com
A Guide to the Importance of Communication within Social Work.
www.ccinform.co.uk, 2008.
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Guide to Unresolved Loss and Trauma in Parents.
www.ccinform.co.uk, 2008.
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The Use of Attachment Theory in Adoption and Fostering.
BAAF, Vol. 32, No. 1, 2008.
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Communication and Social Work from an Attachment Perspective,
Journal of Social Work Practice, Vol. 22, No. 1, 2008.
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*this is an electronic version of an article published in the Journal of Social Work Practice'. The Journal is available online at www.tandfonline.com
Unresolved Trauma in Parents and the Implications in Terms of Child Protection
Journal of Social Work Practice, Vol. 21, No. 1, 2007.
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*this is an electronic version of an article published in the Journal of Social Work Practice'. The Journal is available online at www.tandfonline.com
The Child as a Transference Object
Journal of Social Work Practice, Vol 6, No 1, 1992.