Lucy McDonald

Lucy is a child and adolescent psychotherapist who supports children, young people and their families with a wide range of difficulties, including anxiety, OCD, low mood, trauma, emotional regulation, and the challenges that come with complex illness.

Lucy believes that change happens through relationship, and she brings warmth, compassion and steady presence to her work with every child and family. Her integrative approach is grounded in psychodynamic and attachment-based practice and informed by neuroscience. Alongside this, she draws on evidence-based approaches that help  loosen the grip of OCD, support parents to respond to their child's worries in ways that build confidence, and teach young people practical skills for managing big emotions and moments of distress. A foundation in art therapy allows her to work creatively with children who find it hard to put their feelings into words. Her practice is trauma-informed and paced to each child's needs rather than a fixed protocol.

Lucy sees parents as central to a child's wellbeing and works closely with them, offering practical support with day-to-day challenges as well as space to process the emotional impact of caring for a struggling child.

She has a particular specialist interest in neuroimmune conditions such as PANS and PANDAS, recognising that some mental health symptoms can have underlying biological drivers. She hosts the PANS PANDAS Stories podcast, helped establish the All-Party Parliamentary Group on PANS and PANDAS, and is Co-Founder of The MIND Global Council, an international alliance working to improve mental health care in neuroimmune illness.