Psychology Service Scotland

Dr Lucie MacKinlay

Chartered Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychologist

I am a chartered Clinical Psychologist who has been working for the NHS since 2003. The majority of my work focuses on the assessment and treatment of children, adolescents and their families.

I currently work within a council setting specifically with looked after children and young people. I provide a consultation service to social workers and other professionals and offer guidance and support to foster carers and residential workers.

Predominantly, I provide advanced psychological assessment for referred young people and/or families. Assessment may utilise psychological and neuropsychological tests, self-report measures, rating scales, observations, and interviews with the young person and others involved in their care. Assessments of parenting ability, individual mental health difficulties, and attachment style are commonplace. These assessments can be used in future planning or by the court/ children's panel. Additionally, I provide detailed risk assessments of those children and young people presenting highly complex and distressing difficulties e.g. suicidal behaviour, self-harm, risk to others, offending behaviour etc.

I am a member of the British Psychological Society, the Division of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Child Psychology and I am registered with the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC).

Family Law Expert Witness

Assessments in:

  • Parenting ability
  • Family relationship issues
  • Harm to children
  • Trauma, abuse and neglect issues
  • Impact of abuse and neglect
  • Behavioural difficulties
  • Anti-social behaviour
  • Anger management
  • Young offenders
  • Attachment issues, separation, loss and sibling relationships.
  • Needs of parents and/or children (therapy, parenting training etc).
  • Prospect of change - and what is necessary to promote it
  • Placement needs
  • Sibling assessments (together/ apart)
  • Contact issues
  • Psychological trauma
  • Mental health and impact
  • Ability to protect a child
  • Psychological state assessments
  • Assessment of readiness for and prognosis of therapy
  • Risk assessment
  • Domestic violence
  • Personality assessments
  • Risk of suicide/self-harm
  • Formal cognitive testing - IQ, memory
  • Neuropsychological assessment of executive functioning

Please note that this list is not exhaustive. Please contact me to discuss your requirements.