Troubles before the Court

If our universal goal is to make sense of difficult and often traumatic situations and challenging behaviours for troubled children and young people, then we must get better at assessments and reports – Shona Innes

Underpinned by practical and realistic recommendations that both highlight the best possible outcome for young people at risk, and also take into account the multi-faceted nature of the multiple systems in which they must be delivered, Shona Innes is a determined advocate for meaningful assessment and reporting without undue labelling..

Shona Innes Psychology delivers detailed, concise assessments of complex cases for the courts and legal teams who represent a broad range of complex children’s issues. These include cases where children are at risk in domestic situations or are themselves the perpetrators or victims of crimes. Working directly with the young people and their cares, Shona is able to gently open difficult conversations to carefully elicit information to get a bigger and clearer picture of circumstances.

While our assessment and reporting is succinct, our scope of research is broad and draws from multiple sources including talking with and observing the the young person, establishing parental and family circumstances, considering friendship networks, schooling and offending history, to determine patterns and drivers of behaviours. Cognitive testing, published risk assessment tools and mental health screening can assist in our formulation.

Shona Innes Psychology’s reporting is pragmatic. It is focussed on achieving the best possible outcomes while being inclusive of the limitations and complexities of often competing priorities within a network of systems and care agencies.

During her more than 10 years at Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre, Shona Innes provided assessment for young offenders, intervention and advice for the Centre while providing professional direction and guidance for Regional Youth Justice staff and the Youth Parole Board. She has also contributed to Government policy and procedures for responding to and managing sexual and violent behaviour in vulnerable young offenders and was invited to write a submission for a national investigation on specialised therapeutic services for children with sexualised or sexual offending behaviours.

Shona has provide numerous expert reports and is called upon the court in cases involving young people at risk.

Contact Shona Innes Psychology by phone 0400 150 106 or email admin@shonainnes.com for more information about assessment, reporting, treatment and consulting.