Dr. Kate Balla

Kate has worked within psychology services across the NHS and third sector for 11 years. She has experience of working with people across the life span presenting with a range of difficulties.

Since qualifying as a clinical psychologist in 2015, Kate has worked with people with learning disabilities and people affected by a range of neurological conditions (both acute and progressive conditions). Kate’s role within learning disability services includes complex assessments of learning disability, capacity assessments and dementia assessments. Kate’s previous role within a Community Neurorehabilitation Team involved both complex neuropsychological assessment as well as therapeutic assessment and intervention for people with a range of neurological conditions. Both roles since qualification have built Kate’s experience in working with complex systems including families, professionals (within the MDT and paid carers) and other agencies. Kate’s therapeutic work is informed from the psychological formulation of the presenting difficulties, and she uses a range of therapeutic models including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Dialectic Behaviour Therapy, Narrative Therapy and Behavioural Therapy. She values a person-centred approach to all of her work.

Kate obtained a First Class Honours degree in Psychology from the University of East London. It was during this time that Kate’s passion for neuropsychology grew. Her dissertation focussed on a single case analysis of memory in a person diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy. Kate completed her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the University of Surrey. She completed the core placements of Adult Mental Health, Learning Disability, Older Adults, Children (this included core CAMHS and CAMHS-LD) and a specialist placement in Paediatric Neurorehabilitation at a residential service. For her doctoral thesis, Kate investigated memory deficits in people with a diagnosis of OCD whilst controlling for state and trait anxiety. Kate has published research that explored the experiences of young people with neurodevelopmental conditions transitioning between children and adult health care services.

Kate runs a clinic in Esher on a Wednesday and Thursday evening and Saturday morning. Appointments can also be offered from other locations in the South East including Motspur Park and Chessington. At these clinics, Kate offers specialist cognitive assessments. Some appointments can also be offered online via Zoom.

Kate is a registered Practitioner Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC PYL32811).