Suzanne Hall

“Giving children the best start in life underpins much of my philosophy. Having seen the dark side of families where abuse and violence occurs, giving parents skills in safe parenting is my passion”.

Suzanne worked for Child, Youth and Family services for 14 years prior to Hall McMaster & Associates where she has worked since. Her practice includes provision of psychological assessments and interventions with parents and children where abuse, neglect, trauma, emotional and behavioural adjustment issues are present.

She was instrumental in the development and implementation of the “Parentworks” program:  an intervention specifically for parents who have had their children removed by child protection services and who are working towards the return of their children.

Suzanne has acted as clinical supervision of the joint Police and Child Protection Services Forensic Interviewing Unit for child witnesses. She is an accredited expert witness in cases of child sexual abuse in both criminal and family courts.

Suzanne currently works part-time as Clinic Director for the post graduate Child and Family Psychology Diploma at the University of Canterbury. She has provided seminars and workshops for undergraduate and post graduate students at the University of Canterbury. These have included the Forensic Psychology and “Children under Stress” papers and the postgraduate Child and Family Psychology course. They have focused on how to obtain accurate reliable information from children in a developmentally appropriate manner.

She is also an accredited trainer for Triple P International and undertaken extensive parenting training in Canada, the UK, and New Zealand. She actively supervises psychologists working in the child and family area, based in education, residential and community settings. She has also undertaken in depth assessments of anxiety and depression with children and adolescents on the ‘Friends’ program. These assessments follow a screening which identifies those showing risk factors after implementation of a cognitive and behavioural intervention program in schools.