On Harley Street, where some of the world’s leading medical specialists quietly shape the future of healthcare, Dr Patricia Britto has built a reputation for helping families understand the deeper story behind a child’s learning, behaviour and emotional wellbeing.
As an educational psychologist working with children and young people from early childhood through to young adulthood, her work goes far beyond traditional assessment. Through a thoughtful, culturally aware and deeply personalised approach, Dr Britto helps families uncover the psychological, developmental and environmental factors influencing a child’s ability to thrive, translating complex insights into practical strategies that support both wellbeing and long-term educational success.
We sat down with Dr. Britto to find out a little more.
For readers discovering your work for the first time, how would you describe your role as an education psychologist, and what distinguishes your approach on Harley Street?
I am an educational psychologist and founder of Mode Educational Psychology Service, based in Harley Street, where my work focuses on children and young people whose learning, mental health, and neurodiverse needs require thoughtful and deeply personalised support. My practice extends beyond the four walls of Harley Street because I strive to understand what is hindering a child or young person’s (ages 0-25) ability to access education and maintain positive mental well-being. My role is to explore what is happening and to reduce those barriers through psychological assessments that inform recommendations and appropriate provisions to meet their needs.
I’m the professional you listen to when you want informed, thoughtful, holistic, and culturally aware insight into children’s strengths (e.g., creativity) and needs (e.g., neurodiverse needs and mental health issues). I also provide expert understanding of the psychological impact of having a diagnosis of complex medical needs, for example, conditions such as cancer or sickle cell, and how these can affect a child’s mental wellbeing, confidence and self-esteem, and may lead to anxiety.
I support children experiencing changing or challenging family dynamics, including divorce and separation. I also work with children who are in care and those who have experienced early childhood trauma or continue to live with ongoing trauma, helping adults understand the psychological impact and how best to support their needs in educational settings. I also support children who are home educated because they are unable to attend school, ensuring their learning, developmental and psychological needs are fully understood and met.
Dr. Britto is an educational psychologist, mother, and the founder of Mode Educational Psychology Service
My approach is known for being personable, empathetic and intentionally bespoke. Families are listened to carefully, and children are engaged with respect and sensitivity. No two assessments, consultations or support plans are the same. I draw on current and emerging evidence-based research and translate psychological knowledge into practical strategies that work in the real environments where your children live and learn.
My work regularly takes me into schools and other educational settings because context matters. I observe children and young people in their natural learning environments, where expectations, sensory demands, peer dynamics and emotional pressures interact. I work individually with children and adolescents to gather their views and experiences because pupils’ views matter. When children and young people cannot easily express themselves through direct questioning, I use creative, structured psychological approaches, such as solution-focused reflection and family kinetic drawing, to understand their inner worlds and emotional narratives. These methods often reveal needs and stressors that formal testing alone cannot capture.
Therapeutic support is integrated within my educational psychology work. I use evidence-based approaches such as CBT-informed strategies, therapeutic play methods and structured reflective techniques to support anxiety, emotional regulation, resilience and engagement with learning. This is particularly important for children with neurodiverse needs, mental health needs and complex medical presentations where psychological impact is often overlooked.
My work is firmly rooted in promoting positive educational outcomes. It is also about identifying and addressing the full range of barriers that can negatively affect children and young people’s access to learning and to their wellbeing, whether psychological, developmental, emotional, or environmental. I provide supervision and consultation to headteachers and senior leadership teams, supporting schools to think critically and psychologically about all the layers surrounding pupils’ needs, inclusion and risks, and to respond with clarity and confidence.
Workshops are a central part of my model. I offer online workshops so that parents and educators can access psychologically informed guidance more widely. I also deliver in-person workshops in luxury settings. This choice is deliberate. When parents, educators and professionals feel physically comfortable and at ease, they are more open to reflection and more willing to receive new knowledge and practical tools. These environments support deeper engagement and encourage thoughtful adoption of evidence-based strategies to support children’s learning and mental wellbeing.
I offer a discreet concierge package for ultra-high-net-worth families that provides the same bespoke, evidence-based support and therapeutic approach I am known for, but with greater exclusivity and faster priority access. Families receive high-touch, flexible support delivered online or in person, with direct access to assessments, therapeutic interventions and strategic guidance, all with enhanced availability, continuity and confidentiality.
When you work with me, you are not left with vague reports or technical language; you receive clear, concise assessment insights, practical next steps, and regular, meaningful feedback on your child’s therapeutic support, so you always understand what is happening and why. I actively empower parents with knowledge, language, and strategy. Hence, they feel confident, informed, and equipped to advocate for their child, with a modern, responsive approach that goes far beyond traditional educational psychology.
What first drew you to educational psychology, and how has working within a Harley Street environment shaped your practice?
What first drew me to educational psychology was early, real-world exposure to children and families who needed specialised support. From the age of 15, after gaining experience with Sure Start (a previous government initiative), I had the opportunity to shadow a range of professionals, including a child psychologist who deeply inspired me. I saw firsthand how psychological insight could change a child’s trajectory, not just academically but emotionally and socially, and I knew this was the work I wanted to dedicate my career to. It felt both purposeful and practical, combining science, empathy and advocacy for children whose needs are often misunderstood or overlooked.
Dr. Britto values inclusivity, authenticity and freedom, believing that everyone deserves to be themselves without restrictions
From the beginning, I have felt strongly that educational psychology should not sit at a distance from families or be locked inside reports. My work has always focused on bringing evidence-based strategies to life so they can be used consistently across home and educational settings, creating real and lasting differences in children and young people’s day-to-day experiences.
Working within a Harley Street environment has shaped my practice by broadening, not narrowing, the range of clients I serve. It has enabled me to support families from a wide range of backgrounds, including ultra-high-net-worth families with children in independent schools and families whose children attend state schools. My approach is grounded in equity and inclusion. I care deeply about providing fair access to high-quality psychological insights and practical support, and I structure my services so they can be delivered with the same level of care, clarity, and impact across contexts.
It has also strengthened my commitment to discretion, cultural awareness and bespoke care. Families seek out my work because it is personal, responsive and modern in its thinking. I prioritise the accessibility of language, actionable guidance, and collaborative partnerships with parents and schools. Whether I am working with a family privately, supporting a state school pupil, or advising senior school leaders, the principle remains the same: every child deserves psychologically informed support and an equal opportunity to thrive.
In your experience, what are the most common challenges children and young people are facing in education today?
In my experience, the most common challenges children and young people are facing in education today sit across three overlapping areas: neurodiverse needs, mental health pressures, and specific learning and developmental differences. Increasingly, I see children whose needs are misunderstood not because support is unavailable, but because the profile is complex and requires more careful, individualised interpretation.
A significant group are children with neurodiverse needs, including autism and ADHD. These learners often experience mismatches between how they process information and how classrooms and traditional schooling are structured. Difficulties with attention, sensory processing, social communication, and executive functioning can affect not only attainment but also confidence and a sense of belonging in school.
Mental health difficulties are also increasingly common. Anxiety, chronic stress and exam-related pressure are affecting children at younger ages than before. Some children present as overwhelmed, perfectionistic or highly self-critical, while others disengage or shut down. I also work with many children with emotional regulation difficulties who struggle to manage strong feelings in learning and social environments.
Specific learning difficulties remain a major barrier when unidentified or poorly supported. Dyslexia and dyscalculia frequently affect progress, particularly when a child is academically able but underperforming, leading to frustration and reduced self-esteem. These learners are often misunderstood as careless or unmotivated, even though the difficulty is cognitive and processing-based.
I also see many children with additional developmental needs such as tics and speech and language difficulties, which can affect participation, peer relationships and classroom performance.
Another growing area is emotionally based school avoidance. These are children who are not refusing school out of defiance, but who genuinely cannot attend due to anxiety, distress or other mental health factors. Without careful psychological understanding, they are easily mislabelled. With the right formulation and support, however, reintegration and alternative pathways can be successfully built.
Overall, the pattern I see is not a lack of ability, but a gap between children’s needs and the environments expected to hold them. The task is to identify the true barriers and respond with psychologically informed, practical support.
Dr. Britto offers comprehensive, personalised and an ethical services
You work at the intersection of learning, behaviour and emotional well-being. How do you help families see the full picture beyond academic results?
Learning, behaviour and emotional well-being are deeply interconnected, and when one is under pressure, the others are inevitably affected. I help families look beyond grades and performance data to understand what is really driving a child’s engagement, motivation, and capacity to learn, so support is targeted at the causes, not just the outcomes.
One of the core principles I share is that emotional regulation strongly predicts academic success. When a child is overwhelmed, anxious or emotionally dysregulated, learning becomes harder to access, even in high-quality teaching environments. I often use Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to make this clear. If a child’s foundational needs, such as emotional safety, belonging, stability, and self-worth, are not secure, performance will not reflect true ability. When these foundations are strengthened, progress becomes both more achievable and more sustainable.
My assessments extend well beyond attainment and cognitive testing. I also examine communication and interaction needs, as well as physical and sensory needs, and how these influence day-to-day functioning in educational settings. This wider profile directly informs my recommendations, ensuring that strategies are practical, personalised and aligned with how a child actually processes information, communicates and copes.
For young people in Year 9 and above, I place particular emphasis on preparation for adulthood. This includes independence, self-advocacy, emotional resilience, decision-making, and realistic pathway planning. I support families and schools in thinking ahead, not only about exams but also about long-term wellbeing, capability, and life-readiness, because true success is measured by more than academic results alone.
Parents today face immense pressure to ‘get it right’. Where do you believe balance is most often lost?
Balance is most often lost when parents feel they must get everything right all the time. The pressure to optimise every decision, every school choice, every response and every outcome can create anxiety rather than confidence. In that state, parenting can become driven by fear of mistakes rather than by connection and responsiveness to the child in front of them.
I often remind parents that getting it wrong at times is not only expected but also human. What matters most is the repair. When parents are willing to acknowledge missteps, reconnect, and respond with openness and warmth, children and young people learn resilience, trust and emotional security. It is the quality of the repair, not the perfection of the parenting, that protects well-being and supports healthy development.
Bringing both serious commitment and relentless enthusiasm to her work, Dr. Britto believes that where families thrive, minds flourish
What do you wish more families and educators understood about children’s emotional development and learning differences?
What I offer is beyond parenting advice. I wish more families and educators understood that supporting children’s emotional development and learning differences goes beyond parenting style or classroom technique. The key is understanding each child or young person’s needs and actively meeting those needs in practical, consistent ways. When support is matched to need, children cope and learn better. When it is not, we often see distress, disengagement or behaviour that is misunderstood.
For example, when a child becomes anxious and dysregulated, the most important question is not “how do we stop this behaviour?” but “what is the function of this behaviour?” Dysregulation is often communication. It can signal overload, uncertainty, fear of failure, sensory stress or unmet emotional need. When adults shift from reaction to curiosity, their responses become more effective and more compassionate.
Children with communication or processing difficulties may not respond to standard instruction styles. They may need language to be simplified, instructions chunked, processing time extended, and expectations made more explicit. These are not special favours; they are effective adjustments that unlock understanding.
I encourage parents to think in the same way schools are encouraged to think, through reasonable adjustments and tailored strategies. When approaches at home and at school are aligned, children experience consistency and psychological safety. Small, thoughtful adaptations in how adults communicate, structure demands, and respond to distress can make a significant difference to wellbeing, behaviour and learning outcomes.
Finally, what do you hope families take away from the experience of working with you?
I hope families come away from working with me feeling truly heard, understood and supported. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to children’s learning, behaviour, or emotional well-being, and a core part of my work is ensuring each child’s unique profile is properly understood and matched with the right provision and strategies.
I want families to experience me as someone who listens carefully, cares deeply about their children, and takes their concerns seriously. I stand alongside parents and advocate strongly to ensure children’s needs are recognised and met appropriately. I fight their corner, using clear psychological evidence, practical recommendations and collaborative work with schools and professionals, so families feel informed, empowered and confident about the path forward.
All imagery credit: Mode Educational Psychology Service
