SELENOS

Our team

I’m a systems thinker with a heart for justice. After more than 40 years working in mental health and social care, I founded Selenos to do the work I knew needed to be OK—without compromise. Read more...

Justine Hey, Founder & Clinical Director

“I’m passionate about helping children feel safe, understood, and capable.” Read more...

Donna Podesta, Occupational Therapist

“Every child deserves to feel seen, heard, and supported.” Read more...

Pam Greenup, Therapeutic Counsellor and Systemic Practitioner

"Communication is the key to connection. Helping a child find their voice and confidence is one of the greatest privileges of my work." Read more...

Zein Pereira, Speech & Language Therapist

“Relationships have the power to transform lives – to help people find courage, self-belief, and hope.” Read more...

Phil Faulkner, Psychodynamic Organisational Therapist

“Helping children express overwhelming feelings through creativity is the most rewarding part of my work.” Read more...

Kelly King, Drama and Movement Therapist

“Communication is more than words—it’s the bridge to connection, identity, and telling our stories. Every child deserves to feel safe, valued, and empowered to reach their fullest potential.” Read more...

Laura Brown, Speech & Language Therapist

Recruitment

Curious, Compassionate, Collaborative? – You might belong at Selenos.

We’re not currently recruiting — but if you’re someone who brings curiosity, compassion, and clinical depth to your work with children in care, we’d still love to connect. Our team grows thoughtfully, and we’re always open to hearing from experienced practitioners who share our relational, trauma-informed approach. Feel free to get in touch if you’d like to explore how your skills might fit with our work.

Watch more on our YouTube channel Contact Us

Justine Hey, Founder & Clinical Director

I’m a systems thinker with a heart for justice. After more than 40 years working in mental health and social care, I founded Selenos to do the work I knew needed to be OK—without compromise. I’ve seen too many children fall through the cracks, and too many professionals held back by systems that don’t allow them to care in the way they want to. Selenos is my response: a place where we can work relationally, compassionately, and with purpose.

Throughout my career, I’ve supported children and adults in residential and community settings, often in moments of deep vulnerability. I’ve also been a foster carer, and that experience made the inequalities in our care systems painfully clear. Children who’ve experienced trauma and instability deserve more—not less—support. I created Selenos to offer that support, not just to children, but to the adults around them who are trying their best, often under immense pressure.

At Selenos, I lead a team of experts who understand the emotional complexity of children’s lives and the realities of frontline care. We work with local authorities, commissioners, and carers to build resilient networks around children—networks that reduce placement breakdowns, support carers through burnout, and help children feel safe enough to grow. Our work is grounded in trauma-informed practice, but it’s also deeply practical. We show up, we stick around, and we help people breathe again.

My vision is to create compassionate communities around care—places where professionals feel supported, families feel empowered, and children feel safe. I believe that when we invest in the people who care, we create the conditions for children to thrive. That’s what drives me every day, and that’s what Selenos is here to do.

Donna Podesta, Occupational Therapist

“I’m passionate about helping children feel safe, understood, and capable.”

Donna brings a wealth of expertise and a deeply compassionate approach to her work with children who have experienced early adversity. As an Occupational Therapist, she specialises in sensory integration, helping children build the foundations for regulation, confidence, and connection in their daily lives.

Her clinical focus lies in understanding how sensory processing and trauma interact to shape behaviour and participation. Using sensory integration principles, Donna explores how systems such as interoception, proprioception, and vestibular processing influence a child’s ability to regulate and engage. This insight allows her to design tailored strategies that support both the child and the adults around them.

Donna works closely with carers, educators, and professionals to embed trauma-informed, attuned responses into everyday routines. Her goal is to create environments where children feel safe enough to learn, play, and thrive.

As part of the multidisciplinary Selenos team, Donna values collaboration and reflection. Together, our clinicians combine their perspectives to build a holistic understanding of each child, ensuring that therapeutic care is integrated, consistent, and compassionate.

Pam Greenup, Therapeutic Counsellor and Systemic Practitioner

Pam Greenup brings over 50 years of experience working with children, young people, and adults who have faced trauma, abuse, and complex challenges. Her journey began in education, where she taught 11–18 year olds across a variety of schools. During those years, Pam saw how traditional systems often struggle to meet the needs of children who don’t fit the “one size fits all” approach, particularly those in care. Her teaching philosophy was always child-centred, with an open-door policy, but she knew that real change required more than what the classroom could offer.

Driven by a desire to make a deeper impact, Pam transitioned into therapeutic work after retiring from teaching. She became a Child and Young Person’s Therapist with a leading Welsh charity specialising in sexual abuse and trauma. Many of the young people she supported had been in care, and she also worked within a Young Offenders unit, where the majority of teenage boys shared similar experiences. These roles gave Pam a profound understanding of the challenges faced by vulnerable young people and the gaps in support systems.

Today, Pam is proud to bring her wealth of knowledge and compassion to her role at Selenos. For her, this work is more than a profession, it’s a lifelong commitment to helping others heal and thrive. She values the opportunity to share her experience with colleagues, mentor those entering the field, and collaborate with care workers to create meaningful change. Pam believes that every child and young person deserves to feel seen, heard, and supported, and she is dedicated to making that a reality.

Zein Pereira, Speech & Language Therapist

Zein believes that communication is deeply personal and fundamental to every aspect of life—it shapes our relationships, friendships, interactions, and learning. As a speech and language therapist, Zein considers it a privilege to work alongside children and young people, as well as their carers, to help them express their thoughts, feelings, needs, and wishes, and to witness their confidence grow.

With extensive experience in assessment, diagnosis, and intervention for children and young people with complex speech, language, and communication needs, Zein has worked across clinics, hospitals, homes, and schools. Her expertise includes supporting children in care and those in vulnerable contexts, where a sensitive, trauma-informed approach is essential. Zein’s main clinical focus is Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), and her career spans both NHS and independent practice.

Collaboration is at the heart of Zein’s approach. She works closely with carers, educational staff, and other professionals to ensure a full and up-to-date understanding of each child’s strengths, needs, and perspectives. This enables the creation of practical, tailored plans that help children develop their communication skills and thrive.

Zein is delighted to be part of the Selenos team, where the ethos supports a child-focused, reflective, and holistic approach. She values the collaborative and creative thinking that underpins the team’s work and appreciates the respectful atmosphere, regular peer supervision, team meetings, and training opportunities that make Selenos such a supportive environment.

Phil Faulkner, Psychodynamic Organisational Therapist

Phil Faulkner is a Psychodynamic Organisational Therapist with over three decades of experience supporting young people with complex needs and enabling those who care for them. His work is grounded in a deep belief in the transformational power of relationships to help individuals overcome extraordinary challenges, including abuse, trauma, mental health difficulties, and disability.

Throughout his career, Phil has worked alongside children, families, and professionals in highly complex circumstances. He is committed to creating safe, inclusive, and resilient therapeutic environments where young people can grow and thrive. His approach emphasises emotionally attuned, relationship-based practice, with a strong focus on connection, enablement, and fostering a shared commitment to listening and learning from experience.

Phil’s expertise spans specialist residential and educational settings, including leadership roles in therapeutic communities such as Thornby Hall in Northamptonshire. Now working as a freelance therapist and social worker, he supports young people and their networks to process the emotional and psychological impact of trauma and adversity. He uses creative tools such as play and storytelling to help individuals make sense of their experiences and build meaningful narratives that support recovery.

In addition to his therapeutic work, Phil is a student Specialist Mentor and brings a wealth of experience in promoting reflective practice through supervision and group facilitation. His clinical approach is complemented by a warm, relational style that values curiosity, compassion, and systemic thinking.

Phil is proud to be part of the Selenos team, where he collaborates with colleagues who share his commitment to depth, integrity at the relational heart of therapeutic practice. Together, they create spaces for robust reflection and thoughtful action, ensuring that those they support feel seen, heard, and understood.

Kelly King, Drama and Movement Therapist

Kelly King is a drama and movement specialist with more than twelve years’ experience supporting children and young people who have lived through trauma. An English graduate who began her career in youth work and in roles helping children remain in mainstream education, Kelly understands the power of story, both the ones we tell ourselves and the narratives we invite and co-create.

In practice, Kelly uses story-making and dramatic distance to explore emotionally difficult themes without overwhelming the child or risking retraumatisation. She knows many children process their experiences through play; where play has been constrained, she meets them with drama games, character creation, and imaginative play to build trusting, authentic relationships. Her approach is relational and creative, involving the body and imagination. She may invite movement, colour, sound, and archetypal tales or myths to help a child symbolically work through adversity in gentle, indirect ways.

Kelly works closely with the adults around a child—carers, educators, and professionals—to “join things up,” sharing and translating the child’s inner world so it can be understood in the now, rather than only through behaviour. In this way, she helps nurture healthier communication and connection, supporting the repair of attachment and the building of relationships that are resilient, compassionate, and responsive.

Laura Brown, Speech & Language Therapist

With over 23 years of experience as a Speech and Language Therapist, Laura Brown brings deep expertise and heartfelt dedication to her work with children and young people. Over the past six years, she has developed a specialist focus in supporting those with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs, working both within specialist educational provisions and with students outside of formal school settings.

Laura is deeply passionate about helping children and young people reach their fullest potential, especially those who have experienced Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). She understands that communication is not just about words—it’s about connection, identity, and being able to share one’s story. Her approach is rooted in trauma-informed practice, recognising that emotional regulation and relational safety are essential foundations for meaningful communication development.

Creating a safe, trusting, and nurturing environment is central to Laura’s work. She strives to ensure that every child feels seen, heard, and valued. By prioritising emotional connection and understanding, she supports children in building the confidence and skills they need to express themselves and engage meaningfully with family, peers, and professionals.