Dr. Sarah Howley

BA, MA, PhD, DClinPsy, PGDip Paed. Neuropsychol.

Qualifications & Memberships

Dr. Sarah Howley is a Clinical Psychologist and Paediatric Neuropsychologist with 10 years’ experience working for the NHS in the UK, and more recently, for organisations in Ireland providing services to both the HSE and Tusla.  

Dr. Howley is a practitioner member of the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI – Registration No. M10263) and is also registered as a Practitioner Psychologist (Clinical Psychologist).  She also maintains registration with Health and Care Professions Council in the UK (HCPC – Reg. No. PYL30179).

Prior to training as a clinical psychologist, Dr Howley completed a research PhD in developmental neuropsychology and child mental health. This was part of a national project by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and Trinity College Dublin investigating neuropsychological functioning and mental health in children with a neurogenetic condition.

UK Career

Dr. Howley qualified as a Clinical Psychologist from University College London in 2013 and worked within community-based mental health and disability services for children in the Greater London area before taking up senior positions in specialist Neurodisability and Neuropsychology services in Great Ormond Street Hospital, London (GOSH).  Working in GOSH, Dr. Howley specialised in working with children and young people presenting with complex neurological and neurodevelopmental conditions while working in both the Paediatric Neuro-oncology Service and Children’s Epilepsy Surgery Service. She also worked for the Social Communication Disorders Clinic where she was part of a team offering second opinion assessments in respect of Autism Spectrum Diagnoses (ASD) and providing interventions to children with complex neurological conditions in addition to autism.

In addition to her NHS work, Dr. Howley worked privately in the London area with both children and adults with acquired brain injuries and/or histories of developmental trauma.

Current Focus

Since returning to Ireland in 2019, Dr. Howley has worked in designated centres providing services for children, young people, and adults with Disability and to children and young people in care.  She currently works in a Children’s Disability Network Team as a Senior Clinical Psychologist.

Dr. Howley’s specialism is in Clinical Paediatric Neuropsychology – the understanding of brain-behaviour relationships and mental health in children and young people who may have atypical brain development for any of the following reasons:  

• Neurological conditions such as epilepsy, early acquired brain injuries (e.g. accident, illness)

• Prenatal exposure to substances

• Extreme prematurity

• Genetic conditions

• Neurodevelopmental conditions such as intellectual disability and autism.

Dr. Howley also has a particular interest in neurodevelopmental difficulties associated with adverse childhood experiences i.e. children who have experienced trauma and/or disrupted attachment in early life and has worked with this group of children in both UK and Irish contexts, providing specialist neuropsychological assessment and interventions to children within school, residential and special care settings.

To learn more about the services Dr. Howley provides, please click here.

If you would like to to get in touch, please click here.