Gemma Tolchard

Gemma is a Registered Social Worker with over 18 years’ experience across statutory social care, mental health, safeguarding and disability services.

She holds a BSc (Hons) in Social Work from the University of Northumbria and a Certificate in Advanced Continuing Education in Specialist Social Work with Adults (Teesside University). She has also completed formal Practice Teaching training through Durham University.

Gemma has operated at strategic service leadership level within Local Authority lifespan disability and mental health services, overseeing complex assessment pathways, strategic governance, safeguarding pathways and high-risk decision-making across adult and children’s systems. This background provides strong expertise in risk formulation, multi-agency working and defensible professional judgement.

Alongside her statutory leadership experience, Gemma is a Director of a neuro-affirmative alternative education provision, where she leads on governance, safeguarding and practice development.

Gemma is trained in ADOS-2 (Modules Toddler–4), ADI-R, ACIA and DIVA-5, and works in line with NICE guidance and multidisciplinary diagnostic frameworks. Her work is formulation-led and neuro-affirmative, with particular expertise in differentiating trauma-related presentations from neurodevelopmental profiles. She has extensive experience assessing high-masking and complex presentations across the lifespan, including individuals whose needs may previously have been misunderstood or overlooked.

She brings a calm, analytical and ethically grounded approach to assessment, ensuring each individual is understood within the full context of their developmental history and lived experience”