Compassion Paths
Independent specialist in sexual risk — evidence-based, compassionate, and grounded in 25 years of practice
At the heart of this work is a child whose safety, wellbeing, and future matter. I work with local authorities, statutory agencies, and private clients to provide rigorous, independent assessments, therapeutic interventions, and professional development - holding children's needs at the centre, and extending care to everyone in their lives whose understanding and change makes a difference.
About Ruth
"My practice is built on 25 years of specialist work in sexual risk, child protection, and criminal justice. Children's safety and wellbeing are the foundation of everything I do — and I have learned that meeting children's needs well requires attending carefully to the whole system around them: the adults who have caused harm, the protective parents and carers trying to keep them safe, and the practitioners navigating complexity under pressure. I work from the conviction that to understand how someone behaves, you have to understand what they are living within - the relationships, pressures, and structural realities that have shaped what felt possible for them. That systemic understanding is not separate from rigorous, evidence-based practice. It is what makes it honest."
Services
Assessments & Expert Reports
I provide independent, court-ready assessments and specialist reports for local authorities, statutory agencies, legal teams, and private clients. My assessments are grounded in children's needs - asking not only what risk is present, but what it means for a child's safety, stability, and relationships, and what conditions would need to change for that child to thrive. I cover sexual offending, harmful sexual behaviour in young people, and complex child protection proceedings, producing reports that are thorough, evidence-based, and written with clarity for professional and legal audiences.
Find out more about assessments →Therapeutic Interventions
I offer direct therapeutic social work with two distinct but connected groups: those who present a sexual risk, where the work is structured to support meaningful change and reduce the likelihood of further harm; and protective parents and carers, where the focus is on building the understanding, confidence, and relational capacity to keep a child safe. A child's safety depends on both - and I work with that in mind.
Find out more about therapeutic work →Training & Consultancy
I offer specialist training and consultancy to local authorities, multi-agency partnerships, and statutory organisations. Effective child protection in this area requires practitioners who understand not just risk, but the full human complexity behind it — the trauma, attachment, and relational dynamics that shape behaviour, and the care that families need to find their way through. I help teams develop the frameworks, critical awareness, and relational skills to hold that complexity with confidence and ethical clarity.
Find out more about training →Professional Supervision
I offer specialist supervision to professionals working with individuals who present a sexual risk and/or their families. This work asks practitioners to hold a great deal - the needs of children, the complexity of families, the weight of risk, and the demands of systems that are often under strain. Supervision is a space to think carefully, feel supported, and develop the clarity and confidence to keep children at the centre of the work.
Find out more about supervision →Working with complexity? Let's talk.
Whether you need an independent assessment, therapeutic support, professional supervision, or specialist training, I bring a trauma-informed, systems-aware approach to every piece of work. I work with local authorities, statutory agencies, and private clients across England.