Poplar House
About Me
Hello, I'm Karen Wright
I have been running my private practice since 2014 in addition to my NHS role as a Highly Specialist Systemic Psychotherapist. I undertake psychotherapy with private clients who self-refer but also receive referrals from solicitors for court-appointed assessments and therapy, and referrals from social services and other agencies. I also provide clinical supervision to other clinicians including other family therapists, clinical psychologists and trainees at various levels of training.
I have over twenty years of experience working within CAMHS (specialist Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services) and working in adult NHS services working with people with eating disorders and military veterans.
I have extensive experience lecturing in systemic family therapy, and I was previously the Programme Lead for the qualifying MSc course in Systemic Family & Couple Psychotherapy run by GMMH NHS Foundation Trust and validated by the University of Manchester.
I have also held previous NHS systemic leadership roles as Lead for Family Therapy across an NHS CAMHS directorate and The Priory. I gained an MSc in Systemic Psychotherapy and Psychiatric Social Work. I also hold a post-graduate certificate in Systemic Supervision, and I am an Approved Systemic Supervisor with AFT.
Before systemic psychotherapy training, I worked as a social worker in both statutory services including child protection and looked-after children, and I also worked in the voluntary sector working with young people misusing substances and LGBT homeless young people. My initial professional training was as a Registered General Nurse (RGN) and have been working in the health service for over thirty years.
Professional qualifications, registration and training
I am a fully qualified Systemic Family & Couple Psychotherapist and Social Worker. I am a member of the UKCP (UK Council for Psychotherapy) and AFT (Association for Family Therapy & Systemic Practice). I am on the UKCP register of UK Psychotherapists listed under the following categories: Systemic Family & Couple Psychotherapist, Family Therapist, Systemic Psychotherapist and Family and Systemic Psychotherapist. I am also on their "Children and Young People" register as a psychotherapist with specialist skills, training and experience in working with children and young people. I am also registered with Social Work England.
Professional Qualifications
Additional Clinical Training Completed
Get in touch
Frequently asked questions
Psychotherapists undergo a four-year, postgraduate, in-depth and experiential training in how to work with a variety of people with a wide range of emotional distress, mental health issues and difficulties. Psychotherapists are trained in one or more psychotherapy approaches. (UKCP)
I am registered with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) and therefore bound by their guidelines as well as my professional bodies (UKCP & AFT). I have a separate privacy policy which I will need you to read and agree to at the start of therapy. The content of our sessions is confidential but there are limits of confidentiality to ensure clients safety and I will discuss these with you at our first meeting. If I work with family members/individuals separately and together I will not share information with you without gaining consent first. Parents need to appreciate that their child(ren) may need a confidential space where information is not shared, and this is similar for couples.
To ensure your safety, monitor my practice and in line with my professional registration, I receive regular clinical supervision but no identifying information about clients is shared with my supervisors.
I am a member of the UKCP (UK Council for Psychotherapy) and AFT (Association for Family Therapy & Systemic Practice). The high standards of the UKCP register are accredited by the Professional Standards Authority. I am bound by these professional bodies' codes of ethics and practice and subject to their complaint procedures. This includes adhering to their strict standards of clinical supervision of my practice and continued professional development.
The frequency and duration of the therapy will depend on the type of difficulty or problem you are facing and therefore is difficult to anticipate. Generally, I don't see people every week on a long-term basis as it is beneficial for you to have time in between appointments to practice being different with one another.
I may offer weekly or fortnightly sessions to start with to initiate some changes, then sessions may become less frequent. Some people prefer to work with an open contract, whereas others prefer to work with a fixed number of sessions, followed by a review, this is your choice.
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