Karen Gonzalez

I am a BACP registered psychotherapist and I have experience working for charities, the NHS and privately, in the UK and abroad. I am also an accredited ontological coach.

I have experience working with a variety of issues, including anxiety, grief, depression, and low self-esteem. I also have experience with issues arising from sexual orientation, ADHD, cultural and identity issues, climate anxiety, motherhood, and chronic pain. I am passionate about helping people overcome their struggles. I believe that we all have the ability to grow, heal and thrive. Therapy is a step forward to a more fulfilling life.

I believe that the use of powerful questions can help us to better understand the way we see the world.   When we better understand ourselves, we can open ourselves up to new possibilities and make different choices to improve our quality of life. My hope is that we can create a supportive environment where we work as a team to understand any difficulties you may have, and together we build skills to help you gain insight into your challenges.

I believe that each individual has unique experiences, with unique needs and wants, and these can be tackled in different ways. I work primarily from an existential and ontological perspective, and I also combine phenomenological, psychodynamic and ACT (Acceptance Commitment Therapy) principles. I would be better described as an integrative counsellor; this means that I believe that there isn’t just one therapeutic approach to help you in every situation, and as such, I use several different approaches to help you explore and cope with your struggles. In my therapy, I aim to create a strong therapeutic relationship through validation, acknowledgement and empathy. I offer a non-judgemental space where you can feel safe so that healing can take place and new choices can be explored.

Training, qualifications & experience

I completed my undergraduate psychology degree in Mexico City. During my studies, I worked with young people in young offender institutions providing assessments and counselling to individuals with complex psychological trauma.

I wanted to deepen my understanding of the development of our behaviour and I decided to pursue an MSc in Neuroscience at King's College London with the goal of understanding more about how our brain works and how it influences what we do.

I then pursued a PhD at the University of Southampton that looked at brain differences between boys and girls with behavioural problems (conduct disorder and ADHD). Although I found the research fascinating, I felt that our humanity is too complex to be understood by only studying brain processes and needs to be complemented with an understanding of our subjective world experience. I wanted to understand what makes us human on a more subjective level.

Thus, I started my Doctorate in Counselling Psychology at the New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling. As part of this programme, I have learned to work as a psychotherapist using an existential-phenomenological perspective. My current research is on the impact of the climate crisis on our mental health, and specifically on women that chose not to have children because of climate change. The journey of women choosing how and whether to mother can feel exhausting. Those that have climate concerns can cause feelings of extreme anxiety and hopelessness about the future resulting in a choice not to mother.

My qualifications

Undergraduate degree in Psychology at Universidad Iberoamericana

Masters in Neuroscience - King's College London

PhD in neurodevelopmental psychology - University of Southampton

Ongoing Doctorate in Counselling psychology and psychotherapy - New school of psychotherapy and counselling and Middlesex university

Ontological Coaching- Newfield Network Institute

Once you are in contact, we will schedule an initial free telephone discussion. Typically this call lasts 30 minutes and we can discuss what brings you to therapy, as well as what your expectations are. This is an opportunity for us to get to know each other and assess your needs. You can also get a sense of how I work and how you feel about me. Research has shown that the type of therapy a person receives is less important than the relationship between client and therapist.

We will also discuss what type of session (face-to-face, online, short/long term, coaching) most suits you. This will take into account many different factors, and I will make suggestions, but this will always be a decision we make together.