Therapist in Cumbernauld, Airdrie and Online

About Me

I'm Karen, a psychotherapist and CBT therapist, and the person behind Strawberry Moon Healing Therapies.

Like many therapists, my route into this work wasn't a straight line.

Before becoming a therapist, I spent more than 20 years working in the corporate world. Alongside work came ordinary adult life - raising a family, juggling responsibilities and experiencing the relationships, changes, losses and challenges that life inevitably brings.

That experience has shaped the therapist I am today.

I understand that life rarely fits neatly into boxes. We can be capable and successful in one part of our lives while struggling enormously somewhere else.

Sometimes we can understand intellectually why we feel or behave a certain way and still find ourselves unable to change it.

And sometimes we simply become tired of coping.

Karen, Therapist in Cumbernauld, Airdrie and Online sitting on a rock with her boxer dog, Freya

Therapy room in with a couch and two small coffee tables

How I Work

Although I am trained in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), I don't believe therapy should feel clinical or formulaic.

CBT gives us a useful framework for understanding how our experiences, thoughts, emotions and behaviours can become connected. But I'm interested in more than symptoms.

I want to understand you.

That means being curious about your experiences, relationships, beliefs, coping strategies and the things that have shaped the way you see yourself and the world around you.

Our work is collaborative.

I won't sit silently while you do all the talking, and I'm unlikely to spend every session giving you worksheets either.

There may be times when I gently challenge something, offer another perspective or help you recognise a pattern that's difficult to see when you're living inside it.

There will also be times when what you most need is simply to be heard.

Professional experience

Alongside my private practice, I have several years' experience supporting people through some extremely difficult periods in their lives.

My experience has included bereavement support and volunteering within a suicide-prevention service, working alongside people affected by grief, trauma, suicidal thoughts and significant emotional distress.

Those experiences have contributed enormously to the therapist I am today and to my ability to stay alongside people when life feels particularly difficult.

In private practice, I work with adults experiencing a broad range of emotional and psychological difficulties.

I undertake regular clinical supervision, continuing professional development and reflective practice as an essential part of working safely, ethically and effectively.

I am a Registered Member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and I am also a member of Counselling & Psychotherapy in Scotland (COSCA).

And outside the therapy room

I'm also a mum, someone who had an entirely different career before becoming a therapist, and someone who understands that real life can be complicated, messy and occasionally exhausting.

If you've noticed the Boxer appearing with me in some of my photographs, that's Freya.

She isn't part of the therapy team - although she would probably argue otherwise.

Strawberry Moon

I chose the name Strawberry Moon because it represents something that feels very connected to therapy for me: change, growth and moving into a different season of life.

Therapy isn't about becoming a different person.

Sometimes it's about understanding yourself differently, letting go of things that no longer serve you, and finding a way of living that feels more like your own.

Get in Touch

Taking the first step can feel daunting, and you don't need to have everything figured out before making contact.

You might have a question about therapy, want to tell me a little about what's been happening, or simply want to find out whether I might be the right therapist for you.

I'll usually respond within one working day and your enquiry will be handled sensitively and confidentially.

Free 20-minute introductory consultation

If you'd like to explore working together, I offer a free 20-minute introductory consultation.

It gives us an opportunity to talk briefly about what's brought you to therapy and what you're hoping for - and gives you the chance to get a sense of me before deciding whether you'd like to book.

There's no obligation to continue afterwards.

Please contact me initially using the form or by email.