Dr Karen Treisman, MBE, is a Highly Specialist Clinical Psychologist who has worked in the National Health System and children’s services for several years. Karen has also worked cross-culturally in both Africa and Asia with groups ranging from former child soldiers to survivors of the Rwandan Genocide. She also is the author of 10 books, including the bestselling book, “The therapeutic treasure box”, 4 sets of therapeutic card decks, and 6 therapeutic soft cuddly toys.

Karen has extensive experience in the areas of trauma, parenting, adversity (ACE’s) and attachment, and works clinically using a range of therapeutic approaches with families, systems, and children in or on the edge of care, unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people, and adopted children. Karen also specialises in supporting organisations and systems to move towards becoming, and to sustain adversity, culturally and, trauma-informed, infused, and responsive practice. This work focuses on creating meaningful and multi-layered cultural and paradigm shift across whole systems. This was the focus of Dr Treisman’s Winston Churchill Fellowship Karen was awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship Travel Award which involved visited several places in the USA to further study whole system and organisational approaches to trauma-informed and trauma-responsive care and this topic is the focus of Dr Treisman’s book “A Treasure Box for Creating Trauma-Informed Organizations: A Ready-to-Use Resource For Trauma, Adversity, and Culturally Informed, Infused and Responsive Systems”.

In addition to holding a doctorate in Clinical psychology, Karen has undergone a range of specialist training courses including in EMDR, Narrative Therapy, Trauma-focused CBT, Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy, Systemic Psychotherapy, Video Interaction Guidance, Sensory Approaches, and Theraplay.

Karen has previously worked in both Milton Keynes’s and Kensington and Chelsea’s Looked after Children and fostering services, and within the National Implementation Service for evidence-based interventions for Looked after children, children on the edge of care, and children in custody at the Michael Rutter Centre in the Maudsley Hospital; and as Clinical Lead for a court assessment and intensive intervention team for children on the edge of care and in proceedings in Islington.

Karen is the founder and director of Safe Hands and Thinking minds and within this is a consultant, trainer, speaker, and assessor to a variety of local authorities, residential and nursing homes, schools, prisons and organisations including the NHS, Barnardos, Pause, AdoptionPlus, BAAT, Pause, Action Trauma, Grandparents Plus, One Small Things, amongst many others. Karen is also an expert witness and regularly undergoes a variety of assessments for court. Additionally, Karen is also a reviewer for the Journal of Adoption and Fostering, and the Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma.

Karen was also awarded the 2018 Psychology Professional of the Year Award for Excellence in Attachment and Trauma; and Psychology Professional of the Year 2020. Karen was also awarded an MBE (Queens Honour list 2020).

Karen regularly attends and presents at local, national, and international trauma, parenting, and attachment conferences. Karen is also a TEDx speaker on the power of relationships and viewing behaviour as communication.

Karen is the author of “Working with children and adolescents who have experienced relational and developmental trauma” (Routledge, 2016); and the best-selling book- “A Therapeutic Treasure Box for Working with Children and Adolescents with Developmental Trauma: Creative techniques and activities”. Karen is also the designer of “A Therapeutic Treasure Deck: Sentence-completion and Feelings Cards”; and “A Therapeutic Treasure Deck: Grounding, Regulating, Coping, and Soothing Cards”; the Parenting Patchwork Treasure Deck; A Therapeutic Treasure Deck of Strengths and Self Esteem Cards; and the Trauma Deck. Karen is also the designer of Neon the Ninja toy and workbook; Gilly the Giraffe (Self-esteem & confidence), Cleo the Croc (Children who have been hurt and learned to be afraid to let people close, Presley the Pug (Emotional regulation, relaxation, calm, mindfulness, and finding an emotional safe place), Binnie the Baboon (Anxiety, fear, stress, and worry), and Ollie the Octopus (Bereavement, grief and loss).