Karen Shaw

Practitioner Statement

I offer a calm, relational space to explore emotional and relational difficulties with care, curiosity, and depth. My work is grounded in the belief that many struggles are not signs of something being wrong, but understandable responses to lived experience, relationships, and past events.

I work integratively and in a trauma-informed way, supporting clients to slow things down and understand what’s happening beneath the surface. Therapy offers space to make sense of emotional patterns, develop greater safety in the nervous system, and create more compassionate ways of relating, both to yourself and within your relationships.

I have specialist training in trauma and in couples and relationship therapy, and I also integrate EMDR where appropriate. This allows me to work flexibly, combining relational talking therapy with structured trauma processing when experiences continue to feel emotionally present, always guided by safety, consent, and pacing.

In individual therapy, we may explore anxiety, shame, emotional overwhelm, or the impact of past relationships. In couples and relationship work, I support partners to understand recurring patterns and develop deeper connection, communication, and repair.