KAREn butterworth, clinical psychologist

Karen is a Clinical Psychologist with extensive experience in treating a diverse range of issues for children, adolescents, young people and families. Karen has specialist skills in supporting preschool and primary school children with behaviour problems, anxiety and emotion dysregulation. Karen has worked for over 12 years in Child and Family Mental Health at the Sydney Children’s Hospital in Randwick and Canterbury Community Health. She works with clients with a range of difficulties, including anxiety, depression, behavioural difficulties, self-harm, self-esteem issues, grief and loss, trauma, attachment difficulties, and relationship issues.  Karen also has specialised skills and experience in supporting children and young adolescents who are neurodivergent (e.g., ADHD, Autism, etc) and non-binary.

 Providing a warm, open and understanding environment is a core feature of Karen’s work with families. She works collaboratively with families and their support system to ensure a holistic approach to treatment.

 Karen’s uses Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Attachment Theory and Family Systems frameworks to develop tailored interventions grounded in evidence. She is skilled in psychometric assessment, including assessment of attentional difficulties (e.g. ADHD), intellectual ability, autism, and learning difficulties. She is an Accredited Cool Kids Treatment provider and Circle of Security facilitator.

 On days where Karen is not working at Approach Psychology, she is training the next generation of Clinical Psychologists in child therapy and assessment at the University of New South Wales as Clinical Supervisor.