Counselling and Mindful Photography
Mindful photography as a therapy tool in counselling, helps clients to develop greater self-awareness and to process their emotions in a mindful and compassionate way.
With a client centred approach and an understanding that not all clients are interested in photography, Karen employs a varfiety of modalities to suit the client. Utilising third wave cognitive behaviour therapies such as Acceptance Commitment therapy (ACT) and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) she hopes to continue studying these following her formal studies and weave them into her research into mindful photography.
Drawing on strength based therapies such as motivational interviewing and solution focused therapies studied in her formal Master’s of Counselling, she has studied Kristen Neff’s Mindful Self compassion, mindfulness by Jon Kabat-Zin and Chris Germer and Daniel Siegel’s Mindsight and Brainstorm. She also has an interest in the somatic experiencing as researched by Eugene Gendlin’s Focusing.
Specialising in neurodivergent populations, assisting those with ASD and ADHD, Karen works from a trauma iinformed practice perspective to support families who are disengaging from the school environment. With lived experience of ADHD and as a parent, she undersands the challenges of anxiety for neurodivergence in the school community.
As she continues to research neurodivergence and mindful photography via her Master of Counselling, her initial research into photovoice as a tool for asssit with emotional regulation and neurodiverse affirming practice to provide a connection back to the school environment she is calling for expressions of interest in participating in a novel research pilot study in 2024. 10.13140/RG.2.2.15034.36806
About the photographer
Over the past 30 years Karen Merry has studied human behaviour from behind the lens. As an educator of children early in her career, she understands the psychology of human behaviour.
With a personal understanding of depression and anxiety, she understands how to use the camera as a tool to relieve the symptoms and create a pathway to resilience.