Karen Yuen, BACP

Karen Yuen is a BACP-registered counsellor in the United Kingdom with eight years of experience. She draws on person-centred and trauma-focused ways of working to help people make sense of what they are feeling. Karen aims to offer a calm, non-judgemental space where people can be heard and start to untangle painful or confusing experiences.

Her background includes roles in NHS Direct, community low-cost therapy and spiritual settings. That mix informs a practical and open approach to counselling. Karen also speaks from lived experience as a British East Asian woman and recognises how culture and values shape a person’s sense of self and wellbeing.

In sessions she explores how family, upbringing and past events influence current beliefs, behaviours and emotions. She helps people notice patterns, name difficult feelings and test unhelpful thoughts. This usually involves gentle reflection together and practical tools to manage distress.

Karen uses an integrative style, bringing in client-centred work alongside trauma-focused methods and eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing where appropriate. She may also include mindfulness, breathing practices, body awareness and visualisation to suit each person’s needs.

Her training includes a BSc (Hons) in Counselling and Therapeutic Studies and a postgraduate certificate in Daily Living and Wellbeing. Karen works with individuals aged 18 and over and can support either shorter or longer-term work depending on what someone needs.

How her approaches translate to online therapy

Client-Centred Therapy focuses on listening, acceptance and creating a space where people feel heard. It helps when someone needs time to talk through feelings and make sense of their experience. Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing, or EMDR, is a trauma-focused method used to process distressing memories and reduce their emotional intensity; it is often chosen when past events continue to cause strong reactions.

Choosing the right approach is a shared task. The therapist will talk with the person about their goals, history and preferences and then suggest methods that might help. This collaborative process means plans can change as the work progresses and as what helps becomes clearer.

Online therapy can make regular sessions easier to fit into day-to-day life, for example reducing travel time or allowing a shorter check-in during a break. Because the biography does not list specific session formats, confirm the available formats before booking. Registered or accredited professionals and therapists often adapt tools like mindfulness, breathing work and visualisation for online sessions to support coping and self-regulation.