About Karin Blak
A writing career
Developing my writing career has presented me with many interesting and diverse projects which have encourage collaboration with my clients. An area where I have been particularly successful is teasing out the stories when interviewing business owners and private individuals, followed by articles that hold the reader's attention.
Projects such as The Wellness Journal for Juniper Trading are fantastic opportunities to get at a deeper meaning of a topic and to work with my client in building their vision. This relationship is always key to getting the best possible outcome for any project. Doing the research and fact-checking is like finding the end of the string that unravels the solution to the questions we are asking. Nothing is more fulfilling than when the information gathered matches and satisfies the original task.
Writing about mental health, mindfulness and relationships is often a natural point I return to when writing articles on Medium and when pitching articles. Therapy, relationships and mental health have been a big part of my career and still influence my writing. The knowledge and training inform the relationships and collaborations I create throughout my work.
My next book is also non-fiction and it is on its way. Squeezed in between the paid work, I snatch a few minutes, if I'm lucky a couple of hours, to develop the writing. It's not the best way to work but I'm hoping the first draft will be finished this summer. How exciting!
A personal story
As a child, I was always a little shy at coming forward, not really believing that what I could contribute was worthwhile. Being physically seen was probably the most excruciating and embarrassing situation I could find myself in. Of course, writing is an excellent way of hiding behind words, while paradoxically exposing an inner world that few witness when face to face.
Writing is my go-to for expressing views on life, to talk about my personal and professional experiences, passing on knowledge I have gained as a therapist and observations on the world around me.
Being a therapist has opened up a whole different world to me and I have felt humbled by the stories I have heard and honoured to be the one my clients have chosen to tell. There is no doubt that being invited into the inner world of people's lives has enriched my own. I have learnt to see through the image we often like to show the world while respecting privacy and gaining a broader understanding of why we do the things we do.
Qualifications:
Postgraduate Diploma (Pg Dip) in Psychosexual and Relationship Therapy
Graduate Certificates (Grad Cert) in Psychodynamic Relationship Counselling
Grad Cert in Integrative Couples Counselling
Grad Cert in Systemic Family Therapy
Diploma in Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP)
Certification in young adults counselling
Therapeutic experience:
Private practice - psychosexual and relationship therapy
Inpatient unit for eating disorders in young adults - family therapy and young adult counselling
GP surgeries - individual and family therapy
Surestart Centers - family therapy
Relate - relationship counselling
Connexions - young adults counselling
Award:
In 2019 I received the East Midlands SME Most Dedicated Relationship Therapist award