How I came into teaching mindfulness

Karen’s pathway into teaching mindfulness has grown naturally from her clinical work, personal meditation practice and long-standing interest in eastern philosophies and having lived in Japan for a year in the 80s as an exchange student where she studied Japanese and the Japanese tea ceremony. Also, her travels in Nepal, India and Thailand and exploring their spirituality and philosophies has influenced her greatly in her work, life and teaching.

In the 1990s Karen’s self-development search for meaning and purpose let her discover Jon Kabat Zinn’s books and tapes ( back then) and this sparked her curiosity further with mindfulness-based approaches.

Karens main modality Gestalt Psychotherapy has roots and history of its founders studies in Zen Buddhism and other eastern philosophies and promotes working in the here and now and mindfulness.

Karen Booth is a psychotherapist, mindfulness teacher, group facilitator and former Registered Nurse with extensive experience supporting individuals and groups through trauma, grief, addiction, anxiety, depression and major life transitions. Her work integrates psychotherapy, mindfulness-based approaches, Gestalt philosophy and Buddhist psychology, offering a grounded, compassionate and experiential approach to personal growth and healing.

Background

Karen holds a Master’s degree and Advanced Diploma in Gestalt Psychotherapy, with training through Gestalt Therapy Sydney, TRIA, GTS and TGI. She is also an NLP Master Practitioner and has undertaken specialist training in Mindfulness-Based and Buddhist-informed therapeutic approaches, including MBSR Level 1 with the Mindfulness Training Institute, MiCBT teacher training with Bruno Cayoun, and postgraduate studies in Buddhist Psychotherapy through ABBCAP, due for completion in March 2027.

Her broader professional development includes training in trauma, anxiety treatment, schema therapy, somatic psychotherapy, CBT, mental health practice, clinical supervision, victimology, resource therapy, alcohol and other drugs counselling, SMART Recovery facilitation and crisis telephone counselling through Lifeline. 

Specialisation

Karen has worked across private practice, residential treatment, hospital-based group mental health programs and in the community setting. She has facilitated groups for people experiencing addiction, trauma, mood challenges, anxiety and depression, and has worked as a grief, trauma and addictions counsellor and group facilitator at The Glen Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Centre.

She has also served as a group facilitator and resident counsellor with Quest for Life programs, including Moving Beyond Trauma and Heal Your Life programs which were mindfulness based. In her private psychotherapy practice in Woy Woy, Karen has worked with clients referred through Victims Services and WorkCover, as well as individuals seeking support for addiction, trauma, grief and emotional wellbeing. 

Teaching Philosophy

Her teaching is informed by Gestalt psychotherapy, mindfulness practice, Buddhist psychology, Internal Family Systems, Depth Inquiry and trauma-sensitive approaches.

At the heart of Karen’s teaching philosophy is the belief that people already carry deep wisdom within themselves. She draws on the paradoxical theory of change, often expressed as the idea that meaningful change occurs when a person fully accepts and becomes who they are, rather than striving to become someone they are not. From this place of compassionate awareness, change can emerge organically.

Karen teaches from a here-and-now orientation, creating spaces where people can slow down, listen inwardly, relate more kindly to themselves and develop greater capacity to meet life’s challenges with presence, curiosity and care.