Karen Gaunson
Dr. Karen Gaunson
Dr. Karen Gaunson
Consultant PsychiatristFRANZCP, MBBS (Hons), MMed (Psychiatry), Advanced Training Certificate in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (CATCAP)
Karen sees patient up to the age of 11 years old only.
**Karen is not currently accepting new patients
Professional Background/ Experience:
- Qualified in Medicine on the Deans Honours list from the University of Melbourne in 1994.
- Fellow of The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (including the Child & Adolescent Faculty).
- Completed her psychiatric training in general adult psychiatry with Advanced training in Child Psychiatry at Austin Health in 2003.
- Consultant Psychiatrist for the Multi-disciplinary Infant Team at Thrive to 25, the Child and Youth Mental Health Service, through Alfred Health since 2003.
- Her Alfred Health VMO role involves consultation to other agencies, research & supervision of staff, in addition to direct clinical work with infants, toddlers & their families.
- Private practice in Child Psychiatry & Adult Psychotherapy in Glen Iris then Brighton since 2004
- Currently she is acting as Team Leader during the innovative redevelopment phase of the Alfred CYMHS multidisciplinary infant program extending to school entry.
Professional Interests:
She works with people to improve their sense of connection and to enhance their resilience & wellbeing. She uses a strengths based holistic approach to reduce distress & to address emerging or ongoing mental disorders.
Areas of particular interest and expertise include:
Karen's approach is informed by a variety of effective therapeutic models which she will explain & adapt to your needs & preferences. She is experienced in working with people across the age span from infancy to those who are parenting young adults. She is skilled in identifying & ameliorating developmental difficulties, relationship based distress as well as common mental disorders including anxiety & depression.
Given her work in the public system she is used to working alongside other professionals from different disciplines to improve the outcomes for young people. Occasionally if it is appropriate she will suggest using medication as part of the treatment package, though she will ensure other strategies are utilised first. Often this is in conjunction to monitoring by a Paediatrician.
Karen will work with people at a pace that suits them & explore issues to the degree they prefer. She finds that people may return at different times in their lives to address what is coming up when feeling stuck or overwhelmed. Others prefer to resolve underlying issues & to reach a new level of ease & wellbeing once their symptoms resolve.
Treatments offered include:
- Dyadic & Trilogue therapies
- Couple &/ or parenting therapy
- Family therapy
- Individual therapy short or long term with older children, adolescents or adults.
- Case conferences with parents & other professionals in different settings
- Professional Supervision - individual or groups by request & arrangement on your site or clinic based (currently supervises a range of people from different disciplines including MCHN, psychiatry trainees, allied health professionals)
Therapeutic approaches include:
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy adapted for children
- Mentalisation based therapy
- Mindfulness and other meditative techniques
- Strategies based on taking advantage of neuroplasticity to enable sustained change.
- Psychoanalytically informed psychotherapy.
- Sensorimotor psychotherapy
- Given her medical background she is also interested in promoting health & physical wellbeing
Personal interests:
Karen engages in her broad range of interests including creative outlets & multiple sports, both as a participant & parent. She likes to learn new things & to apply them where relevant to her personal life or professional practice.
When referred to Dr Karen Gaunson it is useful to have a referral that includes all family members to allow for Medicare rebates for parent and family sessions.
