About me
Dr Keren Smith worked for the NHS at South London and Maudsley Foundation Trust from 2009 until 2022 where she and her colleagues set up the pioneering National and Specialist DBT service for adolescents. Keren has seen clients independently since 2012, working with both adults and adolescents with a range of difficulties and complexity. She has a particular interest in working with people with a history of trauma and symptoms associated with PTSD and CPTSD; she has completed further training in specialist trauma focused models including EMDR (Parts 1, 2 and 3) and DBT-Prolonged Exposure.
Keren is experienced in offering evidenced based therapy for people presenting with anxiety, stress and low mood and eating disorders associated with over/ under controlled behaviour. Keren works from an attachment based framework to understand and improve relationships, including working with people who are in or have experienced abusive relationships.
Keren also has an interest in working with people who use drugs or alcohol to manage their difficulties and has engaged in further DBT training for these issues.
Keren has expanded her EMDR training to include EMDR informed coaching to increase well-being, overcome blocks and make progress with personal and professional goals.
Training, qualifications & experience
- Doctorate in Clinical Psychology: University College London 2008
- Structured Risk Assessment Using The HCR-20 and PCL:SV: 2008
- DBT Intensive Training Course: British Isles DBT Training: Part 1/2 2009/2010
- Child Mental Health Expert Witness Course:
Royal Society of Medicine: 2010 - FLASH: Families Learning About Self-Harm:
North Essex Partnership NHS Trust: 2010 - Therapeutic Assessment of Self-Harm (Cognitive Analytic Therapy): South London and Maudsley NHS Trust: 2010
- Radically Open DBT Radically Open Ltd: 2016/2017
- Adapting DBT for substance misuse disorders: British Isles DBT Training: 2017
- Attachment Based Family Therapy: 3 Day Introduction: 2018
- Attachment Based Family Therapy: 3 Day Advanced: 2019
- EMDR: Richman EMDR Training: Parts 1, 2 & 3 2018/ 2019
- DBT: Prolonged Exposure for PTSD Intensive Training: 2020
- EMDR with Complex Cases: Hannah Bryan: 2025
- EMDR-Coaching Bridge Masterclass: Hannah Bryan: 2026
Member organisations
school Registered / Accredited
Being registered/accredited with a professional body means an individual must have achieved a substantial level of training and experience approved by their member organisation.
The HCPC are an independent, UK-wide health regulator. They set standards of professional training, performance and conduct for 16 professions.
They keep a register of health professionals who meet their standards, and they take action if registered health professionals fall below those standards. They were created by a piece of legislation called the Health Professions Order 2001.
Registration means that a health professional meets national standards for their professional training, performance and conduct.
Areas of counselling I deal with
Therapies offered
When I work
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Further information
I am currently offering sessions in person and online via Zoom or Microsoft Teams.
Privately funding clients only (except in exceptional circumstances depending on insurance company and policy).
