Creative Director and Founder  ​​

Karen Kirkpatrick, the Creative Director and Founder of Heartfelt Teaching, is a Therapeutic Wellbeing Practitioner with over 20 years of experience working with children. She has worked as a Class Teacher and Senior Leader in Inner London Primary Schools and now works as a Behaviour and Wellbeing Consultant. Karen is dedicated to improving outcomes for children and young people who struggle to access the curriculum due to emotional or behavioural difficulties.

 

Karen founded Heartfelt Teaching, her organisation, to share essential knowledge and practical skills that support children’s mental health and emotional wellbeing. Using a multidisciplinary and therapeutic approach, she engages both children and adults in relational dialogue, promotes reflective practice, and highlights the importance of emotional regulation to enhance cognitive development, concentration, self-esteem, and readiness to fully engage with their education.

 

Through her experience and specialised training, Karen developed The Emotionally Regulated ClassroomProgramme as part of Heartfelt Teaching's offerings. This programme responds to a growing need in primary schools for a relational approach to behaviour management and emotional regulation. Rooted in relational research, it addresses the unique challenges faced by educators, helping them create classrooms that foster connection, understanding, and growth. 

 

Karen has completed studies in the Therapeutic and Educational Application of the Arts, Therapeutic Communication Skills for Children and Young People, Therapeutic Wellbeing Practice for Children and Young People,  Diploma in Community Wellbeing: Children, Young People, Families, Organisations and a year-long Professional Training in Compassionate Inquiry which has informed the development of her approach to working within schools.

 

Her work is informed by theoretical frameworks and key concepts from Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy, Psychoanalysis, Self-Psychology, Neurobiology, Polyvagal Theory, Trauma, and Attachment.

Qualifications

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Postgraduate Certificate in Education (London Metropolitan University) 

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Postgraduate Certificate in the Therapeutic Arts (The Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education/UEL)

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Undergraduate Associate Certificate in Therapeutic Communication Skills for Working with Children and Young People (The Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education/UEL)

 

Diploma in Wellbeing Practice for Children and Young People (The Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education/UEL)

 

Diploma in Community Wellbeing: Children, Young People, Families, Organisations (The Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education/UEL)

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Compassionate Inquiry Year-long Professional Training with Dr. Gabor Maté