Karin Brauner is passionate about helping people get on track – or back on track – in their personal and professional lives through practical tools and inspirational conversations in a variety of settings. Karin teaches tools that she’s learned and developed throughout her own life and career. She knows how hard things can get, but also how great things can be once you move through to the other side. She now shares the knowledge she’s gained, through various mediums, to show people a path to better self-care, support when processing their past, and working out their present so they can lead an improved life and thrive in their personal and professional relationships.
Karin Brauner, Author, Counsellor, Coach, Supervisor, Social Media Content Creator
Who is Karin
I was born in Guatemala City. I’m also German by heritage, and more recently also gained my British Citizenship. I enjoy having diversity in my background, and because I grew up in Latin America, my personality might reflect more of that most of the time, but I know I can be very European as well. I think that’s what brought me back to Europe in 2006.
I’ve lived in the South of England since I moved here, and now am settled in Brighton and Hove, with my husband. There is so much in this town: it’s a melting pot of people, it’s very relaxed, and you can be in the countryside one minute, the city the next, and even the seafront a while later!
I studied psychology and counselling in Guatemala, and did a further postgraduate diploma in the UK, as well as a postgraduate certificate in clinical supervision. Before delving into full-time private practice, I worked as a support worker for people with learning disabilities, neurodivergence, and other groups of people, both young and older. As I was doing that, I started to grow my practice, and in 2019 I left the care world to dedicate myself full time to counselling and supervision.
I am a Christian, and believe that trusting in Jesus Christ, and praying over everything I do, has helped me along the way, especially in the harder times, but also in the easier times. I don’t bring this into my work, unless a client starts the conversation, as it’s important to be respectful either way.
A fun fact about me: I used to be in the national Guatemalan ten-pin bowling team. I still have my bowling shoes with me, and will wear them instead of the ones at the bowling alley whenever I go play.
I love writing, and I’ve written two books that you can find on Amazon and wherever books are sold, worldwide. I will talk a little more about these in the next questions.
What is it that you do for your clients?
I started out as focusing mainly on counselling. I help people get on track (or back on track), when life gets overwhelming or life throws them a curveball and they might feel they can’t do it on their own.
It is such an honour to be allowed into people’s worlds and be there for the realisations – sometimes good, sometimes not so good – about themselves, their upbringing, their experiences, and see lasting change happen – gradually – so they can continue a happier, healthier life, with a more robust approach to challenges and whatever life might bring.
I now also work as a clinical supervisor, which means I work with counsellors, coaches and mentors in private practice that require oversight for their work, a challenge, and a space where they can discuss their client cases, and explore what they’re working on with their clients, what’s coming up for them as counsellors, as well as moments of personal development, self-care, and other learning that happens as we work together.
I’m also offering coaching and workshops on blogging, using Canva and Lumen5, and Self-Care, which I can tell you more about next.
How do you help your clients, and who are your clients?
I like to be very practical, but at the same time, go into the root of a problem or situation. So someone who wants to dig deep and find the origin of their situation, and find a clear solution to it, then you’ve come to the right place!
I have many areas where I work, so it’s hard to pin-point one specific type of client I might work with here are just a few:
If you’re overwhelmed with saying “yes” all the time to people, leaving very little time for yourself, then I can help you work through what’s stopping you from saying “no” and help you find a way to listen to what you need and whether saying “yes” or “no” is right for you at each point in your life.
Sometimes we forget to meet our own needs, and end up feeling burned out, deflated and resentful. I can help you explore what’s behind this, and find a better balance between what you do for others and what you do for yourself, as well as how to ask for what you need from others, or even from yourself.
On the business side of things, I can help you get past the fear of blogging, through coaching or attending one of my workshops, where I will give you practical steps to write every blog post, starting with organising your ideas.
Of course, after writing a blog post you’d want to know what to do with it, right? That’s what my coaching and workshop relating to Canva and Lumen5 is all about. I’ll help you understand these platforms and start using them to promote your blogs, your website and all your products and services, with ease.
Sounding board coaching sessions might help you explore what your next steps are, and get more clarity on what you want to do in your life and/or business moving forward.
I also offer counselling for anxiety, depression, work issues, relationship issues, as well as others. Working with neurodivergent people is a passion of mine.
Lastly, if you’re a practitioner in private practice, I can help you with your practice and client work through in-depth supervision.
You’ve written two books, what are they about?
Yes, in 2018 I wrote the first edition of 20 Self-Care Habits: Develop your Strengths, Use your Resources, Improve your Life and Relationships (a practical guide to setting clear boundaries and meeting your needs). The second edition came out this year in June 2021.
The book started out as a blog series, but I realised there was more to it, so I started writing the book, which has personal stories of when I set boundaries and met my needs in new ways that meant I wasn’t resentful to myself and others.
It is very practical, as many of the things I do, so it’s not a long read at all, and you can easily hop around the chapters, depending on what you need at different times.
The book will help you, as the sub-subtitle says, to have a change of mindset about your life and your relationships, that will allow you to set clear boundaries and meet your needs.
Here’s a bit more about it:
Self-care is important. Not just the usual having a bath or having a nice cup of your favourite tea.
I mean the real stuff. The stuff that makes your life fulfilling and happy, or the stuff that makes you have the opposite experience.
In this book I give you 20 in-depth ways in which you can develop self-care habits that will improve your life and your relationships.
There are strengths in all of us that might have been quietened down or simply not put to any use due to life circumstances – being told you have to say yes all the time; or people denying your needs and/or feelings, which led to you not expressing either.
Reflecting on these 20 habits, and putting them into practice, in your own time, will allow you to learn more about yourself and how you relate with others.
The resources are within you.
This book helps you tap into them and start using them for your benefit,
and for the benefit of your relationships.
My second book is a fictional novel, based on a personal experience I had whilst in therapy, talking about a particular topic. It’s called The Beckoning Rooms – Deal with Them or They will deal with you.
Here’s a bit more about it:
Ever since she was a child, Karin had dreamt a recurring dream. In this dream, there was always a house. In each dream, in each house, there was a room that made her or wonder what was behind there that was so mysterious and that beckoned her to find out. But something kept her from finding out in the dreams. After a batch of therapy years later, and touching on a topic she couldn’t speak of in her previous therapy process, the dreams stopped.
That’s where The Beckoning Rooms comes in. This book is a consequence of her own personal journey, but also of her training as a therapist and seeing the effects of working through our past, in her clients’ lives as well as her own.
Karin Brauner’s novel provides an insight into the human unconscious, and what we might choose to hide there. Overwhelming lived experiences, emotions or thoughts that are sent here will beckon to us from the deepest, darkest areas of our minds, and won’t release until we’ve dealt with them. Will the characters in the novel deal with the beckoning rooms, or will they remain locked in the strange house forever?
Jenna, Jeremiah and Jacob all lead normal lives.They all wake up one morning in a strange bed, in a house they don’t know. They wonder why they’re here and how they got there. As they settle into the realisation that there is something that brought them here, a purpose, they all realise that there are rooms that seem to be calling them towards them. The beckoning rooms. They spend 4 nights in the place with the beckoning rooms. Alone. Somehow forced to face themselves and their deepest, darkest thoughts, feelings and lived experiences. They thought they’d left all that behind.
What is your big goal? Where do you see yourself in 10 years from now?
At the moment, I’m pretty content with what I’ve achieved so far, I’m pretty busy with my counselling and supervision practice, as well as with running workshops and writing.
If I really think about it, looking forward, I would love to develop a membership site where I can provide everything I teach in the form of self-study online courses. I would also like to write a few more books – I already have some ideas for them.
In the end, being happy, healthy, with the right people around me, and enough to keep well in all areas sounds pretty good to me.
Top 3 tips
Value yourself and your knowledge. There are treasures inside of you that you might not even realise. Also, if you value yourself others will value you as they learn from your example of how you treat yourself.
If you’re starting out in business, these are two words that have kept me going, and which will make sense to you as you get stuck or difficulties arise: patience and perseverance.
3Seek help. Don’t struggle on your own. Counselling or coaching are not only for when you’re in crisis. Sometimes just talking about something with someone neutral will bring clarity and will give you what you need to keep going.
