Felicity shares this latest news on behalf of the Isle of Wight Youth Trust. Ed
The Isle of Wight Youth Trust has this week announced the appointment of specialist child and adolescent counsellor, Karen Smith, as their new Clinical Lead.
Youth Trust Director, Mairead Healy welcomed Karen to the Senior Management Team and explained the importance of the Clinical Lead position as the Youth Trust prepares to expand its services.
She said,
“2017 was our busiest year yet. We are operating at full-capacity and are determined to grow to meet the needs of our young people. Shortly, we will be moving our headquarters to a substantially larger building which will allow us to expand our services and the Clinical Lead position will be an integral part of this process. We want to set a high clinical standard not only for the Island but, within the youth mental health sector as a whole.”
She further added,
“We conducted a rigorous recruitment process for this role and were pleased to find that, despite seeing candidates from across the country the, best person for the role was already part of the Youth Trust team, which speaks to the high level of expertise within our clinical team.
“Karen has been a clinician with the Youth Trust for the past four years, having completed specialist training in child and adolescent counselling. During this time, she has delivered excellent results including helping to establish innovative, bespoke services in Island Primary Schools, working to best meet the needs of some of our youngest clients.”
Previous experience
Prior to working with the Youth Trust, Karen was a counsellor at Southampton University and, also worked to establish counselling services at Ventnor and East Newport Children Centers, supporting parents with young children, so she has experience in working with a full spectrum of issues. She also has a business background, including working as a Project Manager for eight years with BAE, which brings an important focus to developing new programs.
“We are delighted to have Karen on board as we develop our services to meet the growing gaps between the mental health needs of our young people and the services available to them here on the Island.”
