Karen White-Jones
Faculty Liaison
| Degrees: | BA (Carleton), BSW (Carleton), MSW (Carleton), Clinical Supervision training (Saint Paul) |
| Email: | KarenWhitejones@cunet.carleton.ca |
With a background in Psychology and Sociology/Anthropology, Karen White-Jones completed the MSW at Carleton University and then engaged in Clinical Supervision training at Saint Paul’s University. She taught as a Contract Instructor in the School of Social Work from 2013-2018 and resumed teaching at Carleton University in fall 2023. She has taught at the undergraduate and graduate levels and has acted as Faculty Liaison in support of Social Work students completing practicums.
Ms. White-Jones has worked with people who were dealing with issues related to mental health, substance use, trauma, homelessness, HIV, hepatitis C, poverty, and marginalization/discrimination related to race, culture, sexual orientation and gender identity. She is trained I n several evidence-based therapeutic approaches, including cognitive-behavioural therapy, narrative therapy, solution-focused therapy, motivational interviewing, family systems, exposure therapy, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy.
In addition to decades of front line work with marginalized populations, she has been a Manager and a Clinical Supervisor in the homelessness sector and in immigration and refugee services, acted as the Harm Reduction Research Manager for the University of Ottawa’s HIV/HCV Prevention team, provided employment supports to people with disabilities, performed child protection work, was a Child and Youth Counsellor in a secure mental health facility, and spent 10 years as a volunteer at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre. She has engaged in Community Development and has been active in social justice movements. Ms. White-Jones is currently the Director of Counselling and the Clinical Supervisor/Consultant with a small nonprofit organization that serves those impacted by addictions, with a strong focus on supporting family members. She also has a private practice where she has specialized in male sexual victimization, assessment and counselling with forensic populations, and trauma related to military service.
Ms. White-Jones has received clinical supervision from two internationally recognized trauma experts, Dr. Cecilia Taiana and Dr. Brenda Saxe. Dr. Taiana’s research focused mostly on neurobiological influences related to trauma and memory, while Dr. Saxe was renowned in the treatment of complex PTSD, specializing in the treatment of dissociation related to childhood sexual abuse and childhood trauma.
Highlights of Ms. White-Jones’ career include: 8 years co-facilitating a women’s concurrent disorders trauma-focused art therapy group; the completion of research that contributed to the expansion of harm reduction services throughout Ontario; incorporating trauma treatment into addiction services for men at a local shelter; managing and dramatically expanding counselling services for immigrants and refugees at the height of the Syrian refugee influx while providing the counselling team with trauma-focused clinical supervision; and supporting active service members and veterans dealing with operational stress injuries and the impacts of sexual misconduct in the military.
Ms. White-Jones is passionate about anti-oppressive practice, advocating for policy change to benefit marginalized populations, and applying her years of professional experience in the classroom through the integration of experiential exercises and real-life case studies.