Karen Doyle Buckwalter, LCSW, RPT-S

Karen Doyle Buckwalter, LCSW, RPT-S, is an Author, Teacher, Podcaster, Psychotherapist and Consultant.  

Karen is a Certified Theraplay® Trainer and Supervisor and a Registered Play Therapist Supervisor™ She provides training, consultation, and supervision services to agencies and individuals in the U.S. and across the world. Following her graduate studies, she completed a 2-year post-masters Marriage and Family Therapy Training Program at Menninger Clinic. She is trained in many types of therapy including Child-Centered Play Therapy, Sandtray Therapy, Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP), Child Parent Psychotherapy (CPP), Video Intervention Therapy, and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).  

Her clinical specialty areas include working with attachment disruptions, complex trauma, and adoption and foster care-related issues. Having completed the 2-week Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) Institute in 2007, she has a special interest in clinical use of the AAI and the intergenerational transmission of attachment in adoption dyads as measured by the AAI. 

She has authored peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and articles featured in Adoption Today and Fostering Families Today Magazines. Her first book, Attachment Theory in Action, edited with Debbie Reed released in 2017. Her second book, Raising the Challenging Child, co-authored with Debbie Reed and Wendy Lyons Sunshine released in 2020.  

During her nearly 30 years at Chaddock, a child serving agency in Quincy IL, Karen led in the creation of Chaddock’s Developmental Trauma and Attachment Program (DTAP). The renowned program catapulted Chaddock to both national and international recognition for their work with attachment and trauma issues in children and adolescents. 

In 2023, Karen transitioned to private practice work and launched Carolina Attachment and Trauma Services. Although she still works directly with families, most of her time is spent teaching and providing supervision and consultation to agencies and individual therapists. 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Karen Doyle Buckwalter is the director and owner of Carolina Attachment and Trauma Services. She receives a consulting fee and speaking honorarium from The Theraplay Institute, Lincoln Prairie Behavioral Health, RISE Program, and Matters of the Heart Counseling. Karen Doyle receives royalties as a published author. Karen Doyle Buckwalter receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Karen Doyle Buckwalter is a member of the Association for Play Therapy and World Association of Sand Therapy Professionals.