Meet the Author Monday: Katie Carlyon

It’s Meet the Author Monday! Each week we meet a new author and get to know a little about them, their writing process, publishing experience, and tips for other writers. Today we’re talking to Katie Carlyon, author of Two Counsellors Wandering Around A Prison.

About Katie Carlyon:

Katie was born and raised in Essex and still resides there now, with her husband, son, stepson and their dog. 

After qualifying as an Integrative Counsellor in 2015, Katie discovered her passion for working within the criminal justice system. She worked with ex-offenders who were on the twelve-step programme and then moved on to work in the community with females who had been released from prison. Having visited a handful of women in prison while she worked with them, Katie knew that this was where she wanted to be. 

Katie moved on and started her work with males in a prison. During her last six months of working there, she began writing Two Counsellors Wandering Around A Prison. 

Since leaving the prison, Katie has set up her own successful private practice and trained as a Clinical Supervisor. 

About Two Counsellors Wandering Around a Prison:

From disasters in recruitment to questioning deaths in prison, Katie Carlyon takes you on a thought-provoking and emotion evoking journey with her experience of counselling in a prison.

Introducing you to the second counsellor Rebecca who walked alongside her on her journey of process, emotions, and dilemmas. Katie guides you through every part of her journey from setting up and embedding a counselling service to making the heart wrenching decision to leave.

The chapters invite you to explore the impact counselling had on the men she worked with and delves into the questions raised within her – as she watched the men navigate their way through the stages of prison life

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Author Interview with Katie Carlyon:

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1. Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?

Yes, I considered it. I wanted to give the men I worked with a voice, I wanted to show others that these men do try hard to change. I wanted to show the difficulties of being a counsellor in a prison and the questions and dilemmas it raised in me. In my book I speak about a system that is flawed, I speak about counselling and how that fits, I speak about not being able to stay in the prison when I did not agree with how they wanted me to work. I speak about the men needing to conform and question how is this being true to who they are? So, I decided against using a pseudonym and stayed true to who I am. 

2. What do you owe the real people upon whom you base your characters?

This is a hard one for me to answer there really are not enough words to describe Dave and Rebecca the two other counsellors in my book. Dave’s wisdom and calmness had a major impact on me, I learnt so much from his wealth of experience. I view him as a legend! Rebecca showed me that a person can have a pure heart, she is the most caring person I have ever met. They both gave me the best years of my career and for that I will always be in their debt.

3. How do you deal with the emotional impact of a book (on yourself) as you are writing the story?

Writing my book helped me process my emotions and feel the impact of not only working in the prison but having to leave it also. It helped me process many of the questions I had within myself. I managed this by riding the emotions I was feeling – a little like a wave. When you sit in a boat sometimes the sea is calm and every now and again a wave comes, you ride that wave and then it is calm again.

4. Is there lots to do before you dive in and start writing the story?

Because I was still working in the prison when I started writing Two Counsellors Wandering Around A Prison – I did not do much beforehand, I would get home and write an experience that I had that day, whether that was a question about the system, a death in the prison or something that happened in one of my counselling sessions. These snippets of my day later become chapters of the book. 

5. What were the key challenges you faced when writing this book?

The key challenges for me were getting my story out without identifying those I am talking about, and the organisation I was working for. In the chapter ‘The Betrayal’ I speak about a counsellor who had an inappropriate relationship with a man in prison. I speak about the impact it had on myself and Rebecca and question the affects this had on the men who were receiving counselling from us. Ensuring that identities remained hidden was challenging some details needed to be left out to make sure. 

6. What was the highlight of writing this book?

The highlight of writing this book was knowing that it would be out there and never go away. I was able to give an insight into a world that many will not experience, and by writing Two Counsellors Wandering Around A Prison I could show that not all people living in prison are bad – many just lost their way and ended up caught in a cycle. 

7. What’s your favorite food?

I love a burger!! No matter where I go I will always order a burger – and then of course complain I need to lose a few pounds!

To learn more about Katie Carlyon, here’s where you can find her:

Author Website: www.kccounselling.net

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