Carmen García Pérez de León is a Lecturer in Family Therapy Education in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at King's College London, where she teaches across the Graduate Certificate and MSc programmes in Systemic Family Therapy. She has been a member of King's academic staff since 2014, initially as an Academic Tutor in Systemic Family Therapy and, since 2022, as Lecturer in Family Therapy Education.

Alongside her academic role, Carmen is a Highly Specialist Systemic Family Therapist at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, integrating teaching, clinical practice, supervision and research. Her academic work explores contemporary developments in systemic and relational practice, with particular interests in learning processes, therapist development, risk-taking in education, collaborative practice, critical philosophy, and emerging posthumanist and new materialist perspectives in mental health and psychotherapy. She is currently completing a PhD at the Global Centre for Advanced Studies (GCAS), Dublin.

Her areas of expertise include:

Systemic and Family Therapy
Family Therapy Education and Training
Clinical Supervision
Mental Health in Children, Young People and Families
Reflective and Experiential Learning
Complex Trauma and EMDR-informed Practice
Collaborative and Dialogical Approaches
Systemic Theory and Critical Philosophy
Risk, Crisis and Uncertainty in Therapeutic Practice

Prior teaching appointments include work as an External Lecturer for the Anna Freud Centre, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and Maudsley International, including international teaching in the United Arab Emirates. She has also delivered specialist training for education, health and social care professionals across NHS and local authority services.

Her qualifications include a Degree in Philosophy and Education from the University of Valencia, an MSc in Family Therapy and Graduate Certificate in Family Therapy from King's College London, a Postgraduate Diploma in Systemic Supervision and Training from the University of Bedfordshire, specialist qualifications in clinical hypnosis and Ericksonian hypnotherapy, accreditation as an EMDR therapist, and Senior Fellowship of Advance HE.

Carmen has published widely in the fields of systemic psychotherapy, therapeutic learning, professional development and mental health. Her publications have appeared in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, Murmurations, Context, and the International Journal of Collaborative Practices.

Research Interests

• Systemic and Family Therapy
• Family Therapy Education and Training
• Relational, Collaborative and Dialogical Practice
• Professional Learning and Therapist Development
• Reflective and Experiential Learning
• Risk-taking, Uncertainty and Creativity in Learning
• Clinical Supervision
• Complex Trauma and EMDR-informed Systemic Practice
• Child and Adolescent Mental Health
• Critical Philosophy and Systemic Theory
• New Materialist and Posthumanist Perspectives in Mental Health
• Ethics, Knowledge Production and Decolonial Research Methodologies
• Single Session Systemic Consultations
• Therapeutic Processes and Outcomes
• Qualitative and Practice-based Research Methods

Research Groups 

Carmen is an Associate of the East Side Institute (New York) and maintains active collaborations with national and international scholars and systemic training institutions across Europe, Latin America and Australasia. Her work promotes dialogue between systemic psychotherapy, philosophy, education and mental health practice through scholarly collaboration, conference presentations and continuing professional development activities.

Teaching

Carmen teaches across the Graduate Certificate and MSc programmes in Systemic Family Therapy at King's College London. Her teaching includes: Module Lead: Embedding Evidence into Practice (7PCCFEIP) Clinical Skills Teaching Research Dissertation Supervision Systemic Family Therapy Theory and Practice Narrative and Postmodern Family Therapies (MSc Mental Health Studies) Introduction to Systemic Family Therapy Clinical Placement and Training Clinic Supervision Research Methodology and Dissertation Support for Family Therapy Trainees

Expertise and Public Engagement 

Carmen contributes extensively to professional, clinical and public-facing activities beyond King's College London.

Examples include:

• Keynote Speaker at the Oxleas NHS Trust Systemic Family Therapy Conference (2026).
• Presenter at the Association for Family Therapy (AFT) 50th Anniversary Conference (2025).
• Presenter at the European Family Therapy Association (EFTA) Conference and RELATES Congress (2025).
• Invited contributor to international systemic training programmes in Italy and Uruguay.
• External Lecturer for the Anna Freud Centre and Maudsley International.
• Reviewer for Murmurations: Journal of Transformative Systemic Practice.
• Clinical leadership and innovation within South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, including development of a single-session systemic consultation model for CAMHS services.
• Organiser of continuing professional development events for practitioners, students and academics.

Key Publications 

Garcia Perez de Leon, C. (2025). Entering Water: Exploring Approaches to Risk-taking in the Process of Learning. International Journal of Collaborative Practices.

García, C. (2025). 1+(no)1=3, and more. Murmurations: Journal of Transformative Systemic Practice, 8(1), 1-10.

Garcia Perez de Leon, C. (2025). Diversions: or a More Imaginative Than Rigorous Take on Some Psychiatric Diagnoses. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 46(4).

Garcia Perez de Leon, C. (2023). Failing, to Learn; Learning to Fail. Context, 187.

Garcia Perez de Leon, C. (2018).""What Was I Thinking?!"" Rhetorical Questions as a Technique to Identify and Explore Impasses in Therapy. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 39(1), 21-37.