Catherine Knibbs

Catherine Knibbs is a Clinical Doctoral Researcher, Online Harms and Cybertrauma Consultant, Public Speaker, Author (of 5 books to date), Educator and TEDx Speaker.

Catherine Knibbs is a Child/Adult Trauma Psychotherapist in private practice. She works with global organisations regarding child sexual abuse material, Mental health and Immersive Technologies and the harms that can occur in the new digital spaces.

She writes about and works with Cybertrauma, which is any trauma that occurs through an internet-ready device or medium. This is much more than Online Harms covers in its remit to date.

Catherine Knibbs also educates therapists and practitioners via her company Privacy4 about Data protection/privacy/cybersecurity issues in relation to their practice. She disrupts and advocates for children’s rights, privacy, and online digital explorations. Catherine is also the mental health advisor for Gamersbeatcancer CIC

Information about Catherine can be found on her website where she discusses https://www.childrenandtech.co.uk tech geekery, gaming and its use in therapeutic situations, coaching, trauma psychotherapy and for getting the best from yourself. She has been using biofeedback/tech and gaming to elicit Post Traumatic Growth, healing and flow for over a decade.

Her books include Cybertrauma: the Darker side of the Internet; Children, Technology and Healthy Development, Children and Sexual-Based Online Harms, Cybertrauma and Online Harms, and Data Protection and Cybersecurity for Practitioners.

Cath is also functional health practitioner (BANT) and works with nutrigenomics and DNA health.

SPEAKING TOPICS 

Catherine is a leading expert and speaker in the field of cybertrauma and is working with companies and organisations alike to help them better understand human behaviour in the digital world and how we can better manage it and how we understand we people do what they do and the impact it is having on peoples mental health.

Her speaking topics include –

• Human behaviours online
• Cybertrauma/Online Harm and the impact of this on the human
• Pornography use in Children, young people, and adults
• Gaming- Good, bad or indifferent?
• Technology to hack your health and achieve higher performance
• Cyberbullying what is it?
• Safeguarding around digital tech
• Mental Health and Technology
• Social Media the impact and influence- are we really addicted?
• The human algorithm- why we make the errors online
• Online professional conduct
• Child Sexual Abuse Material Online

For CyberSecurity Talks/Events

There is a possibility (due to known rising figures of access to and distribution of) that an employee or member of staff has or is accessing images or videos of child sexual abuse (CSAM) using a work computer or system (either in the workplace, at home or on/offsite). When thinking of roles such as those involved in back-ups, repairs, renewing, restoring devices or even system audits this leaves those professionals in these roles open to accessing these files or links which may not be labelled in a way that prepares the viewer for the contents. Is your company versed in the law around what to do and do you have systems in place to support staff who may bear witness to these images and videos and what may be happening for them in cybertrauma? What policies and procedures do you have for working with this issue in cyber?

For School talks

As KCSIE and Working Together 2023 suggest supporting children in school around technology is paramount as part of these policies. Are you prepared with a safeguarding approach to dealing with images of pornography (war material/12,15 and 18+ rated material) that are accessed on the way in/out or on your school property? As a school you may have a phone ban in place, however, we know in today’s age that many children can circumnavigate rules and may access this kind of material on both phones and technology within the school setting. Are you versed in the impact of this kind of material on children and how you can deal with it as a school? Do you have policies and procedures around how to manage the impact of viewing adult/war/illegal material and the cybertrauma that may follow?