Shakira Nkanang
At Mulberry Foster Care, we are proud to be supported by our in-house Systemic Family Psychotherapist, Shakira Maknoon. With a wealth of experience spanning 20 years across the private, public, and voluntary sectors.
Shakira plays an integral role in reinforcing our Supervising Social Worker Team with Systemic interventions. By integrating her bespoke RAFT training model, we ensure a genuine therapeutic fostering approach that provides comprehensive support for carers, children, and families.
What is Systemic Psychotherapy?
Systemic Psychotherapy – also known as Family Therapy – helps individuals, couples, and families navigate personal and interpersonal challenges by focusing on their relationships and the wider systems in which they live and work. It enables those in close relationships to express and explore difficult thoughts and emotions safely, understand each other’s experiences and views, appreciate each other’s needs, and work together to make meaningful changes in their lives.
Much like a human body, where all parts are interconnected, relationships within a family or system influence one another. When one part is struggling, it can affect the whole system. Systemic therapy helps individuals and families recognise these patterns and collaboratively find ways to improve communication, reduce conflict, and enhance mutual support. The approach is respectful of different cultural backgrounds, beliefs, and experiences, adapting to the unique needs of each family or group.
Shakira’s Approach and Role
Growing up as a third-culture kid, Shakira’s open-mindedness, flexibility, and appreciation for diverse worldviews have profoundly shaped her approach to psychotherapy. She specialises in working
with individuals, couples, and families, helping them navigate personal and interpersonal challenges in their private and professional lives.
Shakira also provides Systemic Psychotherapy and Therapeutic Training to our foster carers and social work team. Her training equips professionals with the necessary tools to enhance their nurturing support for children, families, and individuals facing complex challenges. With her deep expertise and commitment to fostering systemic thinking in care environments, she ensures that the therapeutic support offered at Mulberry Foster Care is both effective and compassionate, empowering individuals and our Mulberry team to build healthier relationships.
Systemic Consultations
Shakira offers systemic reflective spaces to our professionals who support the children in our care. These consultations help explore the possible meaning behind children's behavioural presentations and
how their relationships express underlying emotions. Through reflective discussions around relational patterns, professionals can consider how changes in their own approaches can elicit positive changes in our looked-after children.
Supporting Foster Carers
Shakira works directly with our carers, providing a reflective space to explore family hopes, encourage open communication, and foster understanding of beliefs, values, and relational dynamics. She helps
families move away from pathologising positions, understand the impact of words and actions, and recognise each person's strengths. By considering past experiences and behaviour patterns, carers can develop a deeper understanding of family dynamics, foster healthier relationships, and help the child flourish.
