Meet Cathy Kane
Our interim CEO talks about her first 100 Days at SIG
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Can you share a bit about yourself and outline your role as the Group Psychological Lead?
“Hello! I’m Kasturi. I am a counselling psychologist by trade. At SIG, I provide strategic oversight for all our psychological services, ensuring we consistently integrate evidence-based and trauma-informed approaches across the organisation.
In my position, I focus on developing and maintaining robust risk management policies, procedures, and clinical governance frameworks. I lead the development and implementation of psychological strategies aligned with national guidelines and best practices. I also establish and supervise clinical support structures to ensure that our central and partner Psychologists and the wider psychological team receive the high-quality guidance they need to thrive. To maintain our commitment to excellence, I ensure that our practices comply with safeguarding legislation, ethical guidelines, and regulatory standards. My responsibilities include promoting reflective practice, offering advanced mental health training, and facilitating Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for psychological staff and other team members.”
What inspired you to pursue a career in psychology within the charity sector, and what drew you to SIG?
“I have always believed that therapy in all its forms should be free and accessible to everyone. I take immense pride in championing person-centred, stigma-free therapy. Life is a journey – we all need to reflect and develop to change and overcome what it throws at us daily, and some challenges are better brainstormed and upskilled together. My mother worked for Crisis UK for many years; her outreach efforts formed the basis of my childhood experiences in the UK and across the globe. It now felt like the right time to bring what I learnt from the NHS and private sectors and play my part supporting a charity like SIG, where I could empower residents and participants to pursue the lives they hope to lead. When I first learned about SIG before applying, I was genuinely inspired by the remarkable dedication, care and commitment to positive change that the organisation embodies. I thought, this is my next challenge and opportunity!”
How does your role support residents and participants in overcoming psychological challenges?
“My role is dedicated to ensuring our service residents and participants feel safe, hopeful and motivated to move forward in their unique journeys, whatever that may look like. Ongoing development and oversight of robust risk assessment and management frameworks are essential for achieving this goal. Through this, staff are more empowered to support residents’ and participants’ needs in a more defensible, streamlined and effective manner. Keeping people safe and engaged is hard when even simple tasks like waking up in the morning or sleeping at night can seem challenging. I aim to assist staff in developing effective strategies, identifying what works, what doesn’t and why this might be, to help understand resident and participant needs. I work alongside them in planning support for resident and participant care and assess how far we can travel with them on their journey.
I actively participate in meetings around resident and participant care provision to ensure their voices and needs are central to our discussions. Through collaboration with internal and external stakeholders, we share the responsibility of their care and enhance the cohesion of professionals involved in their journeys, making the experience as stress-free and supportive as possible. As we develop training initiatives, we aim to reduce institutional fear within our organisation, empowering us to take a more trauma-informed approach to meet the unique needs of service residents and participants. Through my collaborative efforts and work with teams across SIG, working with Learning and Development, I hope to eliminate gaps in our knowledge and understanding and create a positive ripple effect that benefits everyone in SIG and those accessing our services.
Celebrating a Decade of Collaboration and Innovation
