Karen Smith, LSCSW
“We are all broken; that’s how the light gets in” ~inspired by Ernest Hemingway
Karen Smith is a mental health professional who holds a clinical license in social work (LSCSW). She obtained a master’s degree in social work from the University of Kansas in 2007 with undergraduate in Psychology.
She offers psychotherapeutic support for life stressors like trauma, depression, anxiety, grief and loss, interpersonal relationship dynamics, ADHD symptoms, stressful life changes/transitions, and all mental health symptoms and diagnoses, including suicidal ideations. She has experience in family dynamics and has worked with kids of all age, so can provide family support, and parental and care-giver support.
Karen specialized in using trauma-informed care, emphasizing the emotional and psychological safety of the client’s experience. She draws from a Humanistic Psychological approach to wellness; a person-centered, holistic, strengths-based approach to empower hope and motivate meaningful change, using a variety of treatment interventions, including Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Family Systems Therapy, and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and Solution-focused Therapy.
Her approach is friendly, empathic, authentic, and nonjudgmental. She splashes her sessions with helpful and memorable analogies, humor, playfulness, and sprinkles of southern sass. She provides psychoeducation and teaches skills for clients to implement natural strategies to manage negative symptoms and improve personal well-being and interpersonal relationships. She empowers clients to accomplish goals by identifying and drawing from their personal core values, strengths and passions.
She offers individual therapy sessions and welcomes both adults and adolescents age 16 and older.