About Karen
Karen Lakritz is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with more than 30 years of experience as a psychotherapist. She has helped people facing depression, anxiety, grief, substance use tied to loneliness, and long-term mood conditions.
She is familiar with the practical realities of living in Florida and has spent significant time in Canada, so she knows how to navigate different health and housing systems. Karen brings a warm and supportive presence to sessions.
Background and approach
She pairs empathy with clear expectations so clients can make steady progress. She notes personal experience with a mild stutter and dyslexia and says that lived differences shape how she listens and responds. In practice she uses straightforward, goal-oriented methods.
Conversations focus on the problems that interfere with daily life and on small, doable steps to change them. She helps people build coping skills, manage symptoms, and sort through big life decisions. Her work covers many concerns including stress, bipolar disorder, addictions, trauma and abuse, grief, intimacy issues, eating and sleep problems, parenting strain, anger, self-esteem, career questions, and ADHD.
She also addresses issues such as caregiver stress, chronic illness, attachment and abandonment worries, and communication or commitment problems. Karen describes therapy as a collaborative process. She expects effort and follow-through but offers steady support along the way.
People who want practical strategies with a compassionate listener may find her style a good fit.
Therapeutic approaches and online options
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) focuses on clarifying values and taking small, meaningful actions even when feelings are difficult. It can help when worry, low mood, or avoidance get in the way of living the life someone wants. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at the links between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and teaches concrete strategies to reduce anxiety, lift mood, and change unhelpful patterns. Attachment-Based Therapy pays attention to relationship patterns and early emotional bonds to improve how people relate and feel safe with others.Karen will work collaboratively to find which approach or mix of approaches fits best. She listens to each person's goals and preferences and adjusts methods as progress and needs change. Choosing the right method is part of the work together rather than a one-time decision.
Online therapy offers practical flexibility. Video calls let people use visual cues and longer sessions, while phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or when someone prefers not to be on camera. Live chat and text-based messaging make brief check-ins and day-to-day support possible without a full session. These options make it easier to fit therapy into busy schedules, manage follow-up between sessions, and try different formats to see what works best.
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of concerns does Karen help with?
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What is her professional background?
Where is Karen based and what credential does she hold?
Can I work with her if I live outside the United States?
What session formats are available?
How do fees and payments work?
How do I begin working with her?
Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Bipolar disorder
- Depression
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Avoidant personality
- Blended family issues
- Cancer
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Impulsivity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Narrative Therapy
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Experience
- 30 years
- Licensed
- Florida
- Languages
- English