MEET Kara
A little bit about ME
I’m an affirming, inclusive, and intuitive therapist who believes you can cultivate greater satisfaction in your life and relationships by mindfully uncovering your unmet needs and by practicing how to get them met. In therapy, I work with adults and young adults from a somatic perspective, which means we look to the body as a primary source of wisdom. Our bodies know what we need before we do. I can help you learn how to tap in to your body’s innate wisdom. It’s also important to me to look at how each of my clients is impacted by systems — for example, the family system, educational systems, economic systems, and systems of oppression. These systems shape who you are, how you function and how you feel, and I’m here for it.
Another aspect of my work is to support pregnant mental health and wellness professionals as they balance the sometimes competing demands of body, baby, and business. I offer this support through my book, The Therapist’s Guide to Being Pregnant: A planner, timeline, and guide for therapist parents-to-be, and through consultations. As a registered Clinical Supervisor in Maryland, I provide affordable supervision for Social Workers. I identify as a fun-loving, empathetic, outspoken, cisgendered white woman.
MY APPROACH TO therapy
Somatic Psychotherapy
This treatment modality looks to the body as a primary source of information about current relational and psychological functioning. It’s a collaborative approach that uses mindfulness to help clients understand how their thoughts, beliefs, emotions, and body responses are adaptations to their lived experiences, and to help clients find their own unique strategies for coping and healing. This modality is helpful for clients who have experienced trauma, who have been hurt in past relationships, and who are struggling in current relationships with themselves and others.
Clinical supervision
I’m licensed as a Clinical Supervisor in the State of Maryland, providing affordable clinical supervision for LMSWs working toward advanced licensure.
EDUCATION + TRAINING
I earned a Bachelor of Arts in Human Services from Elon University in North Carolina in 2003 and a Master of Social Work from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. in 2006. I’ve been a licensed Clinical Social Worker since 2008 and began my psychotherapy practice in 2011. My professional background includes work in foster care and adoptions, community-based residential treatment for teens, and outpatient mental health. I began training in a somatic psychotherapy modality called Sensorimotor Psychotherapy in 2012, have completed Levels 1 + 2, and I’ve participated as a training assistant.
Kara wrote and self-published a book for therapists in February 2020. The Therapist’s Guide to Being Pregnant is a fun and quick read for the busy professional who is growing more than just a practice.
Support for Therapists
