About Karen
Karen Contardo is a licensed mental health counselor in Washington with 15 years of clinical experience. She helps people manage stress, anxiety, depression, and relationship or intimacy concerns. She also supports people facing parenting challenges, sleep or eating problems, career decisions, grief, and coping with life changes.
Her style is warm and straightforward. Sessions focus on clear steps people can practice between meetings. Conversations are practical and aimed at small, steady shifts rather than overnight fixes.
How Karen works
Karen draws on acceptance and commitment ideas to help people notice what matters to them and take action toward those values. She uses client-centered methods to follow each person’s pace and concerns, and cognitive behavioral techniques to change unhelpful thoughts and habits.
Her work also addresses chronic pain, illness, control issues, feelings of emptiness, impulsivity, loneliness, life purpose, midlife shifts, and money-related stress. She treats intimacy-related issues and offers coaching approaches when people want focused, goal-oriented support. Sessions may involve skill practice, values clarification, and problem-solving tailored to each person’s situation.
Karen aims to make therapy practical and manageable for busy lives. She speaks English and sees clients from Washington.
Karen lists 3 ways of working on the entry:
What Karen works with
The areas below are the ones Karen selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
Also listed
- Career difficulties
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Coaching
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Grief
- Impulsivity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Parenting issues
- Sleeping disorders
- Women's issues
- Young adult issues
Training and background
| Register | LMHC |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 15 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | Washington |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
How her approaches translate to online therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy helps people notice unhelpful thoughts, clarify what matters to them, and take small actions toward those values. It can be useful for anxiety, depression, and life transitions. Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening without judgment and following the person’s lead, which can help people feel understood and build confidence. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy looks at the links between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and uses practical exercises to change patterns that cause distress.Choosing the right approach is part of the work. She collaborates with each person to decide which methods feel most useful based on goals and preferences. That process can change over time as progress is made and needs shift.
Online therapy offers flexibility for busy schedules. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation when a fuller interaction is helpful. Phone sessions can be a good option when bandwidth is limited or a quieter connection is needed. Live chat and text-based messaging suit quick check-ins, brief coaching, or ongoing support between sessions. These formats make it easier to fit therapy into work, school, or caregiving routines while still using the same therapeutic tools described above.
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Common questions
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A practical next step
Write down two things you would want to be different in six months. That is the most useful thing to bring to a first session, whoever it is with. If you would rather start now than keep reading, online sessions are the quickest route.
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