About Me
Hello! My name is Karen Ward. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Texas with over 14 years of experience working as a counselor and a hypnotherapist. I have worked with individuals, couples, and families with a wide range of concerns including depression, anxiety, relationship issues, parenting problems, past hurts, and OCD. I also helped many people who have experienced physical trauma or emotional abuse. In addition, I have much life experience that gives me compassion and a deeper understanding of what it may be like standing in your shoes. Congratulations on taking this first step in improving your life. Many people believe that seeking help from a therapist is a sign of weakness. But the contrary is true. It is a sign of great strength and wisdom. I will be glad to discuss this further with you if you would like.
I strongly believe you should feel comfortable with the therapist you choose, and hopeful about the therapy. When you feel this way, therapy is more likely to be extremely helpful to you. I like to think of my role as a passenger on your boat of life, helping you navigate through the rapids or the storms of your life. I will not steer your boat for you or tell you how to drive it. But I will teach you better skills and help you let go of your past failures or anchors that are weighing you down so that when the next rapids or storm hits, you are better prepared to navigate through the troubled waters to calmer seas.
My theoretical approach is based on the family system. Each of us has a family. This could be the family that raised us (parents, grandparents, foster parents, adopted parents, aunts and uncles, or other friends or extended family) or it could be people we respect and give us assistance and guidance when needed most. Any or all these people have contributed to our experiences, good or bad in life, and how we react to people or situations today. It is these family memories and experiences along with your personality and temperament that have brought you to the place you are in life today.
The most central ideas in my work are:
1. People are unique and deserve to be treated equally and with respect.
2. Families and society tend to judge people's worth and force them into conformity which may lead to anxiety, loss of self-esteem, depression, anger, rebellion, and other dysfunctional behaviors and psychological disorders.
3. Every person needs their own space and a purpose in life to have a sense of worth, hope, acceptance, empowerment, and the ability to make good choices and be responsible.
4. Therapy can help people change in a positive way so that they can live to their full potential.
5. Parents do the best they know how, and often repeat the dysfunctional patterns of their families.
6. Change can be difficult and may create stress in the family system and in the client. This can lead to the client reverting to the familiar way of coping with the stress and the stopping of all progress.
7. As the client's self-worth and outlook on life improves, change will occur and is permanent.
The goals of my treatment are tailored to the individual's uniqueness, willingness to change, and their personal issues. My hope is that everyone will discover their full potential and develop the healthy coping skills necessary to function in their family system and in society.
I look forward to helping you find peace and happiness in your life.
Specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
- Trauma and abuse
- Depression
Grief , Intimacy-related issues , Sleeping disorders , Parenting issues , Anger management , Self esteem , Bipolar disorder , Coping with life changes , ADHD , Abandonment , Aging and Geriatric Issues , Attachment Issues , Read more...
Clinical approaches:
Attachment-Based Therapy, Client-Centered Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT), Hypnotherapy, Mindfulness Therapy, Solution-Focused Therapy, Somatic Therapy, Trauma-Focused Therapy
Services Offered
Messaging
Live Chat
Phone
Video
Licensing
LPC #62778 (Expires: 2021-10-31)
Reviews
Karen is the best. I feel I'm making great progress.
I am only starting with this process, so I don't have any long term information offer. What I have so far is completely positive. Since my health plan has no provision for this kind of service, I consider Betterhelp's availability a really excellent thing, and I like the idea that I can message in the app, rather than have to do all communications during our meeting. So, as I said before I'm just getting started, but I would recommend anyone try out this venue yeah they have some things that they need to really optimize in their life and they think some counseling might help.
The thing that really surprised me about this process was that if I am just journaling to myself I don't really look at the issues and the amount of detail that I would have to look at them if I was explaining them to someone else such as a counselor. This has led me to examine the things that I am trying to improve not only in more detail but in more relevant detail. This counselling process has added an entire dimension to my love level of thought. The first example is when I moved from merely documenting what I was thinking and feeling as I would have in my Journal to actually formulating what a good version of the troubled area would look like in order that I could explain what I wanted to my counselor. Having to do this last little part of analysis and thought is really starting to make a little difference and my approach to this end to some other things that are not at risk.
Karen is incredible. She has helped me work through so many things during such a difficult time in my life. Her guidance and support have helped me progress and sort through so many things and heal in so many ways. I love working with her.