Therapist profile
Karen Contardo, LMHC
Licensed Mental Health Counselor - Family and parenting concerns
Continue with KarenAbout
- CBT methods
- ACT ideas
- Client-centered care
About Karen
Karen Contardo is a Washington state Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) with 15 years of experience. She works with adults facing stress, anxiety, depression, relationship concerns, parenting strain, grief, and life changes. Karen also supports people dealing with intimacy questions, sleep and eating difficulties, career and money worries, and challenges related to chronic illness or pain.
Her sessions are straightforward and conversational. She uses practical tools from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to identify unhelpful thinking and to try new behaviors. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy ideas are used to help people notice values and take action that matters to them. Client-centered principles guide the pace and focus so the client's concerns lead the work.
Karen pays attention to how everyday pressures show up at home and at work. She helps people break problems into small, manageable steps and practice new responses between sessions. This can include short behavioral experiments, value-based goal setting, and skills to reduce stress and improve sleep or eating patterns.
She has particular experience with issues that often accompany midlife and young adulthood, including isolation, decisions about career or schooling, and financial strain. Karen also guides people confronting chronic pain, health limitations, or the emotional fallout of illness.
People who choose her tend to want a practical, steady approach. Sessions move at a calm pace and focus on what can be tried now to make daily life easier.
How sessions work
How her approaches translate to online sessions
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in her work focuses on clarifying what matters to a person and taking small steps toward those values. It can help with feeling stuck, life changes, and making choices that match personal priorities.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is used to identify thinking patterns that increase anxiety or depression and to try behavior changes that reduce symptoms. CBT techniques are often helpful for sleep, eating concerns, and stress management.
Client-Centered Therapy shapes how sessions are run, with the client leading the topics and the therapist adjusting pace and focus to suit each person. This makes room for practical problem solving alongside skills practice.
Finding the best approach is part of the work. She will collaborate with each person to choose techniques that fit their goals, needs, and preferences. That may mean combining elements from ACT and CBT or slowing the pace when needed.
Confirm current session options before booking so you know how sessions are arranged. Online work can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy week, shorten travel time, and keep check-ins brief when life is hectic. It also allows people to continue therapy while managing health or mobility limitations, and to use exercises between sessions in their everyday routines.
Areas of focus
Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
15+ years
Listed in
Washington
Languages
English
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of family or parenting issues does she address?
She works with adults facing parenting strain, family conflict, and the stress parenting brings into daily life.
How would she describe her therapeutic style?
Her style is conversational and practical, using client-centered pacing alongside CBT and ACT techniques.
How much experience does she have?
She has 15 years of experience as a licensed mental health counselor working with adults on a range of life and emotional concerns.
Where is she licensed to practice?
She holds a Washington LMHC credential and practices from Washington state.
Which languages are sessions offered in?
Sessions are offered in English.
Does she work with international clients?
She does not accept international clients at this time.
How are session costs handled?
Cost varies by location and sessions use a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.
How do I begin working with her?
Start by selecting the See online therapy options button, complete the short matching questionnaire, and schedule a first session.
Details come from information the therapist supplied to BetterHelp. A license can be checked with the state board.
Online talk therapy is not emergency care. If anyone is in danger, use the crisis numbers.