KAREN KEATING
University of Pennsylvania, M.S.Ed. in School and Mental Health Counseling through Penn's Graduate School of Education, EMDR Trauma Therapy Trained, Certified School Counselor, LPC
Primary Therapist
"Turn and look within, realizing that what you need, you already have." ~ Dr. Robin Smith
MEET KAREN:
Karen is a therapist specializing in work with adolescents and adults ages 14 and older. She creates a collaborative, relational space where clients feel genuinely seen, understood, and supported. Many of the individuals Karen works with are thoughtful and self-aware, yet find themselves feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or disconnected in their relationships or within themselves. In therapy, she helps clients slow down, make sense of their inner experiences, and move toward meaningful change at a pace that feels both safe and authentic.
Karen's clinical approach is grounded in Internal Family Systems (IFS), and integrates trauma-informed care, including EMDR, alongside existential therapy, mindfulness, and self-compassion practices. This integrative framework allows Karen to work collaboratively with clients to explore both the internal patterns and external experiences shaping each client's life while honoring their inherent strengths and resilience. Karen believes that healing involves developing a deeper understanding of the parts of ourselves that carry pain, protection, and unmet needs, and she walks alongside clients in that process with steadiness and compassionate challenge. She is committed to culturally sensitive, healing-centered care and thoughtfully honors the diverse identities and lived experiences each client brings to the therapeutic relationship.
She meets clients with warmth and a steady belief in their capacity for growth and change. Her areas of focus include: anxiety, depression, trauma recovery, life and career transitions, relationship challenges, complex family dynamics, and systemic and attachment-based concerns.
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Karen brings a depth of personal and professional experience to her work that is woven into every aspect of her practice. With a seventeen-year career as an educator, she developed a profound connection with adolescents and teens, walking alongside them as they navigated identity, challenge, and growth at their own pace. That foundation of mutual trust and learning, knowing when to encourage and when to push, continues to shape the way she shows up for clients today.
Her transition into therapy was catalyzed by the aftermath of the pandemic, a moment when the world's hunger for genuine connection and safe spaces became impossible to ignore. Karen resolved to meet that need, bringing her experience, her curiosity, and her deep belief in the human capacity for healing into the therapy room.
Karen's clinical philosophy has been profoundly shaped by the books that have moved her most. Richard Schwartz's No Bad Parts transformed the way she approaches her work, grounding her in the conviction that every part of a person has a purpose and deserves compassion rather than judgment, a belief that sits at the heart of her practice. Stephanie Foo's What My Bones Know, a searingly honest account of healing after a diagnosis of complex PTSD, deepened Karen's understanding of trauma's reach and the remarkable resilience of the human spirit.
Through it all, Karen Keating aspires to help each person she works with embrace who they truly are, even when that requires courage, and move through life with resilience, authenticity, and hope.
Let’s Talk:
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