- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- Mindfulness Therapy
About Karen
Karen Pelligra is a New York licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) with 22 years of clinical experience. She works with adults who are dealing with stress, anxiety, depression, relationship strain, grief, anger, addictions, and guilt and shame. She has worked in outpatient community mental health, inpatient psychiatric settings, and home-based family services.
Karen uses straightforward talk and practical strategies in sessions. She listens first, then helps people notice patterns that keep them stuck. She draws on approaches such as client-centered work, cognitive behavioral techniques, mindfulness, dialectical behavior skills, and motivational interviewing.
Her sessions often focus on current problems and on small steps that fit into daily life. For someone carrying guilt or shame, she helps unpack what those feelings mean and how they affect behavior. She also addresses grief, parenting stresses, and difficult life transitions like divorce or empty nest.
Her background includes long-term work in community mental health and inpatient care, which shaped her familiarity with mood disorders, trauma, and compulsive patterns. She brings experience helping people manage panic, obsessive thoughts, and chronic illness or pain concerns.
Karen aims to work collaboratively on clear goals. She uses tools from CBT and DBT to teach skills for mood regulation and coping. Mindfulness practices and motivational interviewing help with motivation and commitment to change.
How her approaches translate to online work
Karen uses client-centered methods that focus on what matters most to the person. That approach involves listening closely, naming priorities, and shaping sessions around the client's immediate concerns. It is useful for addressing relationship strain, grief, and feelings like guilt and shame.She also uses cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to identify unhelpful thoughts and test them with practical experiments. CBT is often used for anxiety, depression, panic attacks, and compulsive patterns. Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills are taught to support emotion regulation and distress tolerance when moods or urges feel overwhelming.
Finding the right mix of approaches is part of the work. Karen will collaborate with the client to decide which methods to try first, based on goals and what feels most useful. That may mean practicing a DBT skill one week and doing a CBT behavioral experiment the next.
Confirm the session formats offered before booking, as the biography does not list specific options. Online work can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy life - for example, a shorter phone check-in can work during a lunch break, and video meetings let people use visual cues when that helps. These practical choices help therapy fit around daily responsibilities rather than adding extra strain.
Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
22+ years
Listed in
New York
Languages
English
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of issues does she address?
She works with stress, anxiety, depression, relationship strain, grief, anger, addictions, and concerns related to guilt and shame among other issues.
How does she approach feelings of guilt or shame?
She helps people talk through what those feelings mean, identify the behaviors they drive, and practice skills to respond differently over time.
What is her clinical background?
She has 22 years of experience in outpatient community mental health, inpatient psychiatric hospitals, and home-based family services.
What credentials and region are listed?
She is a New York LMHC and practices in New York.
Does she hold sessions in languages other than English?
Sessions are offered in English.
Can international clients work with her?
International clients are not currently accepted.
How are sessions paid for and what does cost look like?
Cost varies with location and sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.
How do I begin if I want to work with her?
Select the See online therapy options button, complete the short matching questionnaire, and schedule a first session.
Online talk therapy is not emergency care. If you are in danger or thinking about harming yourself, use the crisis numbers.