Karen Graber, LMFT was born and grew up in Portland, Oregon. She earned her Bachelor of Science Degree at Portland State University, and completed her Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology from the University of LaVerne in 1993, when she became a Licensed Marital and Family Therapist in the State of Alaska. She has worked over 35 years in social services and mental health in the Pacific Northwest, New Mexico, and, since 1988, in Alaska when she and her husband moved here.

 

Her clinical experience includes working with inpatient adolescent and child populations, home-based family interventions, community mental health, and over the last 17 years, in private practice. She has taken these experiences with diverse populations and age groups to design individual strategies and interventions for people across the life span. Her Training and clinical experience allowed for a natural progression in developing effective cognitive/behavioral treatment interventions.

 

Areas of interest and expertise include the treatment of mood disorders , anxiety, and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder. She also works with individuals in stress management, and coping with major life changes that occur in relationships, in work, and with grief and loss. Her Major emphasis is with individual adults, families and couples.

 

She views counseling and therapy in large part, as assisting her clients with improving emotional regulation, problem solving, coping and problem management, time management, and improving communication skills. She adheres to a treatment philosophy that was described by one of her mentors, who said that "cognitive behavior therapy does not often teach us what we don't know, but rather, reminds us of what we need to do; it is not so much learning new things (though that can be very important too) as it is remembering what we already know".

 

Her interests outside of work include a passion for dogs, gardening, photography and hiking.