Karen Garraputa

Karen Garraputa is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LCMHC) in North Carolina with 25 years of professional experience. She works with adults facing stress, anxiety, LGBTQ related concerns, trauma and abuse, depression, and coping with life changes. Karen also focuses on issues like forgiveness, guilt and shame, life purpose, mood disorders, self-love, and women's issues.

She describes decision points as a series of moments that lead to where someone is now. She compares figuring out the next step to driving at night in fog - you may only see your headlights, and that is okay. Karen listens to each person's story and offers steady, practical support while they consider what comes next.

Her practice emphasizes linking thoughts, actions, and emotions to create small, useful changes in daily life. She uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which looks at how thinking patterns shape feelings and behavior, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy elements that teach coping skills and emotional regulation.

Sessions tend to focus on clear, concrete steps clients can try between meetings. Karen works with people who are questioning their direction or adjusting after life changes and helps them notice what is working and what can be shifted.

With a long career in varied settings, she draws on experience rather than jargon. Prospective clients in North Carolina who speak English can follow the site's matching process to schedule a first session.

How her CBT and DBT work in online sessions

Karen uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people notice and change unhelpful thinking patterns. CBT focuses on specific thoughts and behaviors, which can reduce anxiety and depressive symptoms by teaching practical steps to test and shift those patterns.

She also draws on Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills to teach emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and mindfulness techniques. Those DBT-informed tools are useful when strong emotions or repeated reactions get in the way of daily functioning.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. Karen collaborates with each person to decide which methods fit their goals and preferences. Together they review what helps, try different strategies, and adjust plans as needed rather than assuming one path up front.

The site’s matching process starts the practical steps for online care. The original biography does not list specific session formats here, so confirm current session options before booking. Online sessions can make it easier to fit meetings into a busy week, reduce travel time, or allow shorter check-ins when schedules are tight. Licensed professionals can adapt CBT and DBT exercises to remote meetings so clients can practice skills between sessions without changing their day too much.