About Karen
Karen Jurls is a licensed independent clinical social worker (LICSW) with 35 years of experience. She focuses on helping people who are feeling overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, low self-esteem, grief, relationship shifts, and other life changes. Karen offers calm, practical guidance so clients can manage day-to-day challenges and rebuild a sense of balance.
Her approach is collaborative and straightforward. Sessions center on identifying goals, learning new coping skills, and understanding patterns that keep problems stuck.
Background and approach
She uses tools from cognitive behavioral methods to change unhelpful thinking and from acceptance-based work to build a steadier relationship with difficult emotions. Karen has a long history in mental health and public health settings. She has worked with adoptive parents and their children and has helped people facing depression, trauma, grief, and struggles with coping skills.
That background informs her practical, client-focused style. In the room she emphasizes respect and careful listening. Clients can expect to set achievable goals and try manageable steps between sessions.
The aim is to reduce daily strain and create clearer choices for moving forward. She offers online options and flexible session formats to fit different lifestyles. Karen welcomes conversations about goals and helps people find an approach that fits their needs and routines.
How therapeutic approaches guide online care
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice difficult thoughts and feelings without being driven by them, then move toward meaningful actions. It can be useful for anxiety, stress, and low mood. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and trying new behaviors to change mood and functioning, which often helps with anxiety and sleep problems. Attachment-Based Therapy looks at patterns in close relationships and how early caregiving shapes current connection and trust, which can help with relationship and family concerns.Finding the right approach is part of the work. Karen will collaborate with each person to figure out which methods fit their needs and goals, and she adjusts the plan as progress or priorities change. Clients help set goals and choose the tools that feel most useful for their situation.
Online therapy offers practical flexibility. Video calls let people use visual cues and practice skills in sessions. Phone sessions can be shorter check-ins or work when bandwidth is limited. Live chat and text messaging are useful for brief updates, coping reminders, or between-session support. These options make it easier to fit regular sessions into busy schedules and to maintain continuity of care when travel or other demands arise.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Grief
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Coaching
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Guilt and shame
- HIV / AIDS
- Hoarding
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intellectual disability
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Self esteem
- Sexuality
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Narrative Therapy
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Experience
- 35 years
- Licensed
- Alabama
- Languages
- English
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