Karen Woodson

LCSW

Karen Woodson

Connection is at the heart

As a Colorado native, I love the mountains. Mountains provide a great metaphor for the challenges we each have to overcome. When we are at the bottom of the mountain or suffering through the hardest parts of our life journey, we may wonder if it is worth it to keep going, or if we even have the strength to keep moving forward. We are not meant to walk the journeys of life alone. We find strength when someone is there helping us along the way to provide us support. We start to feel hope as we make progress. As we arrive at our objective, we realize we are stronger than we thought, and that we have new knowledge, support, and skills to help us summit future “mountains.”

The journey of life can be difficult for anyone. I agree with Sue Johnson: “Humans need emotional connection like we need oxygen.” Strong relationships enable us to rise above our emotional challenges and reach our potential. Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) is the roadmap I use to help couples, families and individuals build the bonds that provide the connection for which we all long.

My personal and professional journey

Being a “guide” to help couples, families, and individuals through their life’s journeys is one of the greatest privileges of my life. My first privilege is as a wife and mother. We are a military family, and our life journey has been challenging. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, I have practiced therapy with individuals, groups, and families for several years. My work included providing mental health services to traumatized children diagnosed with severe mental health disorders in residential settings; working with Spanish speaking clients—children and adults—providing both individual and group therapy in a community behavioral health center; assessing patients in crisis in a hospital emergency department; leading groups for adults in recovery from addictions and facilitating family work; aiding both adults and adolescents in in-patient treatment; and working at LDS Family Services to provide therapy to individuals, couples and families. As I worked with people from various backgrounds and ages, I realized that they all needed a strong sense of belonging and connection in their relationships to help them heal and progress toward their goals.

During this time, I learned about Emotionally Focused Therapy and saw how its principles helped couples and families recover from the distress caused by separations, trauma, and life challenges. EFT is one of the best researched and tested models of psychotherapy based on adult attachment science. I also began to see how being more accessible, responsive, and engaged improved my relationships with my husband, children, and others. After a year of advanced training and supervision, I became certified in the model. I have found the work I do as an EFT therapist challenging and rewarding and I hope to have the privilege to help guide your family..

MY HOPE IS TO INCREASE SECURE ATTACHMENTS GLOBALLY

As a “military spouse,” I have had the privilege to work with clients from diverse backgrounds internationally, especially serving foreign service and military families. I have personal and professional experience with the unique challenges that exist for transient families. The advanced training and certification in the empirically validated model, Emotionally Focused Therapy, enables me to understand complex life experiences that may lead us to numb, avoid, or struggle with painful emotions. My goal is to help clients access the inner core values that enable them to establish strong bonds with themselves and in their most important relationships. I am especially passionate about helping couples work through betrayal trauma and assisting adults and adolescents with family conflict or other life stresses.

I invite you to call today so I can support you in establishing more secure bonds with those you love. You may send me a message through the contact form and include my name in the subject line.

 

Karen earned an M.S.W. from Brigham Young University. She is licensed in the state of Colorado, Maryland, Virginia, and Georgia and provides relationship coaching to foreign service and military families overseas.