Karen Jurls, LICSW

Karen Jurls is a licensed clinical social worker who helps people facing stress, anxiety, depression, and big life changes. She writes plainly and listens closely to what matters to each person. Her focus is on practical steps that can ease daily strain and restore some hope.

She has 35 years of experience in mental health and public health settings. Over the years she has supported people coping with grief, relationship and family disruptions, trauma, and problems with sleep, appetite, or addictive behaviors. She has also worked directly with adoptive parents and their children.

Karen uses well-established, skills-based approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy alongside attachment-based and client-centered methods. She emphasizes clear goals, small experiments, and everyday tools that people can use between sessions.

In sessions she helps people understand patterns of thinking and behavior, practice new ways of responding, and set manageable steps toward change. She also works on communication and coping strategies when family history or attachment issues are part of the concern.

Her practice supports people who want practical help moving forward. New perspectives and learned skills are central to her work. Karen aims to create a calm, respectful space where people can sort through problems and build routines that make life more manageable.

Approach options and online therapy

Karen commonly uses cognitive behavioral therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy alongside attachment-based approaches. Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on noticing thoughts and testing them with practical behavior changes to reduce anxiety or depression. Acceptance and commitment therapy teaches how to accept difficult feelings while taking steps toward valued goals. Attachment-based work looks at patterns from early relationships and how they affect current communication and trust.

Choosing the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and life context, and then try methods that fit. Decisions about techniques and pace are made together so the plan feels useful and doable.

Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video calls are good for in-depth conversations and visual cues, phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited, live chat works for shorter check-ins, and messaging supports ongoing reflection between appointments. These options make it simpler to fit therapy into a busy life and to keep working when schedules change.