Karen Haggard, LCSW
Practical narrative therapy for life transitions
Details
| Name | Karen Haggard |
|---|---|
| Credentials | LCSW |
| Based in | Illinois |
| Licensed in | Illinois, Texas |
| Session format | Online |
| Languages | English |
| Years in practice | 25 |
About Karen
Karen Haggard is a licensed clinical social worker who helps people facing anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, and relationship struggles. She writes simply and listens closely to understand each person’s story. Sessions are practical and focused on what matters most to the client.
She brings 25 years of experience working with adults through major life transitions and emotional pain. Karen uses Narrative ideas to help people separate themselves from painful stories and see other possibilities.
Background and approach
She also draws on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Attachment-Based approaches to address values, patterns, and close relationships. In a typical session she will ask about what matters to you now and what gets in the way of living that life. Work often includes examining unhelpful beliefs, learning new coping skills, and trying small behavior changes between sessions.
Conversations are paced to fit the person’s needs and readiness. Karen has professional licensure as an LCSW in Illinois and Texas. She works with a broad range of concerns including addictions, bipolar disorder, ADHD, caregiver stress, chronic illness, body image, and intimacy-related issues.
She also supports people dealing with abandonment, adoption and foster care questions, and blended family stress. People can expect a respectful, nonjudgmental tone and straightforward strategies alongside deeper narrative work. Sessions aim to clarify values, improve communication, and reduce the problems that make daily life harder.
Practical steps and reflective conversation are balanced to support steady progress.
What this therapist works with
Her listing names Stress, Anxiety, Relationship issues, Trauma and abuse among the things Karen works with, alongside the areas below.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Trauma and abuse
- Grief
- Depression
- Addictions
- LGBT
- Family conflicts
- Intimacy-related issues
- Sleeping disorders
- Parenting issues
- Anger management
- Self esteem
- Career difficulties
- Bipolar disorder
- Coping with life changes
- Compassion fatigue
- ADHD
- Abandonment
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Attachment issues
- Avoidant personality
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Guilt and shame
- Hoarding
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Postpartum depression
- Post-traumatic stress
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexual dysfunction
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Traumatic brain injury
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Approaches listed
- Narrative Therapy: Named in her listing among her approaches.
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): Listed by Karen among the ways she works.
- Attachment-Based Therapy: Listed by Karen among the ways she works.
- Client-Centered Therapy: Listed by Karen among the ways she works.
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Listed by Karen among the ways she works.
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): Listed by Karen among the ways she works.
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT): Listed by Karen among the ways she works.
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR): Listed by Karen among the ways she works.
- Gottman Method: Listed by Karen among the ways she works.
- Hypnotherapy: Listed by Karen among the ways she works.
- Mindfulness Therapy: Listed by Karen among the ways she works.
- Motivational Interviewing: Listed by Karen among the ways she works.
- Solution-Focused Therapy: Listed by Karen among the ways she works.
- Trauma-Focused Therapy: Listed by Karen among the ways she works.
- Training stated: This directory copies the approaches a therapist names and does not check training records. Ask Karen directly how much of the work is narrative and what a session usually looks like.
Narrative Therapy in this listing
Narrative Therapy appears in this therapist's own list of approaches. That tells you it is part of how she works. It does not tell you how much of a session it shapes, and this directory does not check or rate training.
If a narrative approach is what you are looking for, it is worth asking Karen directly how she uses it and what a session usually looks like.
Online session options
How narrative and acceptance work online
Karen combines Narrative Therapy with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Attachment-Based perspectives. Narrative Therapy focuses on the stories people tell about themselves and their lives, helping clients separate from limiting narratives and notice new possibilities. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy centers on identifying values and taking small committed actions even when difficult feelings are present, which helps with anxiety, depression, and life transitions. Attachment-Based work looks at how early relational patterns influence current relationships and communication, offering ways to strengthen emotional connection and reduce reactive cycles.Finding the right approach is part of the work. Karen treats the choice of methods as a collaboration, adjusting techniques to match a person’s goals, preferences, and everyday reality. She will discuss options and try different strategies to see what fits best for the client.
Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to make participation easier. Video is useful for in-depth conversation and exercises that benefit from face-to-face interaction. Phone sessions can be a good choice when bandwidth is limited or a shorter check-in is needed. Live chat and text-based messaging let people fit brief check-ins into a busy day or continue momentum between longer sessions. These options support flexible, consistent care for those balancing work, family, or travel.
Common questions about this listing
What kinds of problems does Karen help address?
She works with stress, anxiety, depression, grief, trauma and abuse, addictions, relationship and intimacy-related issues, parenting strain, sleep problems, anger, self-esteem, career concerns, bipolar disorder, ADHD, and coping with life changes.
What is Karen's therapeutic style like?
Her style is compassionate and practical. She combines narrative approaches with acceptance-based and attachment-informed work, focusing on values, patterns, and concrete steps clients can try between sessions.
How much experience does she have?
Karen has 25 years of clinical experience working with adults on a wide range of emotional and life challenges.
What credentials and location information apply?
She is an LCSW and holds licensure in Illinois and Texas. Her professional base of practice is in Illinois.
Are sessions offered in other languages or to international clients?
Sessions are offered in English, and she accepts international clients.
Which session formats are available?
Clients can meet by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging depending on what works best for them.
How does pricing work?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability; sessions use a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.
What should I do to begin working together?
Start by selecting the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and then schedule sessions according to the therapist's availability.
Contacting this therapist
Sessions with Karen are arranged through our partner platform. It asks a few questions about what you are looking for, then shows you the therapists available to you, including Karen where she has space. Ask about fees, and whether she holds a licence or registration where you live.
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