Complex Stress and Trauma
Healing from complex stress, betrayal and trauma is a gradual and individualized journey. It often combines approaches such as trauma-informed care and building safety and trust, helping individuals regain control, resilience, and hope.

Self-Esteem Challenges
Struggling with self-esteem can impact many areas of life, including personal relationships, work performance, and overall well-being. Addressing these challenges involves recognizing negative self-beliefs, cultivating self-compassion, connecting to healthy people, releasing shame and self-limiting comparisons.

Family and Relationship Struggles
Difficulties within family and intimate relationships can cause significant emotional distress. Effective communication, setting boundaries, and professional guidance can support resolving conflicts and fostering healthier connections.

Burnout & Mild Depression
Burnout results from prolonged stress and emotional exhaustion affecting motivation and physical health. With Mild Depression, you can still function in daily life but are not really connecting to joy. Recovery focuses on restorative rest, self-care, balancing responsibilities, and identifying underlying causes. Burnout and depression overlap but you may respond better to different treatment plans and protocols. Burnout can be about existential dread or conflicting values for instance while depression may resolve with behaviorally based therapeutic approaches and medical interventions.

Shame often lies at the root of emotional pain and can prevent individuals from seeking help or forming close connections. Healing from shame requires acceptance, vulnerability, and reframing the narrative to separate self-worth from perceived failures.

Narcissistic abuse With certification from Dr. Ramani’s specialized training program and years of working with clients suffering from narcissistic abuse, Kara possesses a deep understanding of the complex dynamics and considerations in uneven relationships. Her approach is empathetic and tailored, ensuring that each client feels heard and supported. Kara's expertise lies in navigating the intricate patterns of coercive control and antagonistic behavior, empowering her clients to regain their confidence and reclaim their lives.

Neurodivergence Skilled at working with neurodivergent (ND) individuals for over 25 years, Kara draws from her experience as a therapist, former educator and she understands life as a ND person. This blend of personal experience and professional insight allows her to connect with clients and understand their needs on multiple levels, while acknowledging that everyone is unique. If you identify as ND, ADHD, Autistic, AuDHD, or HSP (highly sensitive person), Kara will affirm your lived experiences and offer encouragement about finding ways to take good care of yourself in a typically overwhelming world.

Menopause Kara also enjoys working with women who are experiencing the transition of menopause and are part of the “We Do Not Care” Club. If you’re in perimenopause, menopause, or post-menopause and don’t know about the WDNC, please look it up and perhaps you’ll find a new community. It also helps to see a ‘seasoned’ therapist who can relate. Item description

KJC offers therapy to motivated, sensitive adults who are dealing with complex stress, past trauma impacting the present, burnout, neurodivergence, life transitions and/or relationship issues.

KJC provides individual therapy for adults residing in Arizona, through online Teletherapy sessions, or in-person sessions.

Who is outside of KJC’s scope?

KJC does not specialize in behavioral therapy like CBT or DBT based interventions. CBT or DBT behavioral therapists are better equipped for certain treatment needs like moderate to severe depression, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, or Borderline Personality Disorder. Feel free to reach out with questions.

To ensure clients receive the most appropriate care, KJC does NOT treat and refers individuals to other providers or outside services for:

1. Perpetrators of abuse such as domestic abusers, emotional abusers, sexual abusers, hostile anger management needs.

2. disability case management

3. active self-harm, severe and debilitating depression

4. addictions

5. cases better addressed by behavioral therapies

6. specialty needs for certain personality disorders

7. court ordered therapy

8. treatment resistance, reluctance or hostility about therapy

Kara, a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), has offered counseling services in community agencies, health clinics, crisis response teams, and schools for over 18 years. She switched to the mental health field in 2007 after working in education and has been in private practice providing mental therapy in Arizona and the Greater Phoenix area since 2012. Also offering virtual sessions, she sees clients across Arizona.

KJC prioritizes a strong therapeutic relationship as the foundation for meaningful progress while offering the following modalities. Treatment plans are collaborative between clients and their therapists.

• Kara’s main approach & theoretical framework: Humanistic & Supportive Person-Centered Therapy

Also offering these modalities, with flexibility:

• Accelerated Resolution Therapy, Brainspotting & EMDR: Tapping, TheraTappers, Eye Movement with or without light bar, Emotional Freedom Technique - all offered to support deeper level processing

• Internal Family Systems, ‘Parts of Self Work’ for better self-understanding and self-compassion

• Clinical ‘Heart-Centered Hypnotherapy’ (not covered by insurance)

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Skills (lots of self-help resources are available with ACT to work on between sessions)

Kara is a dedicated advocate for mental health, humanity and education.

KJC respects people’s cultures, gender & sexual identities.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology with additional studies in sociology, women's studies, a post-bachelor degree in education, as well as a master’s in community counseling. Education: University of North Texas, Northern Arizona University, University of Texas at Arlington & University of Phoenix.

Kara has been licensed by the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health as a counselor since 2008. She has been independently licensed as a Licensed Professional Counselor since 2011.

Kara believes in the resilience of the human spirit and recognizes that healing is not linear. Therapy is part of good self-care.

American Counseling Association; Arizona Counseling Association; The Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development; International Society of Accelerated Resolution Therapy; The Wellness Institute

Healing from narcissistic abuse means realizing that no matter how hard you try, you can’t make someone treat you well.

Recovery involves:

Processing the grief upon realizing certain people are not capable of treating you (or others) with empathy, compassion or respect. Allowing yourself the time and space to heal is essential. It requires reconnecting with your own sense of identity, setting realistic boundaries, and seeking support from trusted friends, family, or professionals.

Healing is often a gradual process of rebuilding self-esteem, recognizing patterns of manipulation, and learning to trust yourself again. With patience and self-compassion, it is possible to regain emotional strength and move forward toward healthier relationships.

Neurodivergence (ND) refers to the natural variation in human brain functioning, emotional centers and cognitive processing. It includes autism, ADHD, dyslexia, highly sensitive people and other differences. Many “gifted” learners may be ND. Recognizing ND fosters acceptance and supports individuals in leveraging their unique strengths while addressing challenges, promoting mental. Therapy can help shed light on ways to better understand yourself.