About

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Please contact me at 415.488.5565 ( or email at karen@karenbatka.com) to schedule an initial appointment or discuss your needs. I am licensed to practice Marriage and Family Therapy in both California and North Carolina and can work with residents of either state via Telementalhealth when appropriate. As of January 1, 2018, my physical office will be located in Asheville, NC.

Background

My desire to become a psychotherapist emerged from an insatiable curiosity about people: how we think, feel, experience, play, choose, create and respond to the unfolding tapestry of our lives.  After living many life chapters both domestically and internationally, I felt I had acquired a sufficient patina and ripeness at mid-life to serve others in this capacity and made the decision to become a psychotherapist.  In addition to the integrative mind, body, spirit training I received at the California Institute of Integral Studies, my life experiences as a daughter, sibling, student, wife, parent, business entrepreneur, expatriate, repatriate, teacher and friend all enhance my ability to work with a wide variety of issues, challenges and life intersections.

Education

I am a Certified Grief Recovery Specialist®. Additionally, I have been a student of Hatha Yoga and Vipassana meditation for more than 20 years and became a Registered Yoga Teacher in 2002.  These mindfulness practices are implicitly and explicitly incorporated into my therapeutic approach.

I have completed additional trainings in The Hakomi Method, Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), Attachment-Focused EMDR, The Grief Recovery Institute®, The Rosen Method, Collaborative Couples Therapy, Clinical Applications of the Enneagram, Skills for Change Bodywork, Restorative Practices, Positive Psychology and Employee Assistance Specialist Certification.

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. -Charles Darwin