Karen Gano , MD, LCSW-C, LCSW, CSW

Karen Gano is a seasoned clinician with 33 years of clinical counseling experience who brings a strengths-based, empowerment-focused approach to her work. She holds multiple professional credentials - MD, LCSW-C, LCSW, and CSW - with the social work designations indicating advanced licensure in clinical social work and the MD denoting a medical degree. Karen earned her Master of Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh and has practiced as a medical social worker across a range of settings.

Her practice centers on what she terms Empowerment Counseling, combining a motivational interviewing style with compassion-focused, client-centered, solution-focused brief therapy, mindfulness, and strength-based techniques. She primarily supports women navigating life transitions such as separation, divorce, career shifts, relocation, empty nest, and illness, and she also provides counseling to healthcare workers drawing on extensive experience in trauma care, emergency medicine, critical care, oncology, palliative care, and domestic abuse services.

Karen’s approach is holistic and goal-oriented, emphasizing practical coping strategies, enhanced self-awareness, and the development of resilient resources so clients can move from surviving to thriving. Her professional mantra - Self-Care + Time = Healing - reflects a commitment to helping people expand their support, find their voice, and make meaningful change in their lives.

Therapeutic Approaches Guiding Online Care

Karen uses client-centered therapy to create a collaborative space where the client’s goals and personal values direct the work; this approach emphasizes empathy, active listening, and building on each person’s strengths to address relationship concerns, life transitions, and self-esteem issues.

Mindfulness therapy in her practice introduces simple, present-focused techniques that help reduce stress and manage anxiety by increasing awareness of thoughts and bodily sensations and by teaching practical ways to respond rather than react to difficult moments.

Motivational interviewing is a core part of Karen’s style and supports clients who want to make meaningful changes; it uses reflective listening and goal-setting to strengthen motivation and resolve ambivalence, which can be especially helpful for addiction, coping with life changes, and building sustainable habits.

Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. Karen works together with clients to identify which methods fit their needs, goals, and preferences, and she adjusts strategies over time to support progress.

Online therapy offers flexibility and accessibility through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging, allowing clients to receive care from licensed professionals in ways that fit busy schedules, geographic constraints, and personal comfort levels.