Karen Pelligra , LMHC

Karen Pelligra is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) based in New York with 22 years of clinical experience. She has provided counseling across outpatient community mental health clinics, inpatient psychiatric hospitals, and home-based family services, developing a broad understanding of varied care settings and client needs.

Her practice emphasizes a collaborative, supportive approach designed to empower people as they navigate depression, anxiety, eating disorders, trauma, and major life transitions such as divorce or the empty nest. Drawing on a range of counseling styles, she tailors interventions to each individual, helping clients build practical coping skills and greater emotional resilience.

Recognizing that asking for help is a courageous step, she centers respect and partnership in the therapeutic process and focuses on creating an environment where concerns can be explored openly and constructively. Her long experience working with diverse clinical presentations informs a flexible, person-focused approach that aims to meet clients where they are and support meaningful change over time.

Therapeutic Approaches and Online Care

Karen Pelligra draws on client-centered therapy to create a respectful, nonjudgmental space where the client’s experience guides the work - this approach helps people who need support exploring personal values, rebuilding confidence, and navigating life transitions. She also uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to identify and shift unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns; CBT is frequently helpful for anxiety, depression, and practical coping around everyday stressors. In addition, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills are employed when emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness are priorities, offering structured techniques to manage strong emotions and improve relationships.

Finding the right approach is part of the therapeutic process, and she works collaboratively with clients to determine which methods fit their needs, goals, and preferences. That collaborative planning helps tailor sessions so they feel relevant and manageable.

Online therapy options include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging, which allow clients to access care with greater scheduling flexibility and from familiar environments. These modalities make it easier to continue consistent work over time and to choose the format that best suits a client’s routine and comfort level.