Karen Santos , PACFA

Karen Santos is a PACFA credentialed psychotherapist and social worker with 12 years' experience. She focuses on helping people who face stress, anxiety, trauma, depression and grief. Karen also supports parents navigating parenting challenges and those coping with major life changes.

Karen uses straightforward conversation and practical strategies in sessions. She draws on approaches such as cognitive behavioural techniques and emotionally-focused work to help people notice unhelpful patterns and try new ways of responding. Her sessions aim to be collaborative and paced to each person's needs.

Her background includes community mental health case management and work in trauma counselling. That experience informs how she plans treatment and coordinates care when people need broader support from services. She has training in trauma neurobiology and play-related approaches used with children and parents.

Karen describes therapy as a process of staying curious together. She helps people identify values, set small goals and practise skills between sessions. The emphasis is on practical steps that fit day-to-day life and build on what already works for the person.

Sessions are offered in English and Tagalog. Karen works with a wide range of concerns including abandonment, attachment issues, body image, caregiver stress, chronic health impacts, dissociation, domestic violence, eating and food-related issues, and communication problems. Her practice is based in Australia and reflects twelve years supporting people through difficult transitions.

How Karen's approaches translate to online therapy

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) focuses on helping people live according to their values while accepting difficult thoughts and feelings. It can help with anxiety, depression and life transitions by encouraging committed action and skills practice. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) looks at the link between thoughts, feelings and behaviour and offers practical strategies to challenge unhelpful thinking and develop new routines. Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT) pays attention to emotions and patterns in important relationships, helping people understand and shift how they respond to emotional triggers.

Finding the right approach is a shared process. The therapist will work collaboratively to identify which methods suit the person's goals and preferences. Over a few sessions they will adjust the approach, mixing techniques from different models as needed to address trauma, parenting concerns or day-to-day stressors.

Online formats offer flexibility for different needs. Video calls allow face-to-face interaction for work on emotions and relationship patterns. Phone sessions use less bandwidth and can be easier for a shorter check-in. Live chat and text-based messaging suit people who prefer writing, want more frequent brief contacts, or need to work through issues outside usual hours. These options make it simpler to fit therapy into busy lives and to continue work during transitions.