Karen Gano, MD, LCSW-C, LCSW, CSW - Therapist in New Mexico

About Karen

Karen Gano is an experienced clinician who focuses on helping people navigate major life shifts. She presents a calm, practical approach that aims to make change feel manageable. Karen holds an MD and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker - Clinical (LCSW-C) as well as LCSW and CSW, and she brings more than three decades of practice to each meeting.

She frames her work as empowerment counseling. Sessions are goal oriented and built around the client's priorities.

Background and approach

Karen uses a mix of motivational techniques, mindfulness, and solution-focused strategies to help people notice options and take small steps forward. Her clinical background includes long experience in medical social work and work in trauma, emergency medicine, critical care, oncology, palliative care, and domestic violence. That history informs how she supports clients facing illness, caregiver stress, grief, and major transitions.

Typical issues she addresses include stress, anxiety, depression, relationship and intimacy concerns, grief, addiction, self-esteem, and career or midlife changes. She also works with concerns such as abandonment, blended family issues, fertility and hospice-related matters. Karen aims to help people build coping skills, strengthen self-awareness, and expand their personal resources.

Her style tends to be compassionate and practical, with an emphasis on small, concrete steps toward better daily functioning.

How Karen Uses Approach and Online Care Together

Client-centered work means the conversation starts with the person's goals and priorities. The therapist listens, reflects what matters most, and helps shape small, doable steps toward change. This is useful when someone needs a practical plan for handling stress or life transitions.

Motivational interviewing focuses on noticing what motivates a person and building on that energy. It helps when someone feels stuck or unsure about making changes, such as addressing substance use or improving self-care. Mindfulness therapy teaches simple attention and breathing practices to reduce reactivity and increase present-moment awareness, which can help with anxiety, stress, and coping during medical or caregiving challenges.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. Karen collaborates with each person to figure out which methods fit their needs, goals, and preferences. She adapts tools over time and checks in often to make sure the plan stays useful.

Online sessions are offered via video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to make participation easier around busy schedules and geographic limits. These options let people connect from home, fit therapy into varying routines, and maintain steady contact between meetings when helpful.

Client-Centered Therapy

The direction comes from you rather than from a set programme. The therapist offers a warm, non-judgemental space to think out loud and work at your own pace. Online, this rests on the relationship rather than on being in the same room.

Mindfulness Therapy

Attention training: noticing thoughts and physical feelings as they arrive without being carried off by them. Much of it is practice you do yourself, so guidance over video or audio works much as it would in person.

Motivational Interviewing

A way of working through mixed feelings about change without being pushed. The therapist helps you weigh things up and find your own reasons, which often makes a difficult decision feel less stuck.

Frequently asked questions

What kinds of concerns can Karen address?

She works with a wide range of issues including stress, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, addictions, grief, relationship and intimacy issues, and career or life transitions.

How would you describe her therapeutic style?

Her approach blends client-centered conversation, motivational interviewing, mindfulness, and solution-focused techniques to set practical goals and encourage steady progress.

What is her professional background?

Karen has 33 years of clinical experience and a background in medical social work, trauma, critical care, oncology, palliative care, and domestic violence work.

Where is Karen licensed and based?

She practices in New Mexico; her listed credentials include MD, LCSW-C 27193, and CO LCSW CSW.09924060.

In which languages are sessions offered?

Sessions are offered in English.

What session formats does she offer?

Sessions are available by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to fit different needs and schedules.

How are costs handled for sessions?

Cost varies with location and therapist availability; sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.

How do I begin working with Karen?

Start by selecting the Start Therapy button, completing a short matching questionnaire, and then scheduling according to therapist availability.

Specialties and expertise

Top specialties

Relationship issues
Trauma and abuse
Grief

Also works with

Therapeutic approaches

Experience: 33 years
Licensed: New Mexico, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, Maine
Languages: English

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