Karen Peters

About Karen

Karen Peters, Ph.D is a Psychologist who graduated from California School of Professional Psychology in 1996. As a seasoned clinician, Karen has 28 years of experience in the field and is licensed in California. What makes you enjoy working with seniors?

Our seniors are the wisdom keepers – keepers of the kind of wisdom that only comes with life experience and is so important to pass on to younger generations. Yet In today's world our seniors face unprecedented challenges that often obscure the wisdom that rests in their own minds, bodies, and spirits. That wisdom can be unlocked with some gentle encouragement, a listening ear, a fresh perspective, some simple, easy to apply tools.

I've seen a natural and untiring drive towards greater balance and health come forth that helps ease the mind, body, and spirit – even in very old age and near death. The resiliency I've witnessed has left me awestruck and deeply inspired. It has shaped my attitude and outlook on my own aging process.

I'd also like to think I'm doing my part in helping to preserve the collective wisdom this world so desperately needs. Why do you think online therapy is effective for seniors? Ironically enough, technology is one of the many challenges our seniors face, yet in this space it is a gift.

Telehealth removes several barriers to accessing in-person services and eliminates the potential health risks that are a concern to many. The telephone is also a wonderful tool, especially in helping those who are shy and/or uncomfortable with navigating video technology. Can you share some details about your experience?

I've worked my entire career as a psychologist in medicine, providing individual and group services for patients, and education to physicians. I also designed and implemented patient centered systems of care. My first 17 years was dedicated to the field of addiction medicine.

There I discovered a deep passion for building therapeutic patient communities and leveraging the healing power of motivated groups of people with a common issue. As the opioid crisis peaked, I felt compelled to understand the neurophysiology chronic pain and work to develop treatment approaches to help reduce reliance on opioids and other high risk medical interventions. I left addiction medicine to work in physical medicine and rehabilitation.

There I unleashed my creativity and developed a nationally recognized patient centered chronic pain therapeutic community that provided much hope, healing, and inspiration to both patients and physicians. Can you provide details on your approach to therapy? For the last 15 years I've specialized in treating chronic pain and its symptoms, including sleep disturbance, fatigue, fear of movement, anxiety, depression, and relationship disruption..

My approach is based on emerging findings in neuroscience, pain science, and mind-body medicine and targeted at retraining the brain and nervous system to reduce or eliminate symptoms. I use easy to understand neuroscience education, evidence-based Pain Reprocessing Therapy, and other mind-body approaches combined with more traditional psychotherapies such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.