Intentional Actions Counselling

Move toward a meaningful life through behaviours that are in alignment with your values

Karen Hurworth

Registered Member of the British Association of  Counselling

"Karen’s skill as a listener and kindness as a human shine through- I felt seen, understood and accepted.”

Meet Karen

MA Mental Health Counselling 

MA Psychology & Special Needs

BS Primary Education

Circle of Security Training

Credentials:

Registered member of the British Association of Counselling 

Guided by the Ethical Codes of the British Association of Counselling

About Karen:

Born and raised in the United States, Karen spent her adult life working and living abroad. This makes her uniquely positioned to serve the needs of expatriates who face the challenges of adjusting to the demands of overseas living. Working overseas has also given Karen cultural awareness and sensitivity in her work with clients from diverse backgrounds. While living internationally, Karen raised two 3rd culture kids and knows the inherent challenges of being a parent and of being a child.  

With a background in teaching, combined with years of counselling experience, Karen’s clients are offered a unique and powerful combination of knowledge and skills. 

Whether her client is a child or adolescent, a parent, a partner or a single person, she has personal experience and proven methodologies that can help you navigate life's challenges.

Has Experience with these issues:

 ✓Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

✓Finding life purpose and direction

✓Parenting

✓Work-life balance 

✓Coping with difficult emotions

✓Relationship issues (peer relationships and partnerships)

✓Addiction

✓Life transitions

✓Feeling alone/isolated

✓Trauma

✓Individual counseling

✓Anxiety

✓Stress

✓Depression

✓Self-esteem

✓Grief and loss

✓Gender Identity

Approaches

Karen is passionate about supporting adults, adolescents, and children to live fuller and more meaningful lives. Instead of avoiding challenging experiences and emotions, she aims to help you use them as a launchpad for growth and wellness. 

Karen integrates the following approaches:

  • Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is an action-oriented approach that comes from behavior therapy and cognitive behavior therapy. Clients learn to make room for, and accept all emotions rather than deny, stop, or struggle with them. The ACT approach surmises that feelings are simply responses to certain situations, and that they should not prevent one from moving forward in their lives. With this understanding, clients begin to accept life’s challenges and commit to making necessary changes in their behavior, no matter what the situation is that they are encountering and the emotions that arise from it. Acceptance, mindfulness, and values are key psychological tools used in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.

  • Cognitive Behavior therapy suggests that with an understanding of your thought processes and their relationship to behavior, you can change your life by changing the way you think. Developing an awareness about your thoughts and interrupting automatic negative thoughts can help you think in healthier ways and therefore lead to more helpful behaviors. This therapy has been proven effective in preventing relapse in patients with depression and anxiety. It has also been proven to aid patients with a variety of other psychological problems. This type of therapy is a short-term, goal-oriented form of treatment that can be thought of as a combination of behavioral therapy and psychotherapy. The treatment takes a hands-on, practical approach to problem-solving. Psychotherapy focuses on the personal meaning of thought patterns that are believed to have developed in childhood. Behavioral therapy emphasizes the close relationship between problems, behavior, and thoughts.

  • Solution-Focused therapy is a brief therapy that develops solutions by first generating a detailed description of how the client’s life will be different when the problem is gone, or their situation improved. The necessary resources needed to arrive at a practical solution are identified so that the client can readily implement the co-created plan. SF therapists and their clients consistently collaborate in identifying goals and developing satisfying solutions.

Karen’s approach to therapy is:

  • Collaborative

  • Goal oriented- you set your goals and Karen will help you reach them

  • Action based

  • Integrative

  • Person-centered

  • Designed to meet each client's individual needs

  • Draws upon evidence-based approaches 


Karen’s approach is ideal for those who:

 ✅ Are open to developing a trusting rapport 

     ✅Are committed to completing self-directed exercises 

   ✅  Can or are willing to express their emotions

Services

Individual Counselling

Online Video Session

Available In All Time Zones

Types of Clients Karen Sees

Adults

Children & Adolescents

Testimonials

“Karen is a treasure. With patience and sensitivity, she helped me through a difficult time in my life, allowing me the space to express myself, giving me permission to feel what I am feeling instead of keeping it locked up, and imparting some valuable tools for emotional regulation. I appreciated how practical and goal-oriented the therapy was, with elements of life coaching and accountability for goals, on top of the talk therapy and ACT approach. Karen’s skill as a listener and kindness as a human shine through - I felt seen, understood and accepted.”

“Working with Karen, I’ve found her approach to be rooted in empathy and understanding, which created a space for trust and communication. She listens when I want to feel heard, and she counsels when I need to be supported. She supplements sessions with homework, research, reading, and other materials as she deems necessary and helpful. Her attention to detail and care for clients are very apparent through her consistent following up and checking in, never making me feel as though our work together is limited to the start and close of each session. Working with Karen has been immensely helpful, the depths of which are difficult to convey with words.”

“Karen has all the qualities a good therapist should have - she listens to you, empathizes with you, supports you…you name it. But on top of all these, her multi-national experience enables her to understand people who are not from the United States. I enjoy very much the sessions with her, it was Karen who I share sorrows and joys with and who saved me so many times from those darkest days in my life. I would highly recommend her without any reservation.”

“I’ve been working with Karen for several years now, and I can confidently say that she is an exceptional therapist. She is extremely organized and has lots of tools and experience to draw from in our sessions. I especially appreciate her efforts to ensure our sessions are personalized and meaningful. She creates a safe space during our sessions which makes me feel comfortable in guiding the conversation according to my needs. She is professional, caring, and compassionate. I highly recommend working with Karen.”

“I met Karen almost 4 years ago. It was rather serendipitous as a colleague posted a list of Western therapists in a chat group. I am an American teacher living in Beijing and knew that I wanted a woman and Western therapist. My first choice on the list was unable to take me on as a client but she gave me a few referrals. Karen was at the top. She lived in my area and close to my school. Karen was a perfect choice for me! Best thing I could have done for myself and mental well-being. I had a lot of issues and self-doubts all compounded by living overseas. Karen is a genuine, caring and empathetic person. This comes across immediately. She helped me with work, family, personal relations, and a death in the family. When Covid hit and I was unable to get home, she continued our work together and I know that it was with this work that helped me through those very unique struggles. When she left Beijing, she offered to continue our work together online. We continue our work as I face new challenges with transitioning to life back home. I’m so very glad that Karen is here for me.”

FAQ’s

  • Sessions are held online using Google Meet as the platform. A link for the meeting will be sent through email prior to the session.

  • Sessions are between 50-60 minutes. If you are late to a session, the end time for the session will be 50- 60 minutes from the time the session was meant to begin.

  • $115 USD

  • Payment can be sent by:

    Venmo, Zelle, bank transfer or wire

  • I prefer 24 hours’ notice to accommodate the waitlist (this benefits everyone).

    If you miss an appointment without notice, or cancel a session with less than 24 hours of notice, you will be charged the full fee for that session.

  • During the sessions I will do one or more of the following:

    *listen to your concerns and allow you to express your feelings

    *help you to identify your strengths and resources

    *help you to identify the thoughts, feelings, behaviors, or circumstances that are interfering with you meeting your goals

    *help you to set goals and develop concrete action plans for managing or overcoming the obstacles to your well-being

    *use a specific intervention that is appropriate to your goals

    *provide relevant information, verbally, or in handout form

    *conduct formal and informal assessments to measure your progress and enhance motivation

    *suggest some reading or writing assignment to help you gain insight into your concern

    *give a homework assignment to be completed between therapy sessions.

  • Depending upon the particular issue, most clients see me either weekly or bi-weekly for at least 6 sessions.

    After goals have been met, some clients like to arrange monthly check-ins. Some clients attend counseling even when they aren't facing any particular challenge, because it offers them a safe place to talk.

  • You have the right to ask questions about my treatment methods so you can make informed decisions about what methods are most suitable for you. You have the right to stop therapy if something about it is not working for you. If this should happen, I would appreciate your feedback about what is not working for you. I may be able to suggest alternate resources. You have the right to ask for a referral if that would be in your best interests.

  • What you disclose during the therapy sessions is kept in strict confidence. Digital files and electronic client data are kept in secure password safe locations. There are, however, limitations to the full extent that emails and electronic mediums can be completely confidential, and clients are advised to be aware of this when using these means of communication.

    If you and I determine that it would be helpful for me to share information about your therapy with someone else (e.g., your physician), then I will ask you to sign a form that gives me permission to release and/or request information.

  • • If you threaten to harm or kill yourself or someone else and I believe your threat to be serious, I am ethically bound to warn your family or the person you have threatened.

    • According to the Child Welfare Act, I am ethically and legally bound to report to the appropriate authorities any abuse (physical, sexual, emotional, or neglect) of a child currently under the age of 18 years. This law is designed to protect children from harm, and requires that all persons report confirmed or suspected cases of child abuse to the proper authorities.

    • If you are involved in litigation of any kind and you inform the Court that you are in therapy, you may be waiving your right to keep your records confidential. If the Court subpoenas my files, or me, I am obligated to appear and to answer questions.

    Communication between a client and a therapist is not considered privileged communication. If you disclose to me that you have done something illegal, I am not legally obligated to report this unless it involves child abuse or direct threat to an individual.

  • In starting therapy, you begin a goal-focused process that has a beginning, middle, and end. It is recommended that stopping therapy be planned for and discussed with the therapist.