Karen Stephen, Ph.D. devoted her professional life to taking the psychobabble out of psychotherapy.  Choosing straight talk over straight jackets, she brought hope and healing to thousands of clients through her forty year career.  She retired from her clincial practice on December 1, 2009. In 2014 she was called back to service as the Mental Health Clinical Director for Partnership HealthPlan of California--a managed care organization providing medical and mental health services for a half million Medi-Cal recipients in 14 Northern California counties.   

She believed that an engaging, direct approach, which goes beyond the traditional “uh-huh” and added a touch of humor, was essential in the diagnosis and treatment of mental and emotional disorders. 

Her focus over the last twenty years has been on the care of women facing the challenges of midlife—which she teasingly defined as anything between forty and death. 

She has witnessed the physical, mental and emotional breakdowns that can occur when multiple caretaking responsibilities collide with diminishing personal and emotional resources at this age.  

Her support groups for midlife women were lovingly called the groups for the formerly strong!   

Karen knows that self care, having fun, setting limits, finding a passion, and minding one’s own business can be difficult for women who have been selfless caregivers their entire lives.  But she convinces women that these skills are learnable!  

With support and the proper tools, every woman can learn to accommodate drastic health changes, deal with addicted children, rear grandchildren, confront life-threatening illness, embrace living alone, set limits with style and grace, and overcome life-long emotional struggles.