Hi, I’m Kara Holthaus.
This work is personal for me. I became a therapist after experiencing my own transformation as a client in therapy. I know how much courage it takes to step into healing, and I hold that process with deep care.
Before becoming a counselor, I worked in nonprofit operations and corporate account management. I grew up in the rural Midwest and now call the DMV home. Outside of work, I love exploring coffee shops, playing card games, and reading nonfiction.
I bring to this work both clinical training and lived experience. I identify as a white, cisgender woman, and a former Christian who is in recovery from high-functioning codependency and growing up with emotionally immature parents. These parts of me shape how I understand shame, people-pleasing, self-worth, and the tension between looking successful on the outside while feeling disconnected on the inside.
I share this because I believe therapy works best when it honors the whole person, including the identities, stories, and systems that shaped us.
My Approach
Action Oriented. Compassion Focused. Heart Centered.
I work with adults who appear capable and successful but feel a quiet dissatisfaction inside. My clients often navigate relationship conflict, family-of-origin wounds, or cycles of codependency and perfectionism.
They are ready to stop running on autopilot, understand themselves on a deeper level, and create healthier relationships with others and with themselves.
Heart Centered Therapy is a safe and affirming space for LGBTQ+ clients and people from diverse racial, cultural, and spiritual backgrounds.
Goals
Our work focuses on identifying patterns that no longer serve you and healing the roots beneath them.
Credentials
I am EMDR-trained by EMDRIA. I integrate attachment theory and inner child work informed by Pia Mellody’s Post Induction Model.
I draw from Kelly McDaniel’s work on mother-daughter relationships, High Conflict Institute approaches for coparenting and relationship dynamics, and trauma-informed care influenced by Diana Fosha’s AEDP model.