Karen Dibben

Karen Dibben is an ACA counsellor with six years' experience. She helps people facing stress, anxiety, relationship strain, trauma and abuse, grief and depression. Karen approaches each person as the expert in their own life and supports them to build on their strengths.

Clients can expect straightforward conversations that focus on practical steps. Karen listens for what matters most and works with each person to clarify goals. She offers calm, steady guidance for times of big change, including separation and divorce-related stress.

Her background includes work with people affected by domestic and family violence and sexual violence, and she brings that experience into sensitive, paced conversations. She pays attention to attachment and abandonment themes when they affect relationships and wellbeing.

Sessions often explore communication patterns, control issues, guilt and shame, and ways to increase self-love and social confidence. Karen aims to build coping skills that people can use between sessions to manage flashbacks, panic, grief and low mood.

Therapy with Karen is collaborative and practical. She helps people notice patterns, practise new responses and take small, sustainable steps toward feeling more able and clear about their choices.

How therapeutic methods translate to online care

Evidence-based approaches focus on practical skills and understanding patterns. For example, trauma-informed work helps people process distressing memories and learn grounding techniques to reduce overwhelming feelings. This approach is often used when past abuse or domestic and family violence affects current mood and relationships.

Another common focus is skills-based work to manage anxiety and panic. This involves learning breathing and grounding exercises, breaking problems into manageable steps, and practising new ways of responding to stressful situations to reduce avoidance and reactivity.

Finding the right approach is part of the work and is decided together. The therapist will talk through a person’s situation, goals and preferences and suggest which techniques to try first. This is a collaborative process and can change as needs evolve.

Session formats are not listed in the biography, so confirm current options before booking. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy life, reduce travel time and allow shorter check-ins when needed. It also lets people work with a therapist from different parts of Australia while keeping appointments to suit work and family schedules.