ABOUT KARREN

Karren J Garrity, LPC

Therapist, Coach, Author, Speaker

Committed to Improving Relationships

Helping people take control of their emotional roller coaster and support those lost in a sea of emotions who have not been able to figure out how to swim to shore.    Master Your Feelings, Master Your Life  – A guided journey to clarity of thought and power of action.


The Tool Box Blog

Karren's Counseling Website

Helping people to build successful, strong and positive relationships.

I am a therapist who has worked with individuals, families and couples for over twenty years.  I wrote a book ”Building Better Relationships with Teens” and present workshops and seminars nationally.  I am a mom to three women, 33, 29 & 24, and have been married for 35 years. I am the oldest of 4-11 siblings depending on which parts of my blended family you want to include! 

I come to the complicated world of family dynamics, the ebb and flow of family cycles, and the challenges of relationships in transition from not only an academic and professional perspective but also a personal one.

In my private practice, I work with children, adolescents, individuals, couples and families. I lead workshops on parenting, conflict resolution, healthy choices, and adolescent orientation seminars for high school teachers. I facilitate psycho-educational groups and teaching emotional literacy to high school students. I offer coaching for Parenting Skills, Values Clarification and Life Planning Skills, Career Counseling, and Peer Mediation. I work with private schools to maximize their leadership and character education programs.

I am a Licensed Professional Counselor and Nationally Certified Counselor. I graduated with a BA from Sarah Lawrence College and a Masters of Science in Counseling from Western Connecticut State University. I have lived in New Orleans, Boston, NYC, and now live in a small town in NW Connecticut.

Client Testimonials

 I loved this program, and have recommended it to several friends and parents of teens (and even "tweens" like my twin girls). The underlying metaphor is that better parenting is something that is made easier by discovering and learning to use a collection of simple and effective "tools". You don't need a degree in family counseling (though it sure seems to have helped the author :) to reframe some simple ideas into practical and effective tools (e.g: "HALT" and "ABCDs") to use when coping with your teens and helping your teens cope with life.

- Seth Bain
Sensible solutions to real problems with kids and teenagers, applicable to the world we live in. This isn't just about teenagers, it helps deal with younger kids just trying to grow up and cope with the world. I would definitely recommend every parent!  This program is truly helpful!       

 - RK Eden
This program is practical and useful.. It felt like I was having a conversation with a friend. I highly recommend this easy-to-follow guide to parenting, teaching, and/or mentoring a teen.     

 - Tasha Goodwin
I thought this was an incredibly helpful "tool" for my me and for my son. It doesn't suggest solutions that sound manipulative or "one-size-fits-all' in terms of parenting. I also love the fact that nothing here sounds high minded and using the names of real tools brings the messages right down to earth.

I guess that's what I like best...not feeling like Ms. Garrity is some authority (which I believe she actually is) but rather someone who has been there and is simply sharing clear and simple 'tools' that help parents work through things in a practical way....even though I sometimes feel like it might take a wrench or a hammer to get a message through to my son :)) The program is VERY approachable and useable!    

 - G. Strong
The Tool Box, Building Better Relationships  offers a powerful insight into the world of teenagers and how to relate to them as parents. I was generally impressed by the tips and words of wisdom offered in the program.  This is a well-structured guide to becoming a more educated parent for your teenager, and I highly recommend it.     

 - D. O'Keefe
This is a great program for parents who are dealing with the teenage angst problem. Give it as a gift to someone you know whose child id just getting to that stage like I did. Get clear sound advice on how to deal with specific scenarios and ones that can be used ad infinitum. H.A.L.T is an acronym I first learned about in an AA meeting and never thought I would see it applied to child rearing but it actually makes sense. Just as when they are newborns, a baby will only cry if they are hungry, angry, lonely or tired(if they are not sick or wet) and if you apply this to older children acting out you will find that these fit them more times than not.

Children do not come out with a manual or a "How To" booklet. The Tool Box, Tricks of the Trade for Raising Teenagers is as close as you will come to it. You will learn the tools you need to develop effective strategies in communicating with the surly teen, how to identify the real issues and how to navigate conflicts. Dealing with teens effectively means that you need to know what true compromise is and how to pick your battles. As a parent of adult children I wish they had this program back in the day.  

 - Anita Simmons
Whenever our little ones are crashing my wife and I H.A.L.T. and walk right into an answer. If our kids are inexplicably cranky, they are always either: Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired.

The Tool Box has given us a quick key to unlock how a kid is feeling. I've check out lots of parenting books,  and I've found to be more accessible. Some parenting books are hard to read in that they are just so sad and the examples seem so extreme. This is grounded in reality and easy to digest. Highly recommended for all families.  

 - Joshua Nola
My brother recommended this to me and his kids aren't even teenagers yet. It is full of fresh ways to look at continuing problems, helpful. I particularly like the methods for creating communication.       

 - Daniel Bain
Building Better Relationships