BACKGROUND
Karen Mruk, LCSW, is a psychotherapist and certified psychoanalyst who lives and works in New York City. Since 1996, she has been seeing adolescents and adults in her private practice in individual, couples and group therapy. Karen also supervises psychotherapists, psychoanalytic candidates and LMSWs pursuing their New York State license. She consults on theater projects with directors and actors to help them better understand the underlying issues at work with character development that may be affected by past history or current presentation of trauma and abuse.

Karen is an adjunct lecturer at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College where she teaches Clinical Practice and Family Treatment at the Master’s level. She is also on the faculty of the Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Study Center (PPSC) where she teaches, supervises and is a training analyst of psychoanalytic candidates. Karen was also PPSC’s Executive Director, a member of their Executive Committee, created and chaired their Supervision for New Clinicians Program and chaired their Student Colloquium.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Karen’s interest in emotional connection and the understanding of underlying motivation in her work with her patients began with her career as a professional actress. Making the transition from the creative arts to the mental health field was a natural progression for her and she has brought this experience, insight and compassion to her clinical work. Before receiving her MSW Karen volunteered as a group facilitator and emergency room advocate at Mt. Sinai’s Rape Crisis Intervention Program for three years where she worked exclusively with sexual abuse and rape survivors. This opportunity contributed to Karen’s extensive experience working with adult survivors of sexual abuse in her private practice.

Before moving into full time private practice, Karen worked for 10 years at the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services Madeline Borg Outpatient Clinic where she treated patients with a wide range of issues and mental illnesses in both short- and long-term therapy. Many of the patients she worked with had severe and debilitating mental illnesses. That experience, coupled with her work there with families and children, gave her the grounding and confidence to do the work she does today. At the Jewish Board, Karen also was a Clinical Supervisor of social work staff and a certified social work field instructor to social work students as well as coordinated and presented at clinical case conferences.

Karen’s article, “Alice on the Couch: A 21st Century Psychoanalytic Interpretation of the Wife of Bath” was published in Standing in the Shadow of the Master? Chaucerian Influences and Interpretations (2009) Cambridge Scholars Publishing, U.K and she presented the article at the International Medieval Conference at the University of Leeds, U.K (2008).

EDUCATION/TRAINING
Karen received her BA in theater from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She graduated with a Masters degree in Social Work (MSW) from Hunter College School of Social Work and soon after completed training to become a certified field instruction at New York University (NYU). Karen then began her post-graduate psychoanalytic training and received a Certificate in Psychoanalysis from Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Study Center (PPSC).

Karen is a member of two on-going clinical supervision groups both with a focus on couples counseling. She attends conferences, continuing education courses and workshops with a focus on addictions, life coaching, mindfulness, cognitive behavioral therapy, family therapy and the treatment of depression and anxiety.

LICENSE AND CERTIFICATES
Licensed Clinical Social Worker – New York State License Number 050677

Certificate in Psychoanalysis – February 2004