Hi, I’m Karlee.
I’m really glad you’re here, and I hope this space feels like a soft place to land as you figure out what you need.
I’m Karlee Anderson, LCSW, a licensed therapist based in Sacramento, California. I work with teens, young adults, and adults who are navigating anxiety, depression, identity development, and major life transitions. Many of the people I support are carrying a lot. High expectations, family or cultural pressures, and the sense that you should already have it all figured out can quietly build into stress, self-doubt, or feeling disconnected from yourself and others.
Therapy with me is meant to feel supportive and empowering. I believe you already have strengths and resilience, even if they don’t feel accessible right now. My role is to help you slow down, make sense of what you’re experiencing, and build practical tools you can use outside of session so you can move through life with more clarity, confidence, and self-compassion.
A big part of my background is working in international schools and cross-cultural settings, supporting globally mobile students, Third Culture Kids, and families from diverse cultural, linguistic, and national backgrounds. I lived and worked abroad for several years in South Korea and India, and those experiences continue to shape how I approach identity, belonging, transition, and the pressure that can come with living between worlds.
I’m also an NPE/MPE, which stands for Not Parent Expected/Misattributed Parentage Event—meaning a person discovers (often through DNA testing) that a biological parent is different than they were led to believe. For many people, it can feel like your identity gets shattered in an instant, and you’re left trying to make sense of what’s true and rebuild who you are (or thought you were) in the middle of grief, anger, confusion, and complicated family dynamics. As I’ve shared my own NPE story more openly, I’ve met more people who have gone through something similar and are looking for support around it. It’s shaped my work by deepening my sensitivity to secrecy, attachment, and belonging, and by helping me hold space for clients navigating identity shifts, family rupture, and the process of making meaning from what they’ve learned.
If any of this resonates with you, I invite you to reach out for a free consultation to see if working together feels like a good fit!
Approach
I believe therapy works best when it feels genuine and relational. I aim to create a space that feels welcoming, grounded, and free of judgment, where you can show up as you are and feel truly heard. I take time to understand your experiences in context—your relationships, transitions, and past experiences—and how they’ve shaped the ways you think, feel, and move through the world.
Our work together is collaborative and intentional. I’m open and clear in how I communicate, and I’ll thoughtfully reflect patterns or themes I notice while staying responsive to your comfort level and pace. Therapy isn’t about rushing change—it’s about building understanding, connection, and momentum in a way that feels steady and sustainable.
I use an integrative, individualized approach to therapy rather than a one-size-fits-all model. Sessions are shaped around your needs and goals, drawing from evidence-based modalities such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), attachment-informed and parts-based approaches, solution-focused strategies, and mindfulness-based practices.
My work is grounded in a trauma-informed framework, with attention to how past experiences can influence emotional responses, relationships, patterns of thinking, and the body. Therapy may focus on strengthening coping skills, improving emotional regulation, increasing insight, and supporting meaningful change. Somatic and mindfulness-based techniques can help build awareness and grounding, while solution-focused work supports identifying strengths and practical next steps.
When helpful, I also incorporate creative and expressive tools—such as writing, drawing, or guided reflection—particularly when words are hard to access. Throughout the process, your feedback is always welcome. Therapy is something we shape together, and my goal is to offer support that feels attuned, flexible, and genuinely helpful.
