About Me
Hi, I’m Karena - Certified Attachment Specialist and Relationship Coach, dedicated to helping people break free from chaotic anxious attachment patterns and build grounded, secure relationships that last.
I support clients in healing from chronic relationship anxiety, emotional reactivity, and self-abandonment - so they can create relationships that are not just healthier and more stable, but deeply nourishing.
I advocate fiercely for my clients’ love stories - especially when they feel like there’s nothing left to fight for. I believe your relationships are worth saving… when they stop costing you yourself.
Over the past 7+ years, I’ve worked with clients around the world to unravel painful cycles of overthinking, people-pleasing, jealousy, and emotional chaos. I’ve helped individuals and couples at every stage: from the early dating trenches, to the brink of divorce, to rebuilding connection after years of resentment or shutdown.
Healing difficult relationships is my passion.
My approach integrates Attachment Theory, Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), relationship coaching and somatic modalities. It’s trauma-informed, emotionally attuned, and highly practical - focused on real transformation, not theory alone.
I gained relationship expertise through years of extensive training. I studied psychology at McGill University in Montreal before shifting into specialized attachment, relationship and trauma recovery work.
(you can find my qualifications below)
My relationship expertise is both clinical and lived. This work is personal to me and informed by my own journey as a long-term partner. Years ago I was caught in the grip of anxious attachment, consumed by overthinking, chronically over-functioning, and losing myself in pursuit of connection. I know first hand how exhausting it is when love feels unpredictable, and your nervous system never gets a break.
My relationship expertise is both clinical and lived.
My husband Jonathan and I have been together for over a decade. We’ve navigated our own anxious-avoidant cycles, high conflict and periods of disconnection - and doing this work changed everything. Today, our relationship is grounded in mutual respect, emotional safety, and deep connection.
That lived experience shapes how I guide clients: not just from theory, but from real embodied integration. I don’t offer surface-level mindset tips or temporary relief. This work needs to go deep to create lasting change and growth.
My clients tell me they feel safe, deeply seen, but also lovingly challenged in our sessions. That’s by design. I believe you deserve more than just compassion and a space to vent - you deserve clarity, accountability, structure, and someone who won’t shy away from helping you face hard truths and grow from them.
You deserve relationship help that works.
After more than a decade of personal healing, professional training and client work, I guide others through the very process that transformed my life and the lives of so many of my clients.
Personal Life
I was born in Warsaw, Poland, and immigrated to Canada as a teenager. Today, I live in beautiful Northern Ontario with my husband, surrounded by lakes and forests.
Outside of client work, I’m a lifelong student of psychology and emotional healing. I spend my downtime hiking forest trails, practicing yoga, and getting lost in books on relationships and human connection. My second passion is cooking - especially long, slow Italian meals for big family gatherings.
Professional Training
In addition to my academic foundation in psychology at McGill University, I’ve completed years of specialized training in Attachment Theory, relational therapy, trauma healing, and somatic modalities.
Some of the most influential include:
Attachment & Relationship Focused Training
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Treating Trauma
Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, Dr. Peter Levine, Dr. Pat Ogden
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Somatic Parts Work (Level 3)
Frances D Booth
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Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy Certification
Dr. Peter Levine, Stacy Haines, Dr. Arielle Schwartz
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Healing Trauma: Strategies for Shame & Self-Loathing
Dr. Janina Fisher -
Treating Complex Trauma with IFS
Dr. Frank Anderson -
Working with Trauma: Somatic-Based Interventions
Dr. Arielle Schwartz
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Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) & EFIT – Intensive Training
ICEEFT, Dr. Sue Johnson, Dr. L.Campbell
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Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT)
Transforming Psychological Wounds for Adults with Childhood Trauma
ICEEFT, Dr. Sue Johnson, Dr. L.Campbell
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The Developmental Model of Couples Therapy
Dr. Ellyn Bader & Dr. Peter Pearson, The Couples Institute -
Relational Life Therapy Training
Terrence Real
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Somatic Attachment Therapy Certification
Dr. Maureen Gallagher, Dr. Scott Lyons, Karine Bell -
AEDP Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy for Trauma and Attachment Wounds
Dr. D.Fosha
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Imago Relationship Therapy Clinical Training
Dr. Harville Hendrix, Dr. H.Hunt
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Gottman Method Couples Therapy – Levels 1 & 2
The Gottman Institute
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Attachment & Trauma Mastery Training DARe
Dr. Diane Poole Heller
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Conflict To Connection
Dr. Diane Poole Heller, Dr. Terry Levy
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Somatic Attachment Healing
Dr. Scott Lyons, Dr. Sue Johnson, Dr. Diane Poole Heller -
Certified Integrated Attachment Theory Certification
Personal Development School
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Mother-Daughter Attachment Model (MDMA)
R.Hasseldine
Trauma & Somatic Work
I continuously train across modalities that support deep
relational healing and nervous system integration:
Supplementary & Integrative Modalities I Draw From
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DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) Certification Training
Katelyn Baxter-Musser -
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Intensive ACT Training
Jennifer Patterson
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Introduction to EMDR
Megan McQuary -
Mind-Body Coaching Certification
Dr. Rae Johnson, K. Chang Tum, Dr. Scott Lyons
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Mindfulness & Trauma Certification Training
Dr. David Treleaven -
Applied Polyvagal Theory in Yoga
Dr. Arielle Schwartz
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Healing the Nervous System through Breathwork
