Practice Philosophy:
Dr. Katherine Carr is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist who works with teens, adults, families, and couples. Compassionate and down-to-earth, Dr. Carr uses a proactive approach to help her clients get unstuck from painful cycles and live more meaningful and satisfying lives. Her philosophy takes into consideration more than just a client’s symptoms, as she takes the time to understand the context of how family, relationships, work, school, and other situations impact one’s life. She helps clients of all ages enhance both their autonomy and their sense of connectedness to others.
In her work with teens, Dr. Carr develops rapport and empowers young clients to improve their own skills for coping with life’s problems, while providing parents with supportive strategies that lead to more mutually rewarding relationships with their child. She addresses painful experiences from childhood, and teaches clients to manage intense emotions and anxious feelings that can cause challenges in interpersonal relationships and struggles with achieving individual goals. She provides her clients with treatments based on Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), whose effectiveness has been demonstrated by research, while implementing these treatments in a manner that is individualized and informed by each person’s culture, values, and context.
Areas of Expertise:
Dr. Carr specializes in treating problems related to trauma, mood disorders, relationship challenges, and anxiety. She has extensive experience working with individuals of all ages and identities who have been impacted by trauma and abuse, including both survivors and their family members. She also has expertise in treating individuals coping with depression, specific phobias, OCD, parenting challenges, stressful life transitions, and management of bipolar spectrum disorders. She draws extensively from CBT and DBT, and teaches clients tools for self-regulation, including mindfulness and executive functioning skills, that improve problem solving and strengthen self-esteem.
Experience and Training:
Dr. Carr received her doctorate from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology in Washington, D.C., where she passed her clinical comprehensive exams with distinction. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the College of William and Mary, where she studied psychology and art. Before joining The Ross Center, Dr. Carr trained and worked in residential, private practice, and community outpatient settings. Across these settings, Dr. Carr gained intensive experience delivering treatments to diverse individuals and families navigating everything from everyday stress to complex PTSD and serious mental illness. Dr. Carr has advanced training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), including Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Exposure-Based CBT for anxiety disorders, and Trauma-Focused CBT and Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for PTSD. Dr. Carr also has training in Gottman Method couples therapy, Integrative Behavioral Couples Therapy, and Family Systems approach to treat both individual and family problems.
