Are you stuck in old patterns that aren’t working anymore?

Unhappy or anxious?

Rethinking what you want to do with your life?

Questioning whether you want to stay in your relationship?

Are you sure that it’s time for a divorce? Not sure how to tell the kids? Want to stay out of court?

Are you grieving a loss, finding it hard to tolerate the pain?

Let’s talk.

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How We Can Work Together

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Psychotherapy

Individuals - Sometimes our own minds are a place in which it’s best to not spend too much time alone. When you partner with a therapist, an objective observer, you can see things that were hidden from your view that can make a real difference in how you feel and how you are functioning. Real transformation is possible inside the non-judgmental and compassionate space you will find working with me.

Couples – Are you having a hard time communicating in your relationship? Stuck in old patterns? Holding grudges and resentments? Dealing with a betrayal? I work with couples to rediscover their attraction to each other, what works, what doesn’t, and how to come together in new ways. Or, if you know you are ready to end, let’s meet and explore together how to end things kindly.

Accelerated Resolution Therapy® - ART®

If you are struggling with the after-effects of a traumatic event or simply if daily living is filled with stressors, depression or anxiety, in 1 to 5 ART® sessions you can find relief. ART® is an evidence-based intervention to process emotions, so you can no longer be in pain.

Accelerated Resolution Therapy® and ART® are registered service marks of the Rosenzweig Center for Rapid Recovery (RCRR), used with permission.

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Three black doors with white numbering 3, 2, and 1, aligned side by side on a white wall outside a building, with a paved walkway and some grass in the foreground.

Discernment Counseling

If you are a couple “on the brink” of separation or divorce, Discernment Counseling provides the structure for you become clear and confident about a direction for your relationship based on a deeper understanding of what you each have brought to it. You decide if you will return for another session after each of 1 to 5 visits. Discernment Counseling is not focused on the “issues” in the relationship, but on choosing one of three outcomes: Path 1 - maintain the status quo; Path 2 - divorce; and Path 3 - commit to 6 months of couples therapy with divorce off the table and you each focus on a Personal Agenda for Change that was developed during the Discernment sessions.

Divorce & Separation Services

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Mediation

Parenting Plans: It often takes some real creative thinking to design the Parenting Plan that will be the best for your family following a separation or divorce. I provide creativity and support for the practical problem-solving required due to my training in child development, understanding of the neuropsychological factors involved in the stress response, and personal experience of getting divorced with two children.

Co-mediation

Having mediator partners to work out the details of your separation/divorce agreements can make all the difference. Consider a mental health professional/attorney co-mediation.

Collaborative Divorce

When you have chosen to divorce, a Collaborative Divorce will provide expert support in all three parts of the divorce process: emotions/communication, finances, and legal. Each of you will have your own attorney, along with a neutral mental health professional (like me), and a neutral financial professional to have the conversations needed to stay out of court and make your own decisions for your future lives. I provide Divorce Coach/Facilitator and Child Specialist services. I have a role in the full team meetings to facilitate communication and keep things moving and, when children are involved, I will meet with you separately to create your Parenting Plan.

Grief Counselor

Grief & Loss

Have you experienced the death of a loved one? The loss of a relationship? Age-related changes in your functioning? Are you having a hard time adjusting to other changes or losses?

As a Certified Grief Educator I am committed to providing the highest level of grief support for you to navigate the challenges of grief through the often unacknowledged rocky terrain that is grief. I am also trained as a Grief Movement Guide, using grief yoga, a compassionate practice to move through the pain of grief and loss to reconnect back to more empowerment and love.

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about me

Working with me, through my more than 3 decades of practice at CNS (Comprehensive Neuropsychological Services, P.C.), you will be met with compassion, commitment, creativity, warmth, and humor. Also informed by current research on well-being, my commitment to you is not just to minimize distress/pain, but to have you see automatic patterns of reacting that aren’t working for you and then create new possibilities for the future that support your best interests.

  • Degrees and Training

    ·      Bachelor of Arts, Wellesley College

    ·      Master of Arts, Emory University

    ·      Doctor of Philosophy, Emory University

    ·      40-Hour and Advanced Mediation Trainings

    ·      Transformative Mediation Training

    ·      Introductory Interdisciplinary Collaborative Practice Trainings

    ·      Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) provider

    ·      Certified Discernment Counselor

    ·      Certified Grief Educator through David Kessler Training

    ·      Certified Grief Movement Guide

    ·      Coursework, Landmark Education

    ·      Coursework, Autism Specialist

    Trainer & Presenter:

    ·      “This is Your Brain on Divorce” for Connecticut Council for Non-Adversarial Divorce (CCND)

    ·      Guest Speaker, Neuroscience & Mediation section of 40-Hour Family Mediation Training, CCND

    ·      Presenter, Screening & Ethics in Collaborative Divorce, CollabFest Midwest

    ·      Presenter, In Whose Best Interest? or Calling It Quits 2.0, CCND

    Licensing and Memberships

    ·      Licensed Psychologist - Connecticut, specializing in neuropsychology

    ·      American Psychological Association (APA) Member

    ·      Connecticut Psychological Association (CPA) Member

    ·      International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (IACP) Member

    ·      CCND Member, Board Member

    ·      Divorce Solutions of Connecticut (DSC), President

    ·      Collaborative Divorce Team of Connecticut (CDTC), Member

    Awards

    ·      “Your Brain on Divorce” Lifetime Achievement Award, CCND

  • On a personal note:

    I have always been interested in people, curious about their stories, and oriented toward being of service. The study of neuroscience and neuropsychology has deepened my understanding of what drives and sustains human behavior, and also my appreciation of how stress or upsets can interfere with our best thinking and our actions. Knowledge of brain-based reactions to stress and trauma has informed my practice of more than 30 years, working with a wide range of people in psychotherapy, diagnostic evaluations, and separation/divorce. After my own divorce, I trained in Mediation and Collaborative Divorce to support separating couples in ways that would have made a difference for me. I provide Discernment Counseling, a time-limited intervention for couples on the brink to get clear on what direction they want to take.

    My background in neuropsychology gives me insight into how the brain affects emotions and decision-making during difficult times, like divorce or separation. In my Collaborative Divorce practice, I work with couples as a Family Specialist to design Parenting Plans and as a Child Specialist to bring the voice of any children to the process. While my education, training and experience provide the basic understanding, it was my own divorce that gave me a real appreciation of the impact of this life transition on families, couples and individuals.

    Working with me, you will be met with compassion, commitment, creativity, warmth, and humor. Also informed by current research on well-being, my commitment to you is not just to minimize distress/pain, but to have you see automatic patterns of reacting that aren’t working for you and then create new possibilities for the future that align with your best interests.

Badge indicating certification as a discernment counselor for Beth M. Karassik, PhD, by Discerment Counseling, a division of The Ooherry Relationship Institute.
Certification badge for a Certified Grief Educator by David Kessler, featuring a rising sun icon in warm colors.
A shield-shaped emblem with a gold laurel wreath outline, featuring the text 'Grief Movement Guide' and a stylized blue figure with arms raised.
Book cover titled "Bouncing Back from Betrayal: A Girl's Guide to Getting Over It" by Beih M. Karassik, PhD, with a design featuring abstract gray and white shapes and an orange dotted line.

Coming Soon

Media

Bouncing Back From Betrayal: The Girls’ Guide to Getting Over It

While a betrayal in a committed relationship does not always lead to divorce, both often come together. Divorce is second in the list of the top 5 most stressful life events, right after death of a loved one. Whether or not you are dealing with divorce, if you have faced a betrayal in your relationship, this book will provide what you need to move through the adjustment and recovery with ease, dignity and grace. The book provides a roadmap based on the author’s professional expertise, personal experience and pursuit of transformative learning.

Available at Amazon

For young adults or to buy for your young adult child who is about to launch:

Dr. K’s Life Skills Hacks: Manage Money & Budgets, Stay Clean & Organized, and Master Emotions, Relationships & Work to Win at Adulting

Your go-to guide for figuring out the real-world stuff nobody teaches - but everyone expects you to know. Whether you’re moving out, starting a job, or just tired of Googling “how to adult,” this book’s got your back.

Mindful Self-Compassion and the Mediator, by Louise R. Zito & Beth M. Karassik

The Benefits of Co-Mediation: Weaving with Two Threads, by Louise R. Zito & Beth M. Karassik

Self-Awareness for Reliable Screening, by Louise R. Zito & Beth M. Karassik

Marc Meglio, CDLP & Beth M. Karassik, PhD, Collaborative Divorce Coach & Mediator discuss navigating a divorce powerfully. Podcast link YouTube Link

Susan Guthrie’s Divorce & Beyond Podcast, December 15, 2025

Book cover titled 'Life Skills Hacks' by Beth M. Karassik, Ph.D. with a purple background and yellow and white text, decorated with doodles of paper airplanes, money, cassette tapes, and other icons.

The ABCs of Co-Parenting, by Beth M. Karassik, Ph.D.