NOT CURRENTLY ACCEPTING NEW CLIENTS
How to contact Karla directly…
(302) 440-4418 or by email Karla Fleshman
For ACTIVE Clients access to Therapy Notes Client Portal
Philosophy of Practice
Are you happy? Three simple words that can be as complicated and challenging, exhilarating and liberating as the words I Love You! Therapeutic relationships are formed as a partnership in which a person is seeking to delve into the question “Am I happy? If not, what blocks my ability to feel happiness; and what do I need to obtain and/or change to experience happiness?” while in dialogue with a Counselor.
About My Therapeutic Style
Originally trained with an advanced generalist approach to social work practice, I have stayed committed to working with each individual and family toward finding the therapeutic approach(es) with best meets their personalized needs of obtaining their treatment goals. I have received specialized training in EMDR as a Certified Therapist (I am currently pursuing an advanced certificate in dissociative studies for EMDR therapists through the Institute for Creative Mindfulness), Trauma Conscious Yoga Method, Mindfulness-based CBT & Trauma Informed Care for both Adults and Adolescents. Additionally, I have extensive experience with compassion-focused and mindfulness practices that are especially helpful for persons experiencing heightened anxiety or grief associated with trauma, life-transitions, gender dysphoria, or other physical health related challenges.
I work as well with adolescents as I do with the elderly (and the generation often sandwiched in between the two).
I also work well with persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities (because typing out LGBTQIA+ doesn’t quite capture everyone).
I work well with persons who live with chronic pain, as well as those who choose to live while dying with a terminal condition.
I work well with a person / a family who wants to engage the therapeutic journey with a goal of Transformation.
About My Professional Background
I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 30 years of experience, as well as Ordained Clergy who believes in journeying alongside a person and their chosen community to help them identify their potential, to heal from the past (if applicable) and to embrace the present with joy seeking to live their best life.
My professional career path has led me through the devastation of AIDS in the early 90’s – first in pediatrics and then in adult medicine – when it was as if everyone I knew was dying. I came out to myself and others all at once when I immediately stepped into community activism with Act-Up Baltimore seeking organizational change to better serve the needs of those who were marginalized based upon their diagnosis, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status and racial/ethnic heritage through Chase Brexton Health Services as their Case Management Coordinator. At that time in the early 90’s, I was on the first Mayor’s Council in Baltimore for a new program called HOPWA (Housing Opportunities for People With AIDS).
Way back then, when I reflectively asked the question many years ago, “Where is God in the midst of suffering? I applied and attended Columbia Theological Seminary as the first person to ever come out on the admission application while trying to be let into the seminary where I focused my study upon the importance of healing touch particularly for those ostracized and marginalized by illness (HIV/AIDS) and Identity (LGBTQ+) in the pursuit of wholeness for mind, body, and spirit. Amazingly enough, the seminary approved my admission and paid for my education after I applied for a scholarship funding based upon my HIV/AIDS work.
Before accepting a clinical position in Hospice Care in Delaware for four years (in residence, nursing home, and inpatient facility) providing end of life counseling to the person dying and their family, I was a solo pastor active in ministry in the church I started; and fully engaged social justice work to benefit the LGBTQ+ community for ten years. The early 2000’s was when my focus of justice work became more centered upon serving transgender and gender expansive persons with organizing retreats through my church and being one of the first to offer spirituality programming at some of the first Transgender Wellness Conferences in Philadelphia. The need to continue to be mindful and intentional with naming risks and addressing intersectionality across the decades within and beyond the LGBTQ+ community is because the “Face of AIDS” and the communities most at risk has never shifted, but who gets “airplay”, attention, and greater access to services has changed. Some of our most vulnerable are within BIPOC, Transgender, and under 25 communities, which is one of the reasons my private group practice accepts insurance including Medicare and Medicaid because culturally responsible mental health services for LGBTQ+ folx, folx living with HIV, folx living with Complex PTSD/Dissociative experiences deserve access to qualified and compassionate therapists
I remain active in our many intersecting communities offering training and workshops aimed at seeking positive social and community change for the LGBTQ+ community, especially our transtastic and queerific folx. I, along with members of my group practice, have provided training to various schools, medical/mental health practices, as well as community service providers, such as Delaware HIV Consortium, Housing Alliance of Delaware, New Castle County Libraries, Department of Health and Human Services of Delaware to name a few.
Today, I am equally inspired by and committed to supporting LGBTQ+ folx across the aging spectrum and the friends/family who love and support them. LGBTQ+ folx still face unique challenges often experiencing increased anxiety and depression as they seek to maneuver through continued societal stigma and bullying. I welcome opportunities to meet with and provide training to organizations that wish to offer culturally sensitive and affirming support to LGBTQ+ folx. Additionally, I welcome the team of Transitions Delaware LLC in providing individual, couples/poly-affirming, and family counseling to those who want to learn how to embody their authentic self/selves with confidence and compassion.
Specialties
- Anxiety
- Chronic Pain
- Chronic Illness
- Depression
- Grief & Loss
- LGBTQIA+
- Spirituality
- Trauma and PTSD
- Dissociative Systems/Plural
Treatment Orientation
- Compassion Focused
- EMDR Certified
- Parts Work
- Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy
- Narrative
- Person-Centered
- Spiritual Therapy
- Supervision Services
- Trauma Focused
Additional Web Address Listings:
Psychology Today – click HERE
Articles & Interviews Quoted In…
Examining policy protections for transgender and gender nonconforming studenst in Delaware Schools. By Rachel Sawicki. Originally Aired: May 31st 2024
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Letters from CAMP Rehoboth February 2 2024 issue, Rev. Karla is quoted in Love Yourself.
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Your Guide to the Best Online LGBTQ+ Counseling: The right LGBTQ+-affirming therapist will meet you where you are. They will understand, support, and guide you on the journey to becoming the person you want to be. Written by By Savannah Bacon Reviewed: September 29, 2022