Karyn Skiba
ABOUT KARYN
Therapist. Author. Mental Health Educator.
For more than a decade, my work has centered on understanding people - the experiences that shape us, the ways we learn to cope, and the patterns that can follow us through different seasons of life.
Across clinical practice, schools, community mental health, leadership, and education, I've seen people struggle with parts of themselves that don't always make sense - anxiety that seems to come from nowhere, grief that changes everything, relationship patterns that keep repeating, and reactions they wish they could control.
Again and again, I've seen what can happen when we stop asking, “What's wrong with me?” and start asking, “What happened that taught me to respond this way?”
That shift - from judgment to curiosity - is at the heart of my work.
Karyn L. Skiba, LMSW
Licensed Master Social Worker • Author • Certified Grief Educator
THE CLINICIAN
THE AUTHOR
THE EDUCATOR
Karyn's career in social work has spanned schools, community mental health, crisis assessment, clinical leadership, and private practice. Today, her clinical work focuses on adults navigating anxiety, grief and loss, relationships, pregnancy and postpartum experiences, trauma, and major life transitions. Across those settings, one idea has remained constant: our reactions make more sense when we understand what shaped them.
The Story Beneath the Surface grew from something Karyn saw repeatedly in the therapy room: people are often incredibly hard on themselves for patterns that developed for understandable reasons. Her writing brings mental health concepts outside the therapy room in a way that feels human, accessible, and practical.
Through books, workshops, speaking, and mental health education, Karyn's goal is to help people understand themselves with greater curiosity and less judgment—whether or not they've ever stepped into a therapy office.
Mission & Values
ROOTED IN EXPERIENCE
CURIOSITY OVER JUDGMENT
Our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors don't develop in a vacuum. Understanding what shaped them creates space for greater understanding and change.
Instead of asking what's wrong with us, we can become curious about what our reactions are trying to communicate. Often, there is a story underneath them.
KNOWLEDGE THAT FEELS HUMAN
COMPASSION WITHOUT OVERSIMPLIFYING
Mental health education shouldn't require a clinical degree to understand. My goal is to make complex ideas accessible, relatable, and useful in everyday life.
Healing is rarely about finding one explanation or one perfect tool. I believe in making room for complexity while helping people understand themselves with greater compassion.
EXPERIENCE & TRAINING
Professional experience across private practice, community mental health, school social work, crisis assessment, clinical supervision, and practice leadership
• Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW), practicing since 2013
• Ongoing advanced training in trauma, EFT, IFS, and EMDR-informed approaches
• Gottman Method Couples Therapy Levels 1 & 2
• Advanced training in perinatal mental health
• Certified Grief Educator
• Co-Founder and Clinical Therapist at Dynamic Wellness Collaborative
RECOGNITION
Karyn’s professional work and contributions to mental health education have been recognized through professional and community honors.
4/23/2026
2/24/2026