Meet Karina
Karina Aponte is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) and Board-Approved Supervisor in Maryland. Karina earned her Bachelor’s in 2016 followed by her Master’s and Ed.S in 2018 from Seton Hall University.
Karina has worked as a therapist since 2018 across a variety of mental health settings, including outpatient community mental health, private practice, and university counseling centers. Her experience includes providing individual therapy, crisis intervention and triage, short-term counseling, care coordination and referrals, and supporting clients through a wide range of mental health concerns and life circumstances.
Karina especially enjoys working with young adults and women navigating anxiety, trauma, relationship and family challenges, identity concerns, and major life transitions. She recognizes that transitions such as graduating from college, beginning a career, entering or leaving a relationship, or becoming a mother are often viewed as exciting or positive - however, they can also bring feelings of uncertainty, anxiety, changing relationships, and questions about identity.
Karina takes a collaborative and relational approach to therapy, helping clients better understand the patterns, experiences, and relationships that have shaped them while also developing practical strategies for moving forward. Rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach, she tailors therapy to each client's individual needs, goals, and circumstances.
Karina primarily draws from the following therapeutic approaches: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), interpersonal and relational approaches, mindfulness, strengths-based interventions, and trauma-informed therapy.
Diagnostic Evaluation: $170
60 Minute Individual or Family Session: $130
I am currently in network with Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna and United. I can offer out of network billing or Superbills if you have out of network benefits for other health insurance plans.
Karina's Therapeutic Approach
Specialties: Anxiety, trauma, life transitions, young adult concerns, women's issues, identity and self-esteem, relationship concerns, and family dynamics.
Populations: Adults 18+, young adults, college students and recent graduates, and women navigating life transitions, including the transition to motherhood.
Karina's style is warm, conversational, supportive, and collaborative. She believes therapy should be a space where clients can show up authentically and feel comfortable talking about the things that may be difficult to say elsewhere. She works to create a nonjudgmental environment while also helping clients recognize patterns, gain new perspectives, and make meaningful changes.
Karina particularly enjoys helping clients who feel stuck between where they are and where they thought they would be by now. Whether you are figuring out life after college, adjusting to a new career, navigating changing friendships or relationships, working through complicated family dynamics, or trying to reconnect with yourself during a new stage of life, therapy can provide space to understand what you're experiencing and determine what you want moving forward.
Karina also enjoys supporting women as they adjust to motherhood, including navigating changes in identity, relationships, expectations, roles, and sense of self. She recognizes that becoming a mother can bring complicated emotions alongside the expected joys and helps clients make space for both while adjusting to this new stage of life.
Karina believes clients are the experts on their own lives. Her role is to provide support, curiosity, perspective, and practical tools while working collaboratively toward the changes that matter most to them.
When working with trauma, Karina recognizes that traumatic or painful experiences can continue to shape how clients see themselves, navigate relationships, and respond to situations in the present. She approaches trauma work collaboratively and at a pace that feels manageable, helping clients understand these connections, recognize patterns and triggers, and develop ways to feel more grounded. Clients do not need to immediately share every detail of their experiences in order for therapy to be meaningful.
Interested in working with Karina?
Reach out by phone at (443) 785-5349 or submit a therapy request here.
Karina Outside of the Office
Outside of the office, Karina enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, exploring Baltimore, and finding new places and activities to enjoy with her daughter. She also enjoys staying active, reading, and making time for the friendships and experiences that help life feel meaningful.
