Finding the right counselor is about more than finding someone who treats a particular concern. Experience, training, approach, and the ability to understand what you want to change all matter.
I am Carmen Frederick, M.Ed., Ed.S., a Licensed Psychological Associate (LPA) in Kentucky and a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) in Florida and Indiana, with more than 30 years of counseling experience. I provide individual and couples counseling in Louisville, Kentucky, as well as online counseling throughout Kentucky, Indiana, and Florida.
I work with adults seeking help with anxiety and stress, life transitions, relationships, and personal growth, as well as couples who want to improve their relationships, communicate more effectively, deepen connection, improve intimacy, or recover from infidelity and betrayal.
My approach is integrative and designed to help clients create meaningful change—not simply understand why they feel or respond the way they do. In addition to CBT and advanced Gottman Method training for couples, I have specialized training in EMDR, somatic therapy, and nervous-system regulation. These approaches can help clients address longstanding reactions and patterns, respond differently to stress and emotional triggers, and move toward greater freedom, connection, satisfaction, and joy in their lives and relationships.
Individual Counseling in Louisville
Many of the adults I work with are managing full lives, careers, relationships, families, and significant responsibilities. From the outside, life may be going well, while internally they may be experiencing anxiety, chronic stress, emotional reactivity, dissatisfaction, relationship concerns, or a sense that old patterns continue to get in the way.
Others come to counseling during a transition or because they want something in their lives or relationships to be better. Counseling does not have to begin with a crisis. It can provide the opportunity to understand yourself more deeply, change responses that are no longer serving you, strengthen important relationships, and live with greater intention.
Individual counseling may help with:
- Anxiety, worry, and persistent stress
- Emotional reactivity and feeling easily triggered
- Difficulty regulating your nervous system or settling after stress
- Relationship concerns and recurring interpersonal patterns
- Life transitions and important decisions
- Boundaries, expectations, and the demands of work and family life
- The continuing effects of difficult or painful experiences
- Greater self-understanding, personal growth, and emotional freedom
Learn more about Individual Counseling and Anxiety Therapy.
EMDR, Somatic Therapy & Nervous-System Regulation
Insight can be valuable, but sometimes knowing why you react a certain way does not change the reaction itself. You may understand a situation logically and still experience anxiety, tension, emotional intensity, shutdown, or an automatic response that feels out of proportion to what is happening now.
This is one reason I incorporate EMDR Therapy, Somatic Therapy, and nervous-system regulation into my work. These approaches recognize that stressful and difficult experiences can influence more than our thoughts. They can also shape emotional reactions, physical responses, deeply held beliefs, and the ways we respond in relationships.
Somatic and nervous-system-informed work can help clients develop a greater capacity to regulate automatic responses, respond differently to emotional triggers, and experience more flexibility in situations that once felt difficult to change.
The goal is not simply to manage symptoms. Depending on your needs and goals, our work may focus on helping you respond differently to situations that once triggered strong reactions, experience greater flexibility and freedom, strengthen your relationships, and create changes that extend into everyday life.
Learn more about EMDR Therapy and Somatic Therapy.
Couples & Marriage Counseling in Louisville
Couples seek counseling for many reasons. Some are in significant distress, while others have a good relationship and want it to be stronger. You may want to communicate more effectively, feel more connected, improve intimacy, resolve recurring disagreements, navigate a transition, or address concerns before they become more difficult.
I have advanced training in the Gottman Method, including completion of Level 3 training. Gottman Method Couples Therapy draws on decades of research into the patterns that contribute to relationship stability, connection, and distress.
Couples counseling may focus on:
- Improving communication
- Managing conflict more constructively
- Strengthening friendship and emotional connection
- Improving intimacy
- Understanding recurring relationship patterns
- Navigating differences in needs, priorities, or expectations
- Rebuilding trust
- Recovering from infidelity or betrayal
- Creating a stronger and more intentional relationship
My work with couples is active and practical. The goal is not simply to talk about what is wrong, but to help you better understand the relationship you have created together and develop more effective ways of relating to one another.
Learn more about Gottman Method Couples Counseling and Infidelity Recovery Counseling.
Infidelity & Betrayal Recovery
Infidelity can profoundly disrupt trust, emotional safety, and a couple’s understanding of their relationship. Couples may be dealing with intense emotions while also trying to understand what happened, what it means for the relationship, and whether or how they can move forward together.
I have extensive experience working with couples affected by infidelity and betrayal. The discovery of an affair can bring shock, anger, grief, confusion, and a profound loss of trust and emotional safety. Counseling may involve stabilizing the immediate crisis, processing the impact of the betrayal, establishing accountability, understanding the circumstances and patterns surrounding the infidelity, and helping both partners make thoughtful decisions about the future. For couples who choose to rebuild, the work can focus on restoring trust and emotional connection while helping each partner grow in healthier ways individually and within the relationship. The goal is not simply to return to the relationship as it was, but to build something stronger, healthier, and more intentional going forward.
Learn more about Infidelity Recovery Counseling and focused options for couples working to recover from an affair.
An Integrative, Evidence-Based Approach
People are complex, and no single counseling approach is appropriate for every person or every concern. I draw from several evidence-based and clinically informed approaches and tailor treatment to the individual or couple.
Depending on your needs, counseling may incorporate:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to address unhelpful patterns of thinking and behavior
- EMDR Therapy to work with distressing experiences, triggers, beliefs, and longstanding emotional responses
- Somatic Therapy and nervous-system regulation to work with the body’s responses to anxiety, stress, and difficult experiences
- Attachment-informed therapy to understand how relationships and earlier experiences may influence present patterns
- Gottman Method Couples Therapy to strengthen relationships, communication, friendship, trust, and connection
- Neuroscience-informed approaches to help clients understand and change emotional and behavioral responses
Our work is collaborative. We consider what brought you to counseling, what you want to be different, and which approaches are most appropriate for helping you move toward those goals.
Christian Counseling in Louisville — When Requested
For clients who want faith to be part of counseling, I offer Christian Counseling in Louisville that integrates Christian faith with professional, evidence-based care.
I spent 17 years as a therapist in the Counseling Ministry at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville and have extensive experience working with adults and couples who want their beliefs and values to be respected and meaningfully incorporated into counseling.
Faith integration is guided by you. For some clients it is central to the counseling process; for others it may arise only when relevant. I also work with many clients who do not want faith integrated into counseling.
More Than 30 Years of Counseling Experience
I have worked with adults and couples for more than three decades. Over those years, I have continued to pursue advanced training and incorporate newer evidence-based and neuroscience-informed approaches into my work.
My training includes the three levels of Gottman Method Couples Therapy, EMDR and Somatic EMDR, specialized somatic and nervous-system regulation training, attachment-informed therapy, and CBT. This combination allows me to draw on extensive clinical experience while continuing to evolve the way I help clients create meaningful change.
In-Person Counseling in Louisville & Online Counseling
I provide in-person individual and couples counseling in Louisville, Kentucky. I also offer secure Telehealth counseling for clients physically located in Kentucky, Indiana, and Florida.
I am licensed as a Psychological Associate in Kentucky and as a Mental Health Counselor in both Indiana and Florida.
Rates & Insurance
My Louisville practice is private pay. For current session fees and additional information, please visit Rates & Insurance.
Eligible clients who are residents of Indiana or Florida may be able to use insurance benefits through Headway for Telehealth counseling. Insurance eligibility is confirmed through Headway, and those appointments are scheduled through the Headway platform.
Getting Started
If you are looking for an experienced counselor in Louisville for individual or couples counseling, you may schedule a private-pay appointment through my online appointment calendar.
If you would prefer to talk briefly before scheduling, I offer a complimentary 15-minute video consultation. You may also send me a message via my Contact Form with questions about counseling or whether my approach may be a good fit for what you are looking for.
Know yourself more deeply. Connect more fully. Live more intentionally.