Karen Roller, PhD, MFT

Position:

Associate Professor

Contact Information:

kroller@paloaltou.edu

Other Positions:

Clinical Coordinator-Family Connections

Programs:

Master's

Education:

Doctor of Philosophy, Clinical Psychology, Specialization in Somatic Psychology, Santa Barbara
Graduate Institute, Santa Barbara, CA (Sep 2005-July 2012)
Master of Arts, Counseling Psychology, John F. Kennedy University, Campbell, CA (Sep 1996-May 1998)
Bachelor of Arts, Psychology, Saint Mary’s College, Moraga, CA (Sep 1990-May 1994)
Bachelor of Arts, Spanish Literature, Saint Mary’s College, Moraga, CA (Sep 1990-May 1994)
Semester in Spain, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain. (Sep-Dec 1993)

Biography:

Karen learned Spanish in school and living abroad in Spain and Latin America, and is still learning more nuance after 45 years of practice. She found upon launch to Practicum that this would define her clinical career because of the tsunami of unmet need for language-concordant services, so she seeks to help bilingual students be well-supported for the demand they are about to meet.

Among her greatest blessings is to be embedded in a network of Latinx colleagues, clients, and students who have been raised in communalism and are driven by love for the greater good. The generosity of clients, students, and loving colleagues keeps her wanting to grow and be useful to more people. She finds that practitioners called to global mental health outreach embody a selflessness to which she aspires, and she will never have words to adequately describe her appreciation for the communities that trust such workers with the rawness of their pain.

Her clients have proven to her the universal necessity of secure attachment to cope with injustice and trauma, so she studies everything possible to facilitate that security wherever possible.

Areas of Interest:

Trauma-Informed Care for the Underserved, Spanish-language Clinical Training, Attachment, Somatics, Global Mental Health

Selected Publications:

*Cowans, N. & Roller, K. (in press). Voicework and integral sound healing: Overcoming the silencing response and unlearning voicelessness. International Body Psychotherapy Journal, 22(1).

Jacoby, R. & Roller, K. (in press). Oppression and addiction break families: Calling somatic practitioners to repair attachment. International Body Psychotherapy Journal, 22(1).

Wallace, D., Moore, & Roller, K. (in press). Black girls are taught to survive: Historical trauma and the Strong Black Woman’s embodiment. International Body Psychotherapy Journal, 22(1).

Barnett, J., Louis, E., Roller, K. (in press). Somatic practices in disaster-based global supervision: Tending to shared trauma and recovery. International Body Psychotherapy Journal, 22(1).

Roller, K., Jacoby, R. Chen, S-Y. (April, 2023). Anti-racist skills development with non-violent communication and the privileged and subjugated tasks models. Association for Counselor Education and Supervision Teaching Practice Briefs, 1(1): 33-42. https://acesonline.net/tpb-publication/

Chen, S-Y., Roller, K., Kottman, T. (Jan, 2021). Adlerian family play therapy: Healing the attachment trauma of divorce. International Journal of Play Therapy, 30(1): 28-39. https://doi.org/10.1037/pla0000146

Roller, K., Saint-Jean, F., Louis, E., Barnett, J., John, P. (Dec, 2020). Culturally responsive mental health outreach and trauma training in Haiti. Caribbean Journal of Psychology, 12(1): 8-40. https://www.uwipress.com/cjp-vol-12-i1-a1/

Roller, K. (July, 2020). Disaster mental health in the age of COVID-19. American Counseling Association Practice Briefs. https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/practice-briefs/acapb_covid-19_fa.pdf?sfvrsn=835e222c_2

Coker, K., Dixon-Saxon, S., Cannon, K., Roller, K. (May, 2022). Lifespan Development: Cultural and Contextual Considerations for the Helping Professions. Springer: NY. https://www.springerpub.com/lifespan-development-9780826182784.html

Roller, K., Snow, W. & #Grapa, J. (in press). Trauma Treatment Approaches. In Bill Owenby & Katherine Campbell (Eds). Starting off in the right lane: A guide to certifications and trainings for the mental health professional. Arizona: ONBLLC Publishing.

Snow, W. & Roller, K. (in press). Status dynamic therapy: Training, experience, certification, and credentialing. In Bill Owenby & Katherine Campbell (Eds), Starting off in the right lane: A guide to certifications and trainings for the mental health professional. Arizona: ONBLLC Pub-lishing.

Roller, K. (in press). Reichian therapy. In Bill Owenby & Katherine Campbell (Eds). Starting off in the right lane: A guide to certifications and trainings for the mental health professional. Arizona: ONBLLC Publishing.

Roller, K. & #Grapa, J. (in press). Social and cultural diversity: Migrant couple with chronic illness and pornography addiction. In Gibbons, M. M., & Barrio Minton, C. A. (Eds). Case studies in counselor education.

Roller, K. & #Grapa, J. (in press). Group counseling and group work: Supporting migrant families with young children. In Gibbons, M. M., & Barrio Minton, C. A. (Eds). Case studies in counselor education.

Roller, K., & Baima, T. (in press). Lifespan development: Latinx family launching and grieving. In Gibbons, M. M., & Barrio Minton, C. A. (Eds). Case studies in counselor education.

Roller, K. (2017). Self-care practices for the trauma-informed couple and family therapist. Encyclopedia of Marriage, Family, and Couples Counseling. Sage Publications. Thousand Oaks, CA. http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781483369532.n443

Roller, K. (in press). Microconnections: Healing our macrodisconnection and macrodissociation. International Body Psychotherapy Journal, 22(1). Social Justice issue guest editorial.

Roller, K. (May, 2016). The need for universal trauma training in counselor education programs. American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress. http://www.aaets.org/articles%20zoom%20directory/search.php?zoom_query=The+Need+for+Universal+Trauma+Training+in+Counselor+Education