Karen Chmiel has joined the Jewish Family & Children's Service's dialectical behavior therapy program for adolescents as a clinical services staff member. Chmiel is a therapist in the clinical services department.

Dialectical behavior therapy helps stabilize clients who experience erratic moods, experience frequent crises and exhibit chronic mental health symptoms. Chmiel will be using her therapeutic skills in the areas of cognitive behavioral therapy, crisis intervention and attachment therapy to work with families that are trying to have better communication and a more peaceful home.

Chmiel previously worked in children's and family heath services at Crider Mental Health Center. She has a master's degree in education from the University of Missouri-St. Louis.۬