Karen Fried, Psy.D., M.F.T.

Karen Fried, Psy.D., M.F.T., is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Educational Therapist in West Los Angeles, with a private practice in psychotherapy. She was the founding co-director of the K&M Center, Inc., a learning center, and carries that experience into schools and other educational settings. She trains child and adolescent therapists, educators and psychology institutes in the Oaklander Model, with participants from 50+ countries. She is a founding board member and past president of the Violet Solomon Oaklander Foundation, the author of Healing Through Play and other books, and the developer of online play therapy tools including Projective Cards and Online Sand Tray.

Online Play Therapy Apps

Karen and her tech team have developed play therapy tools for professionals:

playtherapyapps.com

Books

  • Healing Through Play Using the Oaklander Model: A Guidebook for Therapists & Counselors Working with Children, Adolescents and Families (with Christine McKenna), also published in Spanish as Sanando a través del Juego usando el Modelo Oaklander

  • Healing Through Play Using the Oaklander Model Part 2: More Treasures (with Christine McKenna)

  • Windows to Our Practice: Therapists Inspired by Violet Oaklander Tell Their Stories

  • Playful Parenting: Building Secure Attachment & Resilience Inspired by the Oaklander Method

  • Executive Functioning Workbook, 2nd Edition and Adult Executive Functioning Workbook (with Melissa Mullin, Ph.D.)

Articles and chapters

  • Fried, K. (2025). [Chapter Title]. In K. W. Oster & M. Wilson (Eds.), Transformative Expressions in Play Therapy: Working with LGBTQ+ Clients (Vols. 1–2). Perceptions Press. [1, 2]

  • Fried, K. Virtual puppet play therapy. In R. A. Cobb (Ed.), The therapist's notebook for systemic teletherapy: Creative interventions for effective online therapy (pp. 70–78). Routledge.

  • Fried, K. Virtual dollhouse. In R. A. Cobb (Ed.), The therapist’s notebook for teletherapy with children and adolescents: Creative interventions for effective online therapy (Ch. 22). Routledge.

  • Fried, K. Mindful drawing in online play therapy. In R. A. Cobb (Ed.), The therapist’s notebook for teletherapy with children and adolescents: Creative interventions for effective online therapy (Ch. 27). Routledge.

  • How the Oaklander model sparked a global community of therapists in a pandemic, and enriched training and treatment. Psychotherapie in Zeiten der Digitalisierung, 13(1), 59–69. Richter, L.-S. & Foppoli, M. (Eds.).

  • The Many Faces of ADHD

  • When "Just for Now" Meets the Future: A Case Study Using the Oaklander Model to Transition from the Pandemic

  • Just for Now: Virtual Use of the Oaklander Model in a Time of Crisis

A current list of Karen's trainings and presentations is at karenfried.com