Dr. Karen Nelson received her doctorate in Counseling Psychology from Northwestern University. She was on the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine's clinical faculty in Psychiatry where she focused on teaching residents, psychotherapy and formal assessment. She joined the CRMEF faculty in 2018. As a die hard generalist who loves to teach, she finds Family Medicine to be an ideal match.

Her areas of interest include teaching, motivational interviewing, treatment of behavior dysregulation, depression, anxiety, including OCD.

She grew up in Colorado, Kansas, Arkansas and Texas. She lives with her family in Iowa City. Karen enjoys spending time with family and friends. Her hobbies include working out, reading, cooking, entertaining and attending theatre.