Claire Karlen, PhD, is a pediatric psychologist at Ranken Jordan providing outpatient services to children and families.   She believes in a strengths-based approach that emphasizes each child’s existing skills and interests as building blocks to growth.

 

In her role, she collaborates with therapy team members (physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy) to optimize children’s engagement in services as well as provides individual psychological services to children and families.  Dr. Karlen is also a member of the Functional GI Clinic team.

 

Dr. Karlen completed her bachelor’s degree in psychology at Illinois Wesleyan University.  She received her master’s and doctoral degrees in school psychology from Illinois State University.  During her doctoral training, she received extensive training in standardized psychological assessment and provided services to children in both clinical and school-based settings. She also served as the director of the Sprouts program, an early intervention program for preschool-aged children with autism.

 

Dr. Karlen completed her predoctoral internship at the Munroe Meyer Institute at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, specializing in both early intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder and in pediatric feeding disorders.  She also served on a multidisciplinary autism diagnostic team, conducting clinical interviews and providing diagnostic feedback to families.  Additionally, Dr. Karlen is an Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) certified therapist.

 

Before joining the Ranken Jordan team in 2021, Dr. Karlen worked as an early intervention therapist for children with autism at both the Mercy Autism Center and as a research coordinator in the child psychiatry department at Washington University in St. Louis.

 

Outside of Ranken Jordan, Dr. Karlen is an avid runner and enjoys trying out new baking recipes for her friends and family.