Leading a diversified career throughout the state of Michigan for more than 30 years, Carlene M. Karavite held various secretarial, bookkeeping and real estate positions in Royal Oak, Oak Park and Birmingham, Michigan. In 1994, she became a limited licensed psychologist at the Midwestern Education Resource Center in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. She later worked in the same capacity at Evergreen Counseling Centers in Farmington Hills, Shelby and Sterling Heights, Michigan, and at Advanced Counseling Services, P.C., in Southfield, Michigan, before retiring from the field of psychology in 1997. Additionally, Ms. Karavite excelled for 30 years as a real estate property manager for Leota Dunham in Royal Oak between 1976 and 2006.
Ms. Karavite became involved in her profession because of her appreciation for her own experience with therapy. Grateful for how dramatically it had improved her life, she was motivated to pay it forward and provide therapy to others. She also drew inspiration from a college friend, who juggled full-time schoolwork and a psychology clientele. The highlight of Ms. Karavite’s career came while she worked in real estate. When a client of hers was taken to court, she was able to contribute to the case. She felt empowered to speak up and stand up for herself and her client in court, which she would not have had the courage to attempt without the assistance of therapy.
Providing her time and expertise to her local community, Ms. Karavite flourished as a volunteer and child advocate for Family Focus in Birmingham during the mid-1970s and as a court appointed supervisor in the early 1990s. As a member of the American Coaching Association, she has been active as a coach since 1997, where she has the opportunity to work with various Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) patients. ADD coaches notably help individuals set goals, accept limitations and acknowledge strengths, develop social skills and create strategies that enable them to be more effective in managing their day-to-day lives.
Ms. Karavite initially studied at the University of Detroit, Oakland Community College, Oakland University and Wayne State University between 1956 and 1980. She later received a bachelor’s degree, cum laude, at Wayne State University and a Master of Science in clinical psychology at Eastern Michigan University in 1992. Furthermore, she is a limited licensed psychologist in the State of Michigan. Recognized as the Outstanding Young Woman of the Year by the Junior Women’s Club of America in 1966, Ms. Karavite has been featured in numerous editions of Who’s Who, including Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in Medicine and Healthcare, and Who’s Who in Science and Engineering.
More recently, Ms. Karavite took up roller skating lessons at age 69 and has participated in national rollerskating competitions for three years. In 2004, she began taking tap dancing lessons and, in 2006, she danced for senior homes. She has enjoyed time spent acting with fellow seniors as part of the Heart of the Hills Players, with whom she has put on productions of “South Pacific,” “Hello, Dolly!” and “The Pajama Game.”