Fresh Starts Expert Feature: Karen LeClaire, Stress & Performance Specialist for Life Transitions
At Fresh Starts, we’re proud to spotlight the incredible professionals who guide people through one of life’s most challenging transitions: divorce. Today, we’re featuring Karen LeClaire, a Stress & Performance Specialist for Life Transitions, whose work helps clients find clarity, strength, and a true fresh start.
Can you tell us a little about yourself, what you do and what led you to this line of work?
I’m a mom of three sons, a business owner, and someone who has personally been through the divorce process and understands how overwhelming a major life transition can feel. I know what it’s like when the life you thought you were going to have suddenly looks very different—and you’re trying to figure out what comes next while still managing everything else in your life. Professionally, I’ve spent more than 20 years working in the mental health field and today own counseling practices in Florida, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, as well as CCE Performance, where I help people recognize how stress and pressure are affecting them, reset in the moment, and move forward with greater focus and confidence. My own life experiences, combined with years of helping people navigate stress, change, and high-pressure situations, led me to this work. I wanted to create something practical and accessible for people who may not need therapy, but do need tools to help them regain a sense of control and perform at their best during challenging seasons of life.
What inspired you to work with people going through divorce or big life transitions?
Having gone through divorce myself, I understand how quickly life can change and how overwhelming it can feel when the future you pictured suddenly looks completely different. You can be making major decisions about your family, finances, home, career, and future—all while trying to manage the emotional weight of what you’re going through. What inspired me to work with people during divorce and other major life transitions is that I’ve seen how easy it is for stress and uncertainty to take over during these times. People can begin to doubt themselves, overthink decisions, or simply feel like they’re operating in survival mode. I want people to know that even when you can’t control everything happening around you, you can learn to recognize what pressure is doing to you, reset, and regain some control over how you respond and what you do next. Sometimes the goal isn’t to have your whole future figured out. It’s simply to feel steady enough to take the next step.
What is your specialty within the divorce space, and how do you typically support your clients?
My specialty within the divorce space is helping people manage the stress, pressure, and mental overload that can come with such a major life transition. Divorce can require you to make important decisions and continue functioning at work and at home at a time when you may feel distracted, overwhelmed, or unsure of yourself. Through CCE Performance, I provide practical, non-clinical stress and performance support designed to help people recognize how pressure is showing up for them, reset when they feel overwhelmed, and move forward with greater focus and confidence. I use my CCE Performance Reset Method—Recognize, Reset, Perform, Recover—to give people practical tools they can use in real-life situations. That might mean preparing for a difficult conversation or meeting, staying focused when there are multiple decisions to make, recognizing when stress is beginning to affect their thinking or behavior, or learning how to reset before responding in a high-pressure moment. My goal isn’t to tell someone how they should feel or what decision they should make. It’s to help them feel more grounded and equipped so they can navigate the process in a way that feels right for them.
What makes your approach to working with clients unique?
What makes my approach unique is that I combine practical stress and performance tools with a very personal, down-to-earth style. I’m not interested in giving someone a long list of things they “should” be doing when they already feel overwhelmed. I want to understand what is happening for that individual and help them identify what will actually be useful in their real life. I’m also very intuitive in the way I work with people. Often, I can help someone put words to what they’re experiencing or recognize patterns they may not have noticed yet. From there, we can identify practical ways to help them feel more in control of how they respond to pressure. My CCE Performance Reset Method—Recognize, Reset, Perform, Recover—provides the structure, but the work is individualized to the person. I meet people where they are, without judgment, and help them find realistic strategies they can actually use. And sometimes humor is part of that. Divorce and major life transitions are serious, but that doesn’t mean every conversation has to feel heavy. Sometimes being able to laugh, feel understood, and realize, “Okay, maybe I’m not the only person who does that when I’m stressed,” can be incredibly powerful.
What’s one thing that people are often surprised to learn about you?
People are often surprised by how much I use humor. I work with stress, pressure, and people going through some very difficult periods in their lives, so they sometimes expect me to be very serious all the time. I’m definitely not! I believe you can take what someone is going through seriously without making every moment feel heavy. I’m pretty down-to-earth, I laugh at myself, and I love those moments when someone realizes, “Wait—I do that too!” Sometimes a little humor helps people feel more comfortable, less judged, and more like themselves again.
Do you have a personal story or experience that helps you connect with clients on a deeper level?
Yes. I’ve personally been through divorce and know what it feels like when life suddenly looks very different from what you had planned. I was raising three sons while navigating major changes in my own life, and there were certainly times when I had to figure out what came next one step at a time. That experience gave me a perspective I carry with me today. I understand that when someone is going through a major transition, they may be trying to make important decisions while also being a parent, going to work, managing a household, and trying to hold everything together. I also know that difficult chapters don’t have to define the rest of your story. Sometimes you can’t see very far ahead—you just have to find the next step and keep moving. That’s something I understand not only professionally, but personally, and I think that helps me connect with people in a very genuine way.
What’s your favorite way to reset after a long day?
My favorite way to reset after a long day is listening to music and getting outside for a walk in the sunshine. I spend so much of my day thinking and problem-solving that my best reset is usually anything that gets me out of my head and back into the moment. There’s something about fresh air, sunshine, movement, and a good song that helps me step away from everything I’ve been thinking about and just be present for a while. It’s simple, but that’s also something I really believe about resetting—it doesn’t always have to be complicated.
If you could describe your work in three words, what would they be?
Practical. Personal. Empowering
What does “fresh start” mean to you personally?
To me, a fresh start doesn’t mean forgetting what happened or pretending the difficult parts of your life didn’t matter. It means recognizing that what happened is part of your story, but it doesn’t have to determine what comes next. I’ve had to start over in my own life, and I know that a fresh start doesn’t always feel exciting in the beginning. Sometimes it feels scary, uncertain, and nothing like something you would have chosen for yourself. But over time, it can become an opportunity to rediscover who you are, what matters to you, and what you want the next chapter of your life to look like. For me, a fresh start is about moving forward—not because the past didn’t matter, but because your future matters too.
Please note that the blogpost above does not represent the thoughts or opinions of Fresh Start Registry and solely represents the original author’s perspective.