As a rabbi and a psychotherapist, Karen Fox guides and supports clients, congregants, and students on their different journeys. Fox earned a BA in sociology and Jewish studies from UCLA in 1973 and was ordained by Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in 1978, one of the first women rabbis ordained. She then served the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now the Union for Reform Judaism) as its first woman Rabbi-Regional Director, where she created education programs for synagogues and opened doors for more women to help shape URJ’s programs and policies. In 1984 she became both camp director and the first woman rabbi of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple (WBT) in Los Angeles. She left to earn a master’s degree in psychology from Pepperdine University in 1992 and a license in marriage and family therapy. Fox returned to WBT in 1997 and continued serving there until her retirement in 2015, when she was named Rabbi Emerita. She served on the Ethics Committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and mentored clergy through Teshuvah (rehabilitation) processes. As of 2023 Fox teaches pastoral counseling at Hebrew Union College and guides a private practice as a psychotherapist-rabbi and consultant. In 1992 she published a resource guide for Jewish holidays called Seasons for Celebration.