
“How does one become a butterfly?" she asked.
You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a
caterpillar.”
― Trina Paulus
Carla Naragon, M.A., LMFT 37509
Specializing in Trauma Recovery, Trauma-based Depression &
Anxiety.
I have spent the last 24 years working with people struggling to recover from the debilitating effects of PTSD. Along the way I have taught women’s empowerment classes, run addiction recovery groups and facilitated healthy communication skills workshops. Regardless of the venue or population the common threads that apply to every process include compassion for self and others, discovery of one’s own natural resilience and the instillation of hope for a happier and healthier life.
Go to interventions include:
Somatic Experiencing (S.E.)
– S.E. involves gently increasing your awareness of the language of your
mind (thoughts, images, symbols), the language of your body (sensations),
and the language of your spirit (emotions), thus inviting your whole self to
rise up and have a voice. I think of this process as waking up and welcoming
back the sleeping parts of ourselves that feel lost, hopeless and
overwhelmed as a result of past trauma.. Allowing yourself to feel and
release the emotional charge connected to painful memories will release
energy you can use to live your best life. When the emotional pain is
released, the memory takes its rightful place in back of your mind instead
of haunting you in the present moment.
Gestalt Empty Chair –
Some people come to therapy wishing they could cut out and remove the parts
of themselves they love to hate. That’s not possible. In fact the more we
try to trash the unwanted parts of ourselves, the more depressed we become.
Experiential techniques like gestalt empty chair are powerful
modalities that helps us to discover the language, compassion and kindness
necessary to welcome home our inner outcast.
Didactic Education
– There is always something new to learn, like the difference between pity
and compassion, the basics of healthy communication or the empowering side
effects of creating healthy boundaries. The best part is that you get to
decide what you want to learn about because after all it is all about you!
The Missing Link - Trauma is at the heart of most
problems found within the individual, the couple, family, classroom and
community. When exploring the psychological core of depression, anxiety,
addiction, divorce, or even sleep disorders and other social problems, we
often see unresolved trauma at the heart of the problem. That’s because
“traumatized people are not suffering from a disease in the normal sense
of the word -- they have become stuck in an aroused state. It is
difficult if not impossible to function normally under these
circumstances.”
― Peter A. Levine
Book recommendation:
"Waking The Tiger, Healing Trauma" by Dr. Peter Levine
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