“Carrie’s urban retreat for women with trauma was a profoundly affecting experience that I would recommend to any woman trying to make sense of herself after a traumatic experience. I have felt “stuck” for a long time, capable of clinically talking about my trauma and emotions while completely being disconnected from them and from my body. Carrie’s yoga and dance exercises helped me to unlock some deeply bottled emotions and become aware of my body again. Before this retreat, I had always struggled to mediate and do yoga without dissociating! The insights I gained about myself in this incredibly supportive environment accelerated my healing journey in a way that I had never experienced before.”
–participant at Philadelphia Urban Retreat, July 2013
“I had been in therapy for awhile before I started taking classes with Carrie. While the counseling sessions were helpful in addressing some of the cognitive distortions and emotional pain I had related to my trauma, I was still very disconnected to my body. I also experienced chronic pain to which medical professionals felt there was a direction correlation to my trauma. I had heard about an upcoming yoga for trauma retreat and felt compelled to attend even though I had only attended one yoga class many years ago. As soon as Carrie started to speak, I felt myself start to relax. She created a safe place for me to start listening to my body and allowing it to express and release long- held traumatic memories. I heard over and over through personal counseling as well as my own master’s level counseling classes that trauma is stored in the body. And it truly is! My pain has decreased and I’m able to be kinder and more gentle to my body. My counselor has noticed so much improvement in me that she is referring other clients to upcoming retreats and classes. These classes will bring healing in ways traditional therapy was not able to. And there was a lot of laughter too and the freedom to be completely me!”
–participant at 2013 Harrisburg and Philadelphia urban retreats, 2012 Harrisburg support/class series, and 2013 Reading support/class series
