145: EMDR, Mental Health & Starting at the Roots

The Funk'tional Nutrition Podcast

At some point in our adult lives, most of us have experienced a situation where we felt our emotional response was stronger than we anticipated. Ever wonder why that happened? In today’s episode, Erin sits down with Carli Genet, MSW, LICSW to unpack the concept of mental health healing by starting at the roots. If you’ve been here a minute, then you already know that the key to optimal health extends far beyond just diet and exercise. Erin and Carli discuss EMDR therapy, how and where memories are stored, big and small traumatic experiences, attachment styles and why tracing back to the roots for healing is often considered the emotional equivalent to functional nutrition work. If you’ve ever had an experience that triggers a stronger reaction than you thought it should, or notice certain situations seem to cause a stress response that you can’t easily shake off, then this is definitely an episode to tune into.

Carli is a licensed clinical social worker in the state of NH and graduate of the UNH Masters in Social Work program. She chose to pursue a degree in social work because in addition to wanting to help people on individual levels, she has always been motivated to understand and effect change within larger powers at play. In fact, she often considers therapy to be a form of emotional activism.

Carli offers individual, couples and intensive EMDR therapy for adults. She incorporates both physical and mental treatment modalities including Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), Eye Movement Desensitization (EMDR), Internal Family Systems (IFS), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Solution Focused Interventions, Motivational Interviewing, meditation, mindfulness and yoga.

In this episode:

-An experiment for when you’re feeling high strung [1:04]

-Why Erin sought out EMDR therapy [4:54]

-Carli’s approach to mental health healing, & what it means to start at the root [8:10]

-Awareness: tracing back symptoms of stressors to find the root [12:40]

-What exactly is EMDR & how it works [14:59]

-How EMDR deepens your understanding of stressors and associated memories [18:15]

-How memories are stored [22:05]

-What it means to have support through trauma [25:35]

-Attachment styles: the emotional equivalent to an immune system [28:51]

-Parsing through burnout from self work and healing [34:33]

-How therapy helps to maintain a connection to the Self [41:07]

-A practice for finding a sense of your own Self [43:45]

-The importance of doing due diligence in finding an appropriate therapist match for your needs [47:46]

Resources mentioned:

Organifi supplement powder (save 20% on your order with code FUNK) https://organifi.com/FUNK

BioKult Boosted probiotic supplement (3/9/21: NEW CODE! save 15% off your entire order with code FUNK15) https://www.bio-kult.com/bio-kult-boosted/p9

Study: Biobehavioral responses to stress in females: tend-and-befriend, not fight-or-flight https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10941275/

Learn more about Carli’s work https://www.soulsnestcounseling.com/

Find Carli on Insta https://www.instagram.com/the.integrative.emdr.therapist/

Follow Erin on Insta https://www.instagram.com/the.funktional.nutritionist/

Related episodes:

140: Somatic Healing & Breathwork https://www.thefunktionalnutritionist.com/podcast/140-somatic-healing-breathwork-victoria-albina

123: Creating Your Morning Ritual https://www.thefunktionalnutritionist.com/podcast/123-creating-your-morning-ritual