Laura Karr, Trauma Therapist

10/06/2025

👑✨ It is time. (Rafiki voice) ✨👑

One year ago, in the middle of a season of burnout, stress, and loneliness, I decided to get myself a teammate. Enter: Prince Rumi Takiwatanga Mozart the 3rd. Mose for short. Born October 4th, and now officially a 1-year-old. 🎉

This little lion prince has been my true companion. He’s taught me about secure attachment, rupture and repair, and even helped me stick to routines I never thought I’d keep, because love makes us willing. 🐾💛

Mose loves chasing bugs, licking my nose, playing hide-and-seek, and reminding me that joy and chaos can exist side by side. He is impossibly soft, surprisingly strong, and manages to make me both laugh out loud and want to scream in the same breath.

This weekend we threw him a Lion King–themed first birthday party 🦁👑. Special shout-out to my sister for being the most patient photographer, for capturing our royal highness in his crown and bowtie.

Never underestimate the power of love for an animal. We aren’t meant to be alone and they truly help us heal. 💛

Happy Birthday, Prince MozaRumi. May your reign be long and full of good grub. 🐾✨

07/11/2025

I love working with men and find their courage to become emotionally intelligent deeply impactful.

Dear men, it’s okay to be human. I see you.

Men get a raw deal in our dysfunctional society. They are taught tender emotions like sadness and fear are weak. Men are taught it's weak to need love, frien...

07/11/2025

When it comes to trauma recovery and post traumatic growth, nuance is everything. I appreciate getting to work so closely with Tonya in the sacred working of helping others heal and come home to themselves. 🌱

04/15/2025

Happy release day to Holy Hurt: Understanding Spiritual Trauma and the Process of Healing by

This is the book I’ve needed.

Hilary has been my teacher and guide on discovering that there is goodness inside of me, I am worthy of love, and it’s okay to not only live in a body, but I can listen and trust my body. This was the greatest good news I didn’t know I was missing.

Understanding how my childhood trauma was re-created in a spiritual community was life-changing. Even though the system I was in was doing so much damage to me, it makes so much sense that I was unaware and stuck and stayed for so long thinking there was something wrong with me.

It takes courage to do the work of healing from spiritual trauma, and it takes even more to look at and be with the ways we may have also perpetuated spiritual trauma. I believe it’s worth it which is why I’m inviting you to this book and this work.

“May you know deep down inside that you are good and loved, may you know spaces and connections where you are nurtured, challenged, and witnessed, and may your pain be met with love and kindness, allowing you to meet the pain of others with love and kindness. May all of this be a part of our collective healing.”

May we all come to know and believe that we are good at our core. ❤️

🌱This book is for you if you’ve survived spiritual trauma.
🌱This book is for you if you help those who’ve survived spiritual trauma.
🌱It’s also for those of you who are leaders in religious contexts who want to understand how do we go so wrong and how do we do it differently moving forward.
🌱As well as for anyone who just wants to understand the pain of those they love.

It’s a must read - grab your copy here: https://a.co/d/5nXB96M

04/06/2025

The AEDP community has both cracked me open and provided a ‘transformational other’ for me on my journey.

I am deeply grateful to be in NYC for the AEDP conference this weekend - being IN IT TOGETHER with the most beautiful, brilliant, and authentic people.

As I walk in Webster Hall each day, I feel present, hopeful, and deeply connected. I believe in not only my healing, but my healing being a part of a collective healing. And this conference is helping me find my way.

03/11/2025

🎉 Huge congrats to & whose deeply important and brilliant book “Tailoring Treatment to Attachment Patterns” releases today!

This book is a manual for understanding attachment theory, the development of attachment patterning, and very specific breakdowns of how to work uniquely with each of them in therapy.

Karen and Diana have been two of the most influential teachers and trainers for me professionally, but also personally. For those of us who are helpers and healers holding space for folks with trauma and attachment wounding, it is essential to do our own work. This book provides a very clear map of common reactivities, how they show up in session, and practical interventions to help our clients heal in relationship with us.

I’m deeply grateful for this book and work of both authors - and I know my clients are too😉 Healing really is possible!

Grab a copy wherever books are sold and let’s all heal in relationship together! .mentalhealth

03/11/2025

Grateful to hold space for those healing with Tonya 💕

It’s intensive week! ✨

So excited to see these two amazing women guide others toward healing and transformation. Life-changing healing happens during intensives — and this week is proof of that. 💛

02/18/2025

It’s so hard being a therapist sometimes, but not going it alone makes all the difference in the world. I’m looking forward to the person who joins our team as I LOVE to collaborate! If you’re interested please reach out!

Join our team! We’re hiring full-time clinicians at our downtown Bloomington office. We’re looking for a Master’s Level therapist who is aligned with trauma informed care and lifelong learning. Come work with the dream team :)

Apply to join our team today!
309-831-9558
Hello@journeytobreathe.com
216 E. Grove St, Bloomington IL

02/11/2025

Have you ever noticed the difference between your anxious-ambivalent clients and your avoidant clients?

Learning from Karen Pando-Mars on how to tailor my clinical interventions to the patterns of my clients has truly transformed my therapy practice. I already know I will endorse this book!

Preorder with link below for sweet 20% discount and free shipping from Norton Mental Health! And let's do a book club in Blono after it's released!

I cannot wait for this book to enter the world - and it's release is just one month away - on March 11th!

Tailoring Treatment to Attachment Patterns offers guidance on how to translate attachment theory, neuroscience, and trauma healing into transformative clinical interventions. I've loved co-authoring this book with Diana Fosha, and we are so grateful for the early endorsements we've received. A very special thanks to Rick Hanson, Ph.D. for offering this early review - which is such an honor coming from him.

This book has been a labor of love and we hope it will be a resource for each of you.
Preorders mean the world to authors, and our publisher Norton Mental Health has offered 20% discount and free shipping - order your book today! https://lnkd.in/gbwU9muD

01/13/2025

Last chance to register - don't miss out!

Join me and Karen Pando-Mars, MFT, Senior Faculty AEDP Institute, THIS FRIDAY to witness transformation through clinical video tapes and learn the skills to tailor your treatment to help your clients overcome their trauma - we can help them heal!

When: Friday, January 17th, 2025
Time: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM (CT)
Where: ISU Alumni Center, Normal, IL
Cost: $115
Catered lunch & refreshments
6 CEs Available (included with registration via Gateway Foundation)

Register here: https://healingtraumainrelationship.eventbrite.com and invite a colleague to join you!

For any questions please call or email us at hello@journeytobreathe.com or 309-831-9558.

01/06/2025

Dear Therapists,

Struggling to treat trauma clients? Want to feel more competent & confident in working with attachment trauma?
💡This training is for you!

Join Karen Pando-Mars for a transformative ONE-DAY workshop in Central Illinois on healing trauma in relationship. This training will deepen your understanding of attachment patterns and how to tailor your clinical interventions to foster real transformation in your clients - through the power of the therapeutic relationship.

Karen will be using clinical video tapes to demonstrate how relational work can create real healing and a felt sense of security. Therapists will gain knowledge and resources on powerful relational and experiential interventions that will transform their clinical practice.

When: Friday, January 17th, 2025
Time: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM (CT)
Where: ISU Alumni Center, Normal, IL
Cost: $115
Catered lunch & refreshments
6 CEs Available (included with registration)

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to enhance your practice and offer your clients the transformational healing they deserve.

✨Register now and reserve your spot: https://healingtraumainrelationship.eventbrite.com

Interested in AEDP? Learn more at https://www.aedpinstitute.org/

12/26/2024

We support you — we hope you are being gentle and taking good care. ❤️

Wishing you peace, hope, and healing this holiday season. ✨

From all of us at Breathe Counseling, thank you for allowing us to be a part of your journey. Here’s to a new year filled with growth and blessings. 🤍