Carrie Burnett LMT

01/31/2024

I’m very excited to share that starting in February, I’m moving my office to Empowered Spaces full-time! Some of you have been there on Tuesday appointments over the last seven months, and I have gotten much positive feedback about the space. My schedule will stay the same; I will be at Empowered Spaces every day I work instead of just on Tuesdays!

I will share an office with two of my close friends, Earth Body Somatics and who also happen to be professionals I deeply respect as trauma care providers. We have been dreaming about this collaboration for a while to build a practice of LGBT+ care providers dedicated to providing embodied support for survivors of trauma.

I’m excited to make this change, but I know that significant changes like this can be uncomfortable for those who have grown familiar with my Kirkwood office. I invite conversations around any questions or concerns that may come up for you. I want to help make the transition as comfortable as possible, so please don’t hesitate to reach out and share. I will also share several photos of the office in this post so that you can familiarize yourself as much as possible before going there your first time!

As always, thanks to each of you for your continued support as my business grows and evolves, and here’s to an exciting year to come!

01/28/2024

Often, people come to my office with chronic pains and aches that they don’t understand. Their shoulders are locked. Their jaw is locked. Their hips always hurt. It can feel like such a disempowering experience to have pain in your body and not know why it’s happening or what to do about it.

Instead of just coming in and simply releasing tension or soothing aching parts of the body with massage, our goal is to dive deeper and help the person on the table understand why their pain is happening using the somatic experiencing tools I have.

Imagine you have a co-worker or a boss that makes your system feel on edge or on defense. Maybe there is something about them that reminds you of a past abuser, or maybe the way they talk to you triggers something from your past. What can happen to your body if a subtle fight response occurs? Maybe your arms brace every time you talk to them? Maybe you clench your jaw around them?

A trigger like this in your environment could be causing repetitive subconscious movements that, over time, can cause these patterns of pain or even injuries. By slowing down and learning to notice our movements and their connection to deeper triggers and feelings, we can start to connect some crucial dots in moving forward.

Say you notice these encounters cause these physiological symptoms of a fight response because you have learned to feel these parts of the body and listen. This important information can be used with your psychotherapist to determine why this person is triggering you and what to do about it.

This is why I’ve created these decks. To help create a safe and validating place to feel and connect to our bodies. We aren’t trying to change what’s happening but listening to understand and support your body and mind in seeking safety.

01/15/2024

Too often, I see trauma-informed modalities advertising to people how to get rid of trauma responses. And I get it; these responses can be very uncomfortable and can have serious consequences on your day-to-day life. However, in the years I have been working with trauma survivors, not once has telling them not to have the response yielded any sustainable change.

I often surprise people in my office when I tell them we aren’t trying to change or stop their physical response. When it is safe to do so, we may very intentionally slow down and let the body know we see the ways it is trying to seek safety for us and permit it to be in whatever state it is in. (Obviously, if the response is harmful to self or others, this process is not applicable.)

What we don’t do is belittle the response by trying to simply say it is safe when it isn’t feeling safe. We learn to listen, hear, and acknowledge that the part ISN’T feeling safe. We help reconnect to the body by validating and hearing what is happening.

Too often, in a very cognitive-based society, we think we can tell our bodies what to do. This mindset is diminishing to our own experiences. Just as a child wouldn’t respond authentically to being told to stop crying, telling our body to get it together and stop feeling afraid isn’t building a connection but demanding compliance. Instead, I invite people to shift the goal of working with trauma. The goal of trauma work isn’t to get control over the body but to re-establish a healthy relationship with the body. This goal requires two-way communication.

I have established four slide decks with invitations to hear, accept, and support the body through common trauma responses. Each one will help give some cues for identifying the response and suggestions for connecting with the body through the experience. Again, our goal is to help connect with the body, not to change the body’s response.

This first deck provides suggestions for a freeze response. What tools have worked for you when trying to support yourself through freeze responses best?

01/12/2023

I can’t say enough how much I love this local massage therapist. They absolutely embody everything they say here.

Hello! My name is Rachel and I am many things. For the most part I am here for community and sharing my offerings as a massage therapist and movement guide.

❄️ I believe safe touch is a human need

❄️ I think building deeper relationship with our bodies can be liberating

❄️ I know that we are not separate from each other and the earth

Check out my link for more info.

DM with questions.

Take care, Y’all.

12/09/2022

Three generations of cortisol researchers from my alma mater Webster! I had fun this semester paying forward all the support .saradeanne gave me when I did my thesis project and learning about how stress effects first generation college students from Kinza! She did such a great job on her thesis! One thing I love about the stress research community is just how much everyone supports one another and future research.

10/23/2022

Very grateful for fun times with these two this weekend. The perfect balance of silliness and seriously processing through life stuff together.

10/22/2022

This is one of my most sacred rituals. On the weekends when I don’t have my kids I drink coffee and listen to my weekly new music list and eat breakfast all in my bed. I spend the better part of the day in my bed. I really need this alone time with myself.

I think this space is sacred bc for majority of my life my bed was not a safe place. In fact it was the location of many of my most horrific traumas. As an adult making my bed a safe space that caters to my deepest sensory desires has always been important.

This is the first kid free weekend I’ve been able to do this since August. I’m learning about myself but realizing I simply can not let this happen again. I need to protect this ritual. I’m learning just how much travel disorients my whole system and in the last month I’ve traveled more than I usually do in a year or more. It’s really effected my well-being.

I’m grateful to get this space today. I’m grateful to continue to learn about myself and to put words to things I’ve struggled with my whole life. I’m grateful for an increasing community of neurodivergent people who help me feel free to just be who I am, and help me feel not alone in the very real difficulties my neurotype experiences in a world that doesn’t make space for us to just be.

10/15/2022

In theory this was a cool picture idea, in reality the kids all got blurred and it was too bright for me to tell till I got home. The good news is that means I can post it on social media! 😂🤦

This has been our family tradition for years and watching the older kids slowly get too old for the pumpkin patch is a trip. Still had so much fun but it might be time to tweak our tradition a bit!

I love my chosen family. I love doing life with them and watching these kiddos grow up together.

09/09/2022

International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology 2022 conference. Presenting the findings from my thesis project from back in 2019!

08/10/2022

Yesterday was a reminder that I may not need to isolate when I am overwhelmed/shut down if the people I am with are safe to just be my authentic self. Yesterday I socialized, for the first time in a while and I gave myself permission to not make eye contact, to stim with my body when needed and to be really honest and raw with what was going on for me. In doing that the universe reminded me I have a really amazing group of people in my inner circle. Like mind blowing. Anyway this is just a note from my journey to being kinder to my neurotype and a reminder to my future self that the adaptations I learned in the past may no longer be necessary because I have cultivated a lot of safety and acceptance in my community. Also look at these beautiful flowers from garden! 😍

08/05/2022

Learning the difference between what depression feels like and what autistic burnout feels like has been life changing. And yes- I know there is complicated overlap BUT having more things to explore helps.

For years I have felt such deep hopeless because at times therapy didn’t seem to do much for me when I was really struggling. Maybe my trauma just predisposed me to struggle and hopelessness and that was just the cards I was dealt?

Turns out I was navigating autistic burnout and the extreme exhaustion that comes from being constantly bombarded with sensory input and having to mask.

Earlier this year I tried a float for the first time. The concept scared me for so long. All I know is constant sensory overwhelm, what would happen in my brain if I was in such a quiet place? Well it was amazing. I couldn’t stop talking about it for weeks. Most of you know this 😂 I was so blown away at how much relief I felt.

This week I’ve been struggling. At first I just assumed it was the summer SADs but then I remembered about autistic burnout. I started exploring how I was feeling and decided to try a float. I noticed what I was feeling more aligned with burnout, and was curious if addressing the sensory component would help. Well it did. I can’t explain to you how relieving it was. 🤯 And just like that- I feel a little bit of hope. Maybe there is something that actually makes me feel better. 🤯Maybe it’s not just depression or trauma? Maybe I don’t have to subject myself to some notion that I’m just broken beyond repair, and can begin to explore how this world is just really draining for my brain.

All that being said, I’ll reiterate my current learning. Trauma can impact so much but don’t forget what we rob from people and from ourselves when we treat it as a catch all. Sometimes it’s NOT trauma and I have found hope in that.

08/02/2022

I started the day off low. Then my newest tire popped this morning (only 2 months old 😩). After getting the spare on (with help) I got pulled over on the way to the dealership because I can’t install my new plates in my back because the screws are stripped. And then after getting home I found out a project I’ve been working on, that I thought was done, is going to need more work.

Today feels like a reminder that you can plan and do everything in your power to manage life and sometimes outside forces still get in the way. And I hate that reminder.

Voting and politics in America feel a lot like that too. Sometimes it feels soul sucking to keep showing up and fighting only to watch politicians sell out. BUT today I got to vote for one of the few candidates I really believe in and right now, that feels like something.