Conscious Connection
with
Carla Carreira
Where Ideas Take Shape
We believe in doing things differently—with intention, with passion, and with people at the center of it all. Every detail here reflects that mindset.
Education Journey, Overcoming Trauma & Discovering Somatic Experiencing
Vivavious & Zesty Approach to Inner Growth
Education is the marrow of my soul. I am a Brazilian-born American scholar and intuitive healer who has made a home for herself in Spain after a two-year exploratory trip around the world. Ever the philosopher, my overarching question was “how do people in the world process and understand suffering, and how do they move through it? How do people from different cultures and experiences find peace being exactly where they are?”
Traveling cemented in me new patterns of relating and perceiving that connected me to my core values of integrity, curiosity, resilience, and community. The ever-changing dynamics also helped me to ground in myself more consistently, showing me the authentic origin of strength within, giving me a chance to work through different layers of my integration journey.
Training & Therapy Style
I have gone through a rigorous academic and training process to develop skills that have prepared me to be of service, but I am also an expert in somatic healing work because I have had the grit of moving through my own experiences even at difficult times when I didn’t know where I would sleep the next day. I have learned the hard way how to sense a no a say it out loud, and I have lived the consequences when I betrayed my intuition. I am an expert at reading the body, understanding how sexuality expression affects aspects of personality, evaluating mental and energetic patterns and brainstorming unique ways of breaking through the unhealthy ones. It is my joy to share what I have learned with others and to develop it into a framework for real change. I honor the gift and trust of receiving your nervous system.
Is your Nervous System Dysregulated?
When a system is dysregulated the resting baseline is higher, leading to quicker reactions rather than measured responses. Sometimes somatic awareness and reregulation integration needs space to move through all the levels in the body, from the circulatory, nervous, respiratory, digestive and skeletal systems.
If this applies to you, it may be worth exploring Somatic Therapy:
Struggle with knowing, sensing and communicating your needs
Difficulty in being present to your body sensations
Vivid and varied uncomfortable body sensations or unexplainable aches
Feel unreasonably suspicious or weary of others’ intentions
Strong, overwhelming fears of failure or success
Difficulty concentrating because of overwhelming thoughts
Experience an excessive need to plan for and be in control of your life
Struggle with feelings of dissociation and disconnection
Difficulty with sleep, digestion, and other physiological needs
Feel especially foggy or out of touch with reality for a prolonged period of time
What is Somatic Experiencing?
Trauma need not be something drastic. Trauma as defined by Dr. Peter Levine is anything that is too soon too much or too fast for the body to respond and reregulate. Somatic Experiencing is a holistic mind-body integration and stress regulation approach resetting the natural rhythm of the nervous system and helps to increase one's capacity to cope with stress from a place of intentional response rather than spontaneous reaction. SE focuses on developing coherence between the parasympathetic and the sympathetic nervous systems, to unfreeze stuck responses, to restore the defense response, to promote a reregulation of stress.
Somatic Experiencing focuses on nervous system regulation and providing closure to traumatic symptoms. As observed in evolutionary psychology, when animals face a threat, there is a release of chemicals such as adrenaline and cortisol to signal preparation for attack. When the threat passes, survival reactions shift toward release of that stress, with movements such as shaking, sighing, or stretching before the animal returns to normal behavior.
Do You Want To Feel Free & Light in Mind, Body, & Soul?
Regulated autonomic nervous systems can induce a state of “biological completion” in which stuck arousal energy is released and the system is restored to balance. A resilient nervous system is one that can move back and forth between alertness and rest.
Benefits of Somatic Experiencing include:
Fewer body and emotional pains
Easier and more effective completion of daily activities
More positive and stable affect and moods
Increased compassion toward oneself and others
Positive changes in behavior, attitudes, and beliefs
More constructive and heart-centered communication
Increased problem-solving capacity
Greater openness and mindset flexibility
Clearer reasoning capabilities and a deeper breadth of intuitive knowing
Increased calm and confidence throughout your day
Greater ease in learning new abilities and skills
Asserting and practicing resilience
Embodied mind-body-heart integration
About
Humans have a natural negativity bias, focusing on threat more than safety. Approximately 80% of the way our brains valuate safety or threat comes from messages from the internal organs via neurons connected to the vagus nerve. Outdated holding patterns in the body perpetuate a feeling of threat and trauma responses continue in spite of our cognitive minds telling us that it is safe. Our mind/body may respond to threats from the past that are no longer present. Without intervention, the body gets worn down by the hyperarousal and the lack of subsequent regulation. This can lead to deleterious consequences over the long run. Do not continue to stay stuck in a cage of your own making!
I have a deep conviction about harnessing the wisdom of the body to find integration from within. At its best, SE aligns me as a conduit to facilitate others. I open myself up energetically to be receptive to you and your needs. I offer a holistic therapeutic approach targeted to fit client needs, and am dedicated to investigating and guiding experiences in the somatic ethereal realm while also staying rooted in proven scientific methods and techniques.
As a practitioner I am keenly attuning to the client’s body experience and I am passionate about the impact and potency of somatic experiencing. My hope is that you experience greater peace of mind, softness of heart, and conviction in your life choices after somatic experiencing sessions. Rooted in my offerings is a clarification and attunement to a new way of relating to the nervous system. I consider it very much a sacred service. If you resonate with this, do not hesitate to schedule a free consult!
Conceptual Foundations and Techniques Conceptual Foundations and Techniques
somatic experiencing
nonviolent communication (NVC)
sensate focus
trauma resiliency model (TRM)
schema-focused cognitive therapy
narrative therapy model
trauma releasing exercises (TRE)
inner child work
personal projects analysis (PPA)
tantric and conscious sexuality techniques
cross-cultural psychology
rebirthing and biodynamic breathwork
theater drama therapy and theater of the oppressed exercises
emotional freedom technique (EFT)
imago relationship therapy
intuitive wisdom practices
Topics of Interest
developmental trauma/ C-PTSD
spirituality and philosophy
emotional labor and feminism
boundary-setting/ healthy self-esteem
bioenergetics
dance movement psychotherapy
authentic relating
overcoming trauma bonding and narcissistic abuse
somatic sexological bodywork
conscious sexuality
relationship repair/ conflict resolution
attachment trauma
diversity and immigration issues
community building and activism
socio-economic inequality, privilege and access
death/ rebirth psycho-emotional cycles
indigenous practices, traditions and teachings
sexuality through the lens of religion
alienation and anomie resulting from capitalism
gender identity and LGBT-issues
Structure of Sessions
In a heart-centered place I can be of service in assisting to forge a path for others based on individual body response. The structure of SE-based therapy is informed by where the body feels safe to explore. We assess, establish emotional safety, and enter into the body in a measured, titrated way. Working with the gut and the nervous system is a serious and meaningful work, as they provide clarity about what feels like resonance or dissonance in the body. There is value in learning to feel and discern what feels good and what doesn’t. I invite everyone ready to delve deep to participate in this growth experience.
If you’re ready to release past experiences, move on from fight or flight nervous system dysregulation and transition into a calmer, more balanced life, let’s discuss how somatic-based sessions can alleviate your pain, insecurities and strife! Free 30-minute consult is available through the calendar. Book an initial consult now and let’s evaluate what sessions can do for you!
“You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”
-The Velveteen Rabbit
Influences
Peter Levine
Bert Hellinger
Stephen Porges
Deb Dana
The Trauma Center at JRI
Bessel van der Kolk
Feldenkrais Method
Brené Brown
Pat Ogden Byron Katie
Gina Ogden
Audre Lorde Joanna Macy
Gabor Maté
Alan Watts, Nadine Burke Harris
Jon Kabat Zinn
The Gottman Institute
Esther Perel
Erich Fromm
Dr. Ramani Durvasula
Alan Robarge, Janina Fisher
Irvin D. Yalom
Glenn Schiraldi
Joseph Campbell
Insight Meditation Center of Washington
"This is the time to be slow,
Lie low to the wall
Until the bitter weather passes.
Try, as best you can, not to let
The wire brush of doubt
Scrape from your heart
All sense of yourself
And your hesitant light.
If you remain generous,
Time will come good;
And you will find your feet
Again on fresh pastures of promise,
Where the air will be kind
And blushed with beginning.” -John O'Donohue
Schedule a Session in Andalucia, Spain and elsewhere in Europe. Also available in the United States
Exquisite services
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Scheduling a meeting with us is like sitting down with an old friend who only wants the best for you. We can't wait to chat and explore how we can assist you on your educational journey.
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At our core, we believe in the transformative power of education to shape futures and inspire change. Here, you'll find a community dedicated to supporting each learner’s journey, ensuring every step is guided by passion, encouragement, and genuine care.
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