About Deb Carnine, L.I.S.W. and Illuminations, Inc.
Mission Statement
Hours of Business
Finding the Office
Confidentiality
Emergencies
Treatment Philosophy
Illuminations, Inc. recognizes the difficulty of recognizing
and alleviating symptoms of traumatic stress, the severe pain
and suffering associated with psychological trauma, the
dramatic impact trauma can have on an individual's life,
and the need for specialized techniques to alleviate
symptoms. Therefore, Illuminations, Inc. strives to provide
high quality, cutting-edge treatment to persons that would
otherwise go undiagnosed and/or untreated by general
practitioners of mental health treatment.
Office hours are 9 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Friday.
Because of the nature of this work, my evenings and weekends
are reserved for self-care.
Map and
Directions
Privacy is a cornerstone on which the therapeutic
relationship is built. Confidentiality is strictly maintained
unless there are compelling professional reasons, such as
legal statutes or ethics, which require breach of a
client's confidentiality. This includes instances in
which there is a threat of danger to the client or another
person. With your consent (or the consent of a person legally
authorized to consent on your behalf), confidential
information may be disclosed when appropriate.
Please note that when asking managed care company or other
third party to pay for your care, I cannot guarantee
confidentiality of your records. Managed care companies
usually require information that justifies your need for
care, such as your diagnosis, treatment plan, and progress
being made. This is a condition set by them for footing the
bill. Please check directly with your insurer for their
privacy practices, who has access to your information once
they receive it, and how it may limit your future
insurability.
Established clients are given specific information about
reaching me in the event of an emergency.
"Emergencies" consist of retraumatization or
flooding of intrusive symptoms. Most situations can be dealt
with during regular business hours, but if you
are having a true emergency, go to your nearest emergency
room or call 911.
Remember Driver's Ed? The instructor sat in the passenger
seat with a second set of mirrors and brakes to ensure
safety. This is similar to how I see my role in working with
clients. You're in the driver's seat and
I'm in the passenger's seat, with your unique
embodiment of your life experiences as the vehicle for
traveling the road of healing. My job is to watch and
guide the process, keep an eye on the road ahead, be
ready to grab the wheel at any time, and to apply the brakes
as needed. I have a number of maps available to guide us on
the journey.
Addressing traumatic material can be one of the hardest
things you face. That is why I go through it with you. You
may have had to go through it alone the first time, but not
now. We will ride it out together and I will see you through
to the other side. It is an incredible honor to be witness
to such a journey!
Jumping right into core material without making sure
it's safe would be like taking the Driver's Ed car
over a cliff without airbags or seat belts. Before we launch
into the vast unknown, it is very important to equip you with
the right tools. In Driver's Ed, that means having a
learner's permit, permission from parents, coming to
classes, stuff like that. In trauma therapy, the tools are
what keeps the work manageable and tolerable for you. For
example, if you tend to get spacey or flooded by memories
(these are means of adapting--on
overdrive--to trauma), I help you develop ways to pull
yourself out of it when I'm not there. Then when we go
into the bad stuff, you won't get stuck in it. I make
sure you have a full toolbox (resources) before we get into the hard
stuff. In cases where you come to therapy already equipped
with tools (e.g. are already in therapy elsewhere or this is
your first traumatic event), shortcuts are possible but be
sure to read this to better
understand when this applies.
As some of you may have
gathered from looking the site over, I'm not a big fan of diagnoses. People are
people, not a set of symptoms laid out in a book somewhere. From what I see in
practice, I believe the DSM-IV-TR (The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders) is in the embryonic stage, superficial, and of little help in
elucidating treatment--especially for those suffering from abuse, neglect,
trauma, developmental wounds, and attachment failures--where there is a very
clear body component. As Ron Kurtz
, founder of Hakomi says, we do not view people as
"patients," but rather as "an experience
wanting to happen." The mind, body, and emotions
are inextricably mixed and the organic embodiment of
life experiences makes each person unique. We literally work
at the mind-body connection to transform your core sense of
self. I help you find the experiences wanting to
happen, both good and in need of healing, and gently help
you come into these experiences.
If you want the clinical details, here they are. I use the
structural model of dissociation, phase-oriented
treatment (considered standard for trauma
work), and Hakomi principles of organicity, mindfulness, mind/body/spirit
holism, unity, non-violence and character strategy. The sensorimotor method
draws from SPI's affiliation with The Hakomi Institute and Ron Kurtz, Peter Levine, Bill Bowen, and
others, and incorporates neuroscience, neurobiology,
developmental and attachment research and character strategy
including cutting-edge work by Bessel van der Kolk, Antonio
Damasio, Joseph LeDoux, Allan Schore,
Ellert Nijenhuis, Onno van der Hart, Kathy Steele, Stephen
Porges, Stephen Johnson, and others.
