A Licensed Therapist’s Shock At How Effective Mind Change Is

In this episode of The Mind Change Podcast, host Heather McKean welcomes marriage and family therapist Carrie Michael for a profound and deeply personal conversation about healing, authenticity, and the journey to rediscovering oneself. Carrie, a professional who spent years both practicing and experiencing a wide array of therapeutic modalities—including EMDR, parts work (IFS), brainspotting, traditional talk therapy, and even ayahuasca—shares how, despite all her efforts, she continued to feel lost, stuck in physical pain, and emotionally disconnected.

Carrie opens up about the invisible cost of being a lifelong caretaker, especially in a marriage marked by trauma and instability. She describes how she slowly lost touch with her authentic self, becoming someone she didn’t recognize—all while silently enduring severe hip and shoulder pain, digestive issues, and cycles of depression and rumination. For decades, no modality brought lasting change.

Everything began to shift when she discovered Mind Change. Through self-guided work and practitioner-led sessions, Carrie started to unravel the subconscious patterns driving her suffering. The process wasn’t linear—her pain even intensified at times—but eventually, she learned to stop outsourcing healing and began building a relationship with her own body. That shift in perspective was the breakthrough: from trying to manage everyone else’s emotions to showing up for herself fully and completely.

Carrie vulnerably shares what it was like to be on the brink of burnout and how her transformation has changed everything—from her physical health to her marriage, her parenting, and her career. She even touches on the spiritual aspect of healing, embracing her “free spirit” self who sings, dances, and no longer hides.

Heather and Carrie also dive deep into the philosophical and practical differences between EMDR and the Mind Change Method, highlighting the limitations of traditional approaches and the powerful possibilities that emerge when subconscious reprogramming is done intentionally and somatically.

If you’ve tried everything but still feel stuck, if you’re a therapist who suspects there’s something more, or if you’re someone yearning to reconnect with the version of yourself you thought you’d lost—dive in! This is about more than just healing pain; it’s about finding joy, reclaiming your voice, and choosing a new story.

Get in touch with Heather McKean:

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