You deserve to be heard.
Hello! My name is Carey Cook…
…and my passion is helping people understand themselves better and live the life that feels right to them. I have studied and worked in the mental health field for over 15 years and began my career working with children and families. This background gives me an excellent context to understand how a person’s early life shapes their experiences and relationships. We are not defined by these experiences though and get to choose who we want to be now. Therapy can help with this.
Collaboration is key.
Some people want therapy more centered in the present and others want to look back and find their way forward. Both have their place in the therapy room and together we find the one that works for you. We figure out what has or hasn’t been working and find new ways of coping and achieving your goals.
I have extensive advanced training in working with trauma.
Whether it’s a specific traumatic event or a combination of life’s traumatic “junk” that can turn into anxiety and depression, working with someone that understand how trauma impacts the body and brain can be a game changer (at least it was for me.)
My practice is grounded in Somatic Therapy
Somatic comes from the Greek word for body or physical. We spend a lot of time with the cognitive story—the one in our minds—which is makes sense. Our minds are a big part of our experience. It’s how we understand the world. However, as a somatic therapist, I believe the body also has a story and I help people learn to listen to this story. I respect that each person has a unique relationship with their body and learning to understand this part of you can provide insight into your experience and problems. This doesn’t mean I don’t value talk therapy. Talking and our voice is also our body. It just means that our bodies have something amazing to offer when we can bring that into the therapy room as well.
Somatic therapy is not the same as body work, such as massage or acupuncture and is not considered a touch therapy. Somatic therapy provides a framework for working with trauma and feelings in the body, in addition to coping with life’s major transitions, anxiety, depression and basically everything.
Other specialties include: chronic anxiety, fertility, grief and the specific challenges for college students and young adults.
Education and Advanced Trainings
Masters in Counseling with an Emphasis in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute in California.
EMDR (Level 1 and 2)
Sensorimotor psychotherapy (Level 1 and 2)
Approved Clinical Supervisor Training, UNC, Greensboro, NC