72 : Behind the Mask: How High Performers Recognize Hidden Trauma and Finally Heal
What happens when the person who holds everything together finally falls apart? For Kara Kalin, it took two tumors, the loss of her father, a global pandemic, and four kids under five before she finally stopped performing and started actually living.
Kara is a registered clinical counselor, certified EMDR therapist, former national-level synchronized swimmer, and founder of The Shift Change — an anonymous group EMDR platform that is bringing trauma healing to first responders, healthcare workers, elite athletes, and high performers who would never otherwise ask for help.
In this conversation, Kara takes us all the way back to age 10 — performing through what we now know as secondary drowning and being publicly shamed on a pool deck — and walks us through how that single moment planted a seed of "not good enough" that shaped the next 27 years of her life. From eating disorders and control-seeking in adolescence, to caregiving through her husband's grief, to nearly working herself into the ground while coaching Team Canada and running a private practice without ever taking a maternity leave — Kara was the definition of a high-functioning, highly traumatized person.
It was EMDR that changed everything. First at 18, when she processed the image of her father's death. And again at 37, when she finally traced decades of defensiveness, over-performance, and body-based panic back to that pool deck in Edmonton.
What she found on the other side — a spiritual reckoning, a rebuilt life, and a mission to bring healing to the people least likely to seek it — is nothing short of extraordinary.
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Find Kara and her work:
Group EMDR Sessions: www.shiftchange.life [http://www.shiftchange.life/]
One-to-One Intensive Work: http://www.carakaylin.com/https://www.karakalin.com/ [https://www.karakalin.com/]
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karakalin.shiftchange/ [https://www.instagram.com/karakalin.shiftchange/]
Connect with Collective Guidance:
🌐 Website: https://collectiveguidance.com/ [https://collectiveguidance.com/]📩 Email: charla@collectiveguidance.com 📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/collectiveguidancepodcast/?hl=en [https://www.instagram.com/collectiveguidancepodcast/?hl=en]🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/collective-guidance-with-charla-goodnight/id1841118592 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/collective-guidance-with-charla-goodnight/id1841118592]📺 Watch on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@CollectiveGuidancePodcast [http://www.youtube.com/@CollectiveGuidancePodcast]
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https://collectiveguidance.com/collective-membership-1289 [https://collectiveguidance.com/collective-membership-1289]
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