We recently connected with Renée Austin and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Renée thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We love heartwarming stories – do you have a heartwarming story from your career to share?
I left home at 17, my father was out of town often for work providing us a new life, and my violent histrionic mother was actively practicing in the occult. I was completely shattered into a thousand pieces. Thankfully the God of the universe had been pursuing me. At four-years-old He made me aware that I would need Jesus to survive a childhood filled with abuse. After leaving home God led me down a path of experience and higher education and made it clear I was to use my life experiences to help others of all walks of life.

I have seen God use EMDR Trauma Therapy to heal the bleakest prognosis. I have seen trauma stored in bodies that made it Impossible for people to walk, drive, or function outside of complete isolation completely healed. A lifetime of chains of trauma have fall off people like melting butter when people receive the space to reprocess trauma and correct the lies they believe about themselves. Clients are walking, driving, in healthy relationships, and most importantly gotten away from their abusers. No longer feeling alone or living in fear, trauma survivors are free to be their authentic selves. I have seen countless miracles in others’ lives and my own.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
When I graduated from undergraduate school I worked at a Christian camp serving children and families and then got a job at a children’s home. These children either had no family or their families were too dysfunctional to care for them. Half were American and the other half Ethiopian. It was there I began attending seminary for my counseling degree while the kids were at school and then I finished at a university that offered a more clinical counseling degree. We are never done learning and in 2017 I realized I needed more tools to help people with complex trauma. I became certified in EMDR and trained in trauma modalities like Internal Family Systems. I now consult EMDR therapists who are training to become EMDR certified.
Though my training is imperative, I am most proud of healing from my own trauma. Though I am never finished and layers continue to be exposed, I have healed from family of origin trauma, recovered from a dissociative disorder, gotten off benzodiazepines (one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done). Most recently, I went to a healing trauma program at On-site in Tennessee. Many therapists, doctors, and well known people go to this 6-day retreat because we can be anonymous and no one knows our profession. It was after this deeper healing and understanding of Experiential Therapy that more stored trauma was healed and I saw myself the way God saw me. Lovable and worthy. It was after that I stoped using prescription medication to medicate my trauma, and despite being in my 40s with severe endometriosis and 17 fibroids I became pregnant with my first child. Against all odds. I serve a powerful healing Father.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?
Despite decades of training I believe clients seek me out because I haven’t just read some books. I have personal real life experiences. This is an invaluable quality I believe makes me especially qualified to treat complex trauma.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
When I first opened my own private practice I was doing family therapy. I started to realize everyone had individual trauma that shaped their perspectives and the family system wouldn’t change unless each person in the family had their own healing. Early on I shifted to trauma work.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.traumatherapynorthdallas.com
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/traumatherapynorthdallas/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ren%C3%A9e-austin-m-ed-lpc-s-54513018