The BOLD and Brilliant Podcast with Tracie Root

The Bold and Brilliant Podcast with guest Karen Robinson

• Tracie Root • Season 1

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In this episode of The Bold and Brilliant Podcast, Tracie talks with Karen Robinson, MSW, ACSW, LCSW: Trauma Recovery Expert, Author, and Transformational Coach

 Karen Robinson is a seasoned therapist, transformational coach, speaker, and best-selling author with over 25 years of clinical experience. She is the founder and CEO of Heal Thrive Dream, LLC, a company dedicated to empowering trauma survivors to heal, thrive, and create meaningful futures. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP-II), Karen has passionately dedicated her life to helping women and children break free from the chains of trauma and embrace a brighter, hope-filled future. Raised in Northern Maine, with family roots extending to Rowena, New Brunswick, Karen's personal journey has deeply shaped her professional mission. After earning both her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Clinical Social Work from the University of Maine, she honed her expertise across diverse environments, including schools, hospitals, community mental health agencies, adoption organizations, inpatient units, and teletherapy. Her diverse experiences have cultivated her authentic, compassionate approach to therapy and coaching. Karen’s unique insights have led her to create a holistic approach to trauma recovery. This includes integrating evidence-based therapies, mindfulness practices, shadow work, and other creative interventions. Her work is infused with empathy, humor, and hope, empowering her clients to take control of their healing journey. Heal Thrive Dream is a transformative platform created to support trauma survivors globally. Guided by its mission to instill compassion, hope, and purpose, the company offers an array of services, including: - **Therapy Services**: Tailored for individuals seeking one-on-one support to address deep-seated trauma, anxiety, depression, and more. - **Trauma Recovery Coaching**: Personalized coaching to help clients achieve emotional resilience and set actionable goals for a thriving life. - **Courses and Workshops**: Accessible, manageable-sized courses designed to provide trauma survivors with essential skills in healing, boundary-setting, communication, and self-discovery. - **Dream Club**: A membership-based community that fosters connection, accountability, and personal growth. Members gain access to courses, action steps, and a supportive forum to dream and heal together. - **Retreats and Intensives**: Immersive healing experiences that combine mindfulness, yoga, journaling, and shadow work with fun and adventure to provide holistic restoration. Karen also hosts the "Heal Thrive Dream Podcast", where she interviews inspiring guests and offers actionable insights on trauma recovery, mental health, and personal growth. Heal Thrive Dream’s vision goes beyond healing—it seeks to create a world where trauma survivors are empowered to reclaim their lives, thrive in their relationships, and dream big for their futures. By combining therapy, coaching, community support, and innovative tools, Heal Thrive Dream provides a unique space where healing and hope intersect. Through her work, Karen Robinson continues to inspire and guide individuals worldwide, proving that even in the aftermath of trauma, he

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Your host,
Tracie Root

Tracie Root:

Are you ready to take bold action and live a life of brilliance? Welcome to the bold and brilliant podcast, where women leaders share inspiring stories about daring decisions that shape their businesses, their lives, and their careers. Today, I'm with the fabulous and amazing Karen Robinson. Karen is a licensed therapist with 25 years of clinical experience, specializing in trauma recovery, anxiety, and depression. She provides holistic care to create transformation and healing for trauma survivors. As someone I call a friend, I would say she is very fun and very kind. As we talk, you'll hear Karen share one bold decision that has created her path of what was next. Her resilience, risk taking and transformation will inspire, encourage, and support your personal and professional growth and peace. Welcome Karen to the bold and brilliant podcast.

Karen Robinson:

Thank you, Tracie, for hosting me today and for that lovely introduction.

Tracie Root:

It is a hundred percent true. Ever since we had a chance to meet, I felt like you bring something to every relationship. I think we all need that peace, that understanding. I know that's from your history as a trauma survivor and trauma therapist. Tell everyone a little bit about how you became the fabulous woman that you are today.

Karen Robinson (2):

Thank you.

Karen Robinson:

I will say that it started out with bold decisions really early in my life. I was unhappy in my childhood home. It was dysfunctional, abusive, there was domestic violence, poverty, conflict, drama, and trauma, and I just wanted out. So one of the bold decisions I made at that time is I ran away as a young teenager. I don't recommend people to run away, that can be very dangerous with trafficking and so forth. But in my case, it was a good decision and my aunt and uncle took me in. When I ran away, I didn't have a plan. I had my duffel bag and boom box and took off. Down the street, I went to a phone booth, which is weird because I had a phone in my house. I just wasn't thinking I was in flight mode. So I got to the phone booth, assuming I could call a friend and they would get their parents to come get me. That wasn't the case. My friend's parents thought it was not a good decision to get involved. They thought that could have some consequences for them. After a couple of phone calls, I was like, holy s t, I don't know what I'm going to do. I called my aunt and this was the collect call because I was living in Canada at the time. My dad's Canadian. I called her and said, I ran away and I don't have a place to go. She's okay, where are you? I'll come get you. So she came and got me. The plan wasn't for me to live there. They had a small home and, children of their own. But all the plans for me weren't working out. So it was meant for me to stay there. And I did flourish under her care and protection. She was always very nurturing. If they have one adult looking out for them, that can make the huge difference. And she was that person for me. And so that bold decision to run away changed my life completely. Not only did I run to a different country, a different school, a different family, everything was different about my life after that. And it really mattered.

Tracie Root:

And you were how old when this happened?

Karen Robinson:

I was 14 years old.

Tracie Root:

Wow. We all do the things that we feel like we need to do to survive. And at 14, you have enough resources, enough. Consciousness to know maybe some of the ways to stay safe in that situation and that would be better than where you were. That's rough, my friend.

Karen Robinson:

What's interesting about it is I actually had a suicide attempt at 12 that didn't work. I understand what it's like to feel so desperate to leave a situation. When that didn't work, I thought there's a reason it didn't work. After a couple more years, I was like, okay, I'm not going to do that again because I was meant to live. So what else can I do? Running away was the only thing that popped in my brain. That's how that happened.

Tracie Root:

the phrase you just used that clearly you were meant to live. I know you have a strong faith. Religious or spiritual faith, whatever you want to call it. Is that what helped you stay strong in the face of adversity? Like saying, I was meant to live. I've said that to myself in various points. And it was often like, Someone's trying to tell me something, and so was it what it was like for you?

Karen Robinson:

Yes, I did ask God to let me die when I had my attempt at that age I didn't know it but Tylenol is lethal for me to overdose on Tylenol, led me to believe that either, we had no name Tylenol, or it was just God saying, this isn't your time, it's hard to remember my faith back then. I know as a little kid, I did my nightly prayers, like both of my grandmothers. Both of my grandmothers are, very spiritual women and had a big influence on me to the point where I named both of my daughters after them, so I'm going to say my faith has always been. I can't say it's always been strong because that would be incorrect, but it's been there. even when wasn't really paying attention it was still there.

Tracie Root:

I didn't grow up in a practicing religion household. But I could say the same thing. I always just felt like that was there. And I think that's that cornerstone of faith why we still have beliefs even now when we've gone through life ups and downs

Karen Robinson:

even when I make mistakes and mess up, it's still there. I'm like, okay, this is perhaps something I should make stronger it's been a huge focus for me the past few years, for sure.

Tracie Root:

That clearly was a bold decision to flee your family, make a new path for yourself. Which means you got to grow up in a supportive place and all of that. So I know that you have a very varied adulthood you were in the military, so many things we could talk about. Tell me about the decisions that caused you to become a therapist, to do what you do today.

Karen Robinson:

I should say too, that I worked for the military, but I wasn't in the military. It was a federal government.

Tracie Root:

Yes.

Karen Robinson:

Social worker. In Canada, they gave me a social worker who was terrible. He accused me of being a rotten daughter. Being promiscuous and doing drugs I had never done a drug. I was not sexually active. I was a good student. I don't know exactly what my parents said when he talked to them they were probably defensive and trying to look out for their own interests I did not appreciate his line of questioning. I thought he was doing more damage than good. It really planted a seed in me I remember saying to my friend who walked with me to social services, I said, when I grow up, I want to be there and help people and not do what he just did, that was another pivotal reason why I joined the MSW program, I got my bachelor's and then my master's in social work. And, was pivotal, just not having that supportive social worker. And I'm like, I don't know where he went to school or how he got his skills, but maybe he was grandfathered in.

Tracie Root:

He just told someone that, he could do that. And they said, okay, go ahead. That is awful. In a way, I'm almost glad he was so bad because it gave the worldview and your role today, this work like everything you go through brings you to where you are. It's everything that you've gone through and all of the different places and ways and people that you've worked with. To become the woman that you are today and the supportive person that you are today. Tell us a little bit about the way that you work with people now.

Karen Robinson:

I had this weird drive to do hard things and try different things as I was training in my field. I have done a lot more than many therapists in terms of exposure to different types of issues and people. For instance, I had, time with the chronically mentally ill, we're talking about all my clients has schizophrenia

Tracie Root:

and

Karen Robinson:

boy, did I learn a lot doing that job. I, was a residential director of four group homes. One was dual diagnosis. The women were, struggling with addictions and were trauma survivors. Another house was just trauma survivors. They didn't have substance abuse. They had mental health issues. And then I had a geriatric house. I was running budgets ordering food and supervising counselors at a young age as a social worker. Then I became a school social worker. After that, I worked with the military for over 17 years. I always had an extra job I was motivated to try other things. I worked in emergency services and helped people at the police station or emergency hospitalizations. I would do their assessments. now I have my own business. Do you think

Tracie Root:

do you think that adding in all of those pieces contributed to your interest in working for yourself as opposed to for other agencies and structures?

Karen Robinson:

Absolutely, especially working for the DRD. It was a very patriarchal, oppressive, Militant, messy place to work. I did a lot of things while I was there, and I'm very grateful for the experiences. And I did have some really good supervisors, but I also had horrible supervisors. I filed 22, EEO complaints for sexual harassment against a high ranking officer that was my supervisor.

Tracie Root:

how did those turn out in the system? Did that officer face consequences?

Karen Robinson:

It's a long story, but the short part is it took me a long time to file the complaint. I did share it with my immediate. Supervisor the office I was in, was a specialized unit. We did a lot of emergency work and work on the medical unit. If people were blown up in theater during war, we took care of them.

Tracie Root:

Yeah.

Karen Robinson:

So we, it was a specialized unit. And so there was people of all ranks on this unit. I was in. I was reporting it along and my supervisor and her supervisor felt helpless for lack of a better word. They were like, he's a really high ranking officer.

Tracie Root:

There wasn't a lot of ways to change things because of where he was.

Karen Robinson:

I finally decided to write the EEO complaint and it didn't look like it was going to go anywhere at first, then out of the blue, one day the hospital commander sent out an email and said, sexual harassment has been happening here and I've been getting wind of it. If this is happening to you, you don't have to go through your chain of command. You can just report it to me right away. I sent him the 22 EEO complaints and he told, one of the investigators that he almost fell out of his chair, but he was so shocked on how much I had

Tracie Root:

endured the 22 complaints. He had no idea to the extent that even one person had been affected,

Karen Robinson:

other people did come forward later. Once the hospital commander learned what happened he. Removed him immediately from my wing and he did end up being forced to retire. A lot of this stuff, I know second or third hand because people weren't allowed to tell me what was going

Tracie Root:

on.

Karen Robinson:

I heard it went to Congress, I don't know what happened there. He had a command directed evaluation for his mental health brain workup. He did go away, but the interesting thing is he later returned as a government worker. he somehow was able to navigate through the system. He was back, in a different unit, the last straw for me is I had another male oppressive leader who, during COVID, I had an emergency gallbladder removal and he wanted me right back to work. Despite COVID was in the hospital, with staff and patients. I was pretty sick after my surgery. When he didn't want to honor my doctor's note, it was the last straw for me. I was like, I can't stay at an organization that doesn't value my health. I just couldn't do it anymore. So I did a leap of faith. It was very scary. I decided to leave. I put in notice and left.

Tracie Root:

That was a couple of years ago

Karen Robinson:

2020.

Tracie Root:

I didn't realize that you strike me as someone who's been working with people a lot it feels like you've been, doing your own thing for a long time, but in a way that kind of was your contracting but also doing other things

Karen Robinson:

I left the DoD, December to, 2020. And then I did get scared and did pick up a few contracts. Went from no job, went from no job to getting five offers. And I was like, I don't know where I want to work. So let me take them all. then tried to navigate that. massive burnout. Don't recommend that

Tracie Root:

I'm glad that you brought that up. That's really interesting because I think a lot of women leave their salaried position, to be an entrepreneur, let's talk about that leap I've been through that you've been through that most of the people we know have been through that leap at some point where they were working some sort of corporate job and decided to leave it behind to become an entrepreneur. I think for many of us, it was just what we needed to do. It was time. clear. There was a concern, but not so much. There's some belief in there that it'll all be okay. I don't know how, but it'll be fine. I'm sure you've talked to other women as well, that would like to make that leap, but are afraid they can't leave that job because of money insurance stability or the lack of knowing what's to come. If someone came to you and they're like, Oh, I really wish that I could do that. What would you tell them? I want women to know they can do it and they need to hear different ways of hearing that. So what's your way of telling them?

Karen Robinson:

I would say, don't leave the job too fast. Try not to be impulsive about it if you can, obviously, if it means your health or mental health are on the brink then yeah, leave. But otherwise I would recommend staying and explore what you want your business to be first, and get some coaching, get some guidance, tiptoe into it. That way you will feel a little more confident. It won't be so scary. If you want to be an executive coach, sign up for those courses, keep your full time job, just work at it and small baby steps. Once you have those credentials and your LLC in order, the things that you can do on the weekend or after work, do those. When you're ready to launch, you will feel much more confident I recommend joining mastermind programs. Communities like yours, Tracie, with other women entrepreneurs you can get that support. When I first left, I didn't know what I was doing as an entrepreneur. There was other entrepreneurs in my family, but like in the restaurant business I didn't want to be in the restaurant business. It is really scary at first. I knew I could do my therapy job with my eyes closed, but it was just the whole business, the whole worrying about revenue. Like I, I left a high paying six figure leadership position with lots of benefits and leave to, I don't know what I'm doing, but how

Tracie Root:

do I get revenue? That is not unlike most, thoughtful recommendations, if you get an inkling that you want to make that change, start early. Take the classes, meet the people, build it over time, side hustle it. And then when you're ready, take the leap. Most smart people do that, but not me, not you, but we learn and teach what we learned along the way. I love that you said that. And it's so smart. I do believe that a side hustle can become the real deal. It just takes a little bit of extra planning structure and support, like you said, beautiful. Speaking of side hustles, you have eight things that you do now, right? You are still a clinical therapist, you work with clients you also coach, you have a community, you have products tell everyone a little, give me the list so everyone understands, because we want to make sure that people know what you have to offer and where they can find you maybe they don't need therapy, but they are looking for a community where their experience would be valued so tell everyone about your things.

Karen Robinson:

I have a podcast and a YouTube station, called the heal, thrive, dream podcast. I think we're close to 200 episodes. I just launched my calendar booking for 2025 and it's already booked up through November. After being out a week, if you need tips on how to get booked up, just let me know. I got that one nailed.

Tracie Root:

That's amazing. So then we move on to the community.

Karen Robinson:

The podcast, how I usually staff my, summits is like my podcast speakers because they're already, wanting to talk about a lot of the things I talk about my summits. I have summits, starting November of 2025, I'm going to be running retreats. The first one is in the Shenandoah area of Virginia. We have eight beds and I've sold three so far other than summits, my podcast, the retreats, I do have a membership for women. Most of the women are over 50 complex trauma survivors, meaning they've had trauma in their early life and then more trauma. We have coaching and, support group meetings. I launched a new thing, for 2025 called the dream club. What's cool about that is for anybody that wants to do it. Dream club is every month I'm sending out a very short video, on how to activate, One's desire to dream about their future action steps they can take. So I'm doing that every month. It's fun and exciting to plan it out. I have all these resources now and I have to pare it down cause I don't want my clients to be overwhelmed. Dream club is another offering. I do have VIP days where I work with anyone. They take one problem area. We spend about four and a half hours just working it through. I usually do an assessment at the beginning. We work on the problem or the change that the client wants. At the end I give them an action plan that they can continue working on after they leave their VIP day. I offer one to two of those a month.

Tracie Root:

An example of an issue that someone might bring

Karen Robinson:

could be going through a divorce or just learned that their partner wants to leave them. It could be a recent death. So doing a lot of grief management. One person booked me because her sister completed suicide. Even though the suicide was several years ago, she was still blaming herself. So we worked on that. Another person, worked on her trauma timeline with me because she wanted, more support we would take breaks do self care. Meditation, or she'd go for a walk and then we would come back and do more work on her timeline.

Tracie Root:

it's the first step

Karen Robinson:

In really deep trauma work. It's hard for people to do it on their own sometimes. A 50-minute counseling session is generally not enough time as people work on their trauma timeline, they start to have more memory generally after the trauma timeline, I'm going to be doing their therapy or their coaching, like on 50-minute sessions going forward.

Tracie Root:

Love that you have so many different ways to reach all the people who would be served by the things that you do. You do not have a giant therapy agency full of people. You are one person voice to voice, heart to heart, helping the people around you. So it's so beautiful. it just makes me so happy to know that people get that from you. So thank you for doing what you do.

Karen Robinson:

Aw, you're just so sweet. I'm very

Tracie Root:

and we lost connection. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to tell Karen how much I appreciate her and how grateful I am that she was a part of the bold and brilliant podcast. Karen can be reached at all of the ways that are in the show notes and she described many of the ways that people can work with her. Her ability to make people feel heard understood and cared for is unsurpassed. If you're looking for that support and love your life, you definitely want to check out Karen Robinson. Thank you everyone for being here. I hope our discussion today was just what you needed to take your next bold step forward toward your future. Cheers.

Speaker:

Thank you for listening to the bold and brilliant podcast. I'm your host, Tracie Root and I want to invite you to check out the show notes, find out where you can connect with our guests, find out more about what I and The Gather Community have to offer you, and be sure to subscribe to this podcast on your favorite platform. Thanks so much.