The NARM® Training Institute offers professional training for those working with developmental and complex trauma. Our mission—to humanize and depathologize the mental health field and other helping professions—is at the heart of our trainings.

The NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM) is an approach to working with the effects of complex and developmental trauma. Developed by Dr. Laurence Heller, NARM integrates attachment theory, somatic psychology, and a present-moment, non-regressive orientation to support healing. It explores how disconnection becomes a survival strategy in early relational trauma, and working with NARM helps restore connection to self, others, and the world around us. NARM works top-down and bottom-up, emphasizes agency and embodied mindfulness, and highlights the role of shame in disconnection. NARM also supports practitioners in preventing burnout and creating a sustainable, life-giving practice. 

Iris McAlpin Garrett is a NARM® Master Therapist (AMFT) and online educator specializing in self-sabotage, eating disorder recovery, grief, and complex trauma. Her work is deeply informed by her own lived experience: after battling bulimia, C-PTSD, and depression for over a decade, Iris became determined to understand the root causes of her self-destructive patterns. That search led her into the field of trauma—and what she discovered completely changed the way she saw herself and her story.

Since then, Iris has developed and taught trauma-informed programs that have reached thousands of participants globally. In her clinical work, she helps clients break long-standing patterns of self-protection that no longer serve them, so they can experience more connection, authenticity, and choice in their lives.

Dr. Laurence Heller is a clinical psychologist, international trainer, and author with over 40 years of experience in trauma healing. He is the creator of the NeuroAffective Relational Model® (NARM®), a clinical approach for working with complex and developmental trauma. After years practicing in multiple other models, he developed NARM to address the gaps he saw in treating early trauma.

Dr. Heller is founder of the NARM Training Institute, a Senior Fellow at The Meadows, and co-author of Healing Developmental Trauma, translated into 15 languages. His latest book, The Practical Guide for Healing Developmental Trauma, was published in 2022. He continues to teach, write, and present globally, and is a proud father, grandfather, polyglot, skier, and traveler.