Carrie Burnett
About Carrie
Carrie Burnett (they/them) is a licensed massage therapist, Somatic Experiencing provider, and academic stress researcher. Their work integrates the science of trauma and touch with hands-on bodywork, offering a safe and empowering space for healing.
Carrie’s approach draws on Somatic Experiencing principles and years of research on stress physiology, trauma, and dissociation. They earned their Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience from Saint Louis University, where their dissertation—Decoding the Neuroscience of Dissociation: Trauma, Stress, and Self-Harm Across Top-Down and Bottom-Up Pathways—examined how somatic dissociation relates to self-harm risk and its underlying brain mechanisms in autistic and transgender communities
Carrie was also the co-founder of the Grove Assault Prevention (GAP) initiative, which provided community-based resources and education on consent and safety before closing in 2023. Their passion for community care continues through ongoing volunteer work supporting LGBTQ+ families, with a focus on cultivating community connection and support.
Beyond individual sessions, Carrie has taught trauma‑informed touch and mindfulness workshops, helping bridge their research into practice and supporting practitioners in creating safer, more inclusive spaces for trauma survivors. Their work is rooted in the belief that healing is both personal and systemic: supporting individual resilience while acknowledging and challenging larger systems of oppression and injustice.
Carrie is passionate about meeting people where they are, validating the impact of stress and trauma, and helping clients access their inner resources to find relief, resilience, and connection along the way.