Carol Crawley is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Relationship Coach specializing in treating first responders and their families. She is a preferred clinician for the International Association of Firefighters Center of Excellence and volunteers as a clinician for the First Responder Support Network.
Being married to a Law Enforcement Officer for 30 years, I know first-hand the unique challenges these types of relationships face. In our sessions, I strive to create an environment where it's safe to be authentic and remove the mask. Without safety, it's almost impossible to cultivate a trusting therapeutic relationship, one in which genuine transformation can occur.
I specialize in working with couples struggling with infidelity, communication issues, emotional abuse, addictions, and trauma, helping individuals take back ownership of their lives by teaching them somatic awareness. For many first responders, the job can take a toll on their nervous system, disabling their understanding of physical sensations in their body. These physical sensations are, in fact, emotions. We think with our brains, but we feel emotions with our bodies. However, when we detach from our bodies, we may not be able to feel our "feelings". Not only are we disconnected from ourselves we are most likely disconnected from our loved ones too. This ability to detach emotionally is like a superpower at work, but at home, it's like a kryptonite. It's my job to help our heroes tap into their bodies so they can be heroes at home too. This new body awareness brings authenticity, allowing one to fully accept themselves and learn to be vulnerable with those they love.
My style of practicing therapy is a bit different from most as I tend to take a more assertive approach to therapy. So if you've experienced a passive therapist, that just asks "how do you feel?", your experience with me will be quite different. Of course, I will ask how you feel about certain things, but that will be just the beginning. I believe in psycho-education, in order to create buy-in. It's important to understand your brain, your nervous system, or even your attachment style in order to willingly comply with what I'll ask you to do for homework. Knowledge is power, and the more you understand the easier the process will be, for both of us.
My style of coaching is not typical of the average life coach. Mainstream life coaching looks at the present and tries to move you from the present to the future you would like to create. However, what is exceedingly familiar with clients is that internal obstacles prevent them from moving forward and reaching their goals. These internal obstacles need to be identified and understood first. To do that, we'll need to go backward before we can move ahead, surveying the client's past to determine the origin of the obstacle. This is where my training in psychotherapy enhances my coaching, a quality that is unique to my coaching style.
Honesty, transparency, safety, assertiveness, confidentiality, and non-judging are what you can expect from me. I tend to be pretty active in the session, as I'm assuming you want me to be more than just a good listener. However, if that's what you want, I can do that; it's your session. Otherwise, I'll be asking questions, providing psycho-education, and challenging you sometimes to stretch you outside your comfort zone. I'll also assign appropriate homework to reinforce the work we do in our sessions.
Think of coaching as weight training for your brain. Just as in weight training for your body, if you are serious about building muscle mass, you're not going to go the gym and work out one day a week for 1 hour and expect to see results. To see significant results, you'll need to work out almost daily. The same is valid for coaching. It would be best if you were "working out" every day to see positive results. And when I say "positive" results, I'm not talking about behavior modification. I'm talking about an authentic heart transformation.
What's the difference between counseling and life coaching?
Therapists work with individuals with mental health conditions, substance abuse, relationship difficulties, trauma, grief/loss, and a wide variety of day-to-day challenges and struggles. A therapist’s training allows them to work with people who have severe mental health issues, but they also work with individuals who are highly functioning but want more out of life by utilizing coaching tools and techniques.
Coaches work with people who are basically healthy and functional but not reaching their full potential. Coaching almost always addresses an individual’s mindset and attitude by uncovering self-limiting beliefs and negative self-talk. A person being coached is assumed to have all the answers they need within them; the coach’s job is to facilitate the discovery of those answers by asking the right questions.
Education
Western Seminary
Masters in MFT- Marriage and Family Therapy & PCC- Professional Clinical Counselor
2013- 2019
Liberty University
B.A., Psychology / Christian Counseling
2011-2013
DeAnza College
A.A., Probation / Corrections
1991- 1994
Certifications & Additional Training
EMDR Level 1 Training
EMDR Institute- 2019
Gottmon Level 1 Training
The Gottmon Institute- 2018
SYMBIS Facilitator(Save Your Marriage Before It Starts)
SYMBIS Assessment
March 2016
Prepare-Enrich Facilitator(Pre-Marital Counseling)
Prepare-Enrich
November 2014
Building Personal Power: Skills for Managing Anger
SERA Learning
September 1996
Tactical Negotiation & Conflict Resolution
The Officer Survival Initiative
January 2001
Professional Activities and Memberships
AACC- American Association of Christian Counselors
AAMFT- American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
TNAMFT- Tennessee Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
CAMFT- California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
ICCA- International Christian Coaching Association