What if your insomnia isn’t only a sleep problem? In this episode of Beyond the Window Podcast, La Ventana Treatment Programs Chief Clinical Officer Sharon Volner, LMFT, sits down with longtime colleague Anita Kaplan, LCSW, to explore the connection between trauma, chronic insomnia, anxiety, PTSD, and the nervous system. Anita specializes in trauma work using EMDR and shares how experiences we may not traditionally label as “trauma” can continue affecting us years later. Emotional neglect, not feeling seen or loved, an overly critical parent, relationship loss, work stress, divorce, and other major life transitions can sometimes leave lasting emotional and physiological patterns. They discuss why two people can experience similar events and respond very differently, why comparing your trauma to someone else’s can interfere with healing, and why making space for painful experiences can be an important part of recovery. The conversation then turns to chronic insomnia and what may be happening when traditional sleep-hygiene advice isn’t enough. Anita explains how anxiety about sleep can become part of the problem itself. Tossing and turning, watching the clock, worrying about how you’ll function tomorrow, and trying to force yourself to sleep can further activate an already stressed nervous system. Sharon and Anita also discuss CBT-I, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia, EMDR, nervous-system regulation, consistent sleep routines, and practical techniques for creating a healthier relationship with sleep. Anita even walks Sharon through an EMDR-inspired resourcing exercise using the butterfly hug, bilateral tapping, visualization, breathing, the container exercise, and a peaceful-place exercise to demonstrate ways people can practice calming the nervous system. In This Episode • What trauma can look like beyond major catastrophic events • Childhood emotional neglect and attachment wounds • Why people sometimes minimize their own trauma • PTSD and complex PTSD • How EMDR therapy works with difficult or “stuck” experiences • Traditional EMDR sessions versus longer EMDR intensives • The connection between trauma and chronic insomnia • Why the nervous system can become stuck in fight-or-flight • How anxiety about sleep can perpetuate insomnia • What CBT-I is and how it approaches sleep difficulties • Why your bed can become associated with wakefulness and anxiety • The “half-hour rule” for getting out of bed when you can’t sleep • The importance of consistent sleep and wake routines • Negative thoughts and beliefs surrounding sleep • EMDR resourcing skills for calming the nervous system • The butterfly hug and bilateral stimulation • The container and peaceful-place visualization exercises • Why practicing regulation skills before you desperately need them matters • The importance of healing through connection • Anita’s upcoming women’s trauma group About Anita Kaplan, LCSW Anita Kaplan is a licensed clinical social worker practicing in Westlake Village, California. She works with adults experiencing depression, anxiety, PTSD, complex PTSD, trauma, and insomnia. Her practice incorporates EMDR therapy, trauma-focused treatment, insomnia work, individual therapy, and longer EMDR intensive sessions. Learn more about Anita at: AnitaKaplanLCSW.com About La Ventana Treatment Programs If you or someone you love is struggling with mental health challenges, trauma, or substance use, you don’t have to navigate it alone. La Ventana Treatment Programs provides personalized, compassionate care focused on the whole person. 🌐 Learn more: https://laventanatreatment.com 📞 Call (800) 560-8518 Real people answer 8am–8pm, seven days a week. About Beyond the Window Beyond the Window Podcast explores mental health, trauma, recovery, relationships, treatment, and the experiences that shape the way we think, feel, and heal. Subscribe and listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Trauma Lives in the Body: How EMDR Can Help Trauma doesn’t always look like trauma. Sometimes it shows up as anxiety, panic attacks, headaches, stomach problems, hypervigilance, physical tension, or reactions to sounds, smells, places, and situations that seemingly come out of nowhere. In this episode of Beyond the Window, we sit down with Norine Vander Hooven, LCSSW, trauma specialist, EMDR consultant, and owner of Westlake Trauma and Resilience, for an in-depth conversation about how unresolved experiences can continue to affect both the mind and the body. Noren explains the difference between “big T” and “little t” trauma and why experiences that may have seemed like a normal part of childhood can continue influencing us years later. She breaks down EMDR, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, including bilateral stimulation, resourcing, identifying root memories, processing negative beliefs, body scans, and what the healing process can actually feel like. The conversation also explores how trauma can become connected to sensory triggers, why some people dissociate, how early attachment experiences may shape emotional responses, and why successful trauma treatment doesn’t necessarily mean forgetting what happened. Instead, the goal can be reaching a place where the memory no longer carries the same emotional or physical intensity. We also move beyond individual therapy to discuss the emotional toll that trauma work can take on mental health professionals, including compassion fatigue, burnout, vicarious trauma, and the importance of meaningful self-care. In this episode:  How trauma can hide behind anxiety and panic   “Big T” vs. “little t” trauma   How trauma can show up physically in the body   What EMDR is and how bilateral stimulation works   The eight phases of EMDR therapy   Identifying root memories and negative beliefs   Trauma triggers involving sound, smell, touch, and environment   Dissociation, stabilization, and resourcing   Sand tray therapy and combining therapeutic approaches   What successful trauma healing can look like   Working with suicide loss and severe trauma   Compassion fatigue and burnout among therapists   Why therapists need their own support and self-care   Training and mentoring the next generation of clinicians   Healing retreats and creating space for mental health professionals to reset  Whether you’re navigating trauma yourself, supporting someone you love, or working in the mental health field, this conversation offers a deeper look at what healing can mean and why our experiences can remain in the body long after the immediate danger has passed.  Need support? If you or someone you love is struggling with mental health challenges, trauma, or substance use, you don’t have to navigate it alone. 📞 For more details about our process at La Ventana, call (800) 560-8518. Real people answer 8 am–8 pm, seven days a week. Beyond the Window Podcast | La Ventana Treatment Programs

Content note: This episode includes candid discussion of depression, grief, burnout and suicidal ideation. In this episode of Beyond the Window, La Ventana Clinical Director Jennifer Enriquez, LMFT, sits down with entrepreneur and mental health advocate Karen Cormier. Karen is a franchise owner with Team Referral Network who helps entrepreneurs grow their businesses through relationships. She is also a former La Ventana residential client who entered treatment in 2022 after cumulative grief, anxiety, depression and professional burnout left her unable to function. Karen openly shares what it felt like to reach rock bottom, step away from the business and people she cared for, and finally focus on her own healing. She and Jennifer explore the difficult work of residential treatment, the importance of continuing care and why recovery is not something a person simply completes. In this conversation: How cumulative grief and chronic burnout contributed to Karen’s mental health crisis The difference between staying busy and developing healthy coping skills What residential mental health treatment felt like during Karen’s first weeks Why grief does not follow a predictable timeline or a simple set of stages How pain and gratitude can exist at the same time The warning signs Karen now watches for when she is becoming overwhelmed Why boundaries, rest and turning off notifications are essential parts of her recovery Practical tools that supported her healing, including walking, time in nature, sound baths, grounding activities and community The importance of step-down care through PHP, IOP and continued support How friends can support someone who is struggling by taking meaningful action instead of waiting to be asked Karen’s emotional reaction to seeing a photograph from her first day in treatment The transformation from feeling lost and hopeless to becoming resilient, grateful and “perfectly imperfect” Karen’s story offers a powerful reminder that healing does not require perfection. It requires honesty, support, self-awareness and the willingness to keep putting one foot in front of the other. About the guest Karen Cormier is a franchise owner with Team Referral Network, an entrepreneur, connector and advocate for speaking openly about mental health. By sharing her experience with grief, burnout and treatment, Karen hopes others will recognize that they are not alone and that asking for help can be the beginning of getting their lives back. About Beyond the Window Beyond the Window is presented by La Ventana Treatment Programs. The podcast features honest conversations about mental health, trauma, substance use, recovery and the experiences that shape the healing process. Get support If you or someone you love is struggling with mental health challenges, trauma, substance use or co-occurring conditions, La Ventana Treatment Programs provides personalized treatment and multiple levels of care. Visit LaVentanaTreatment.com or call (800) 560-8518 for a complimentary clinical assessment. This podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes and is not a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

From Skid Row to Nine Years Clean: Kat’s Recovery Story In this deeply personal episode of Beyond the Window, Danny sits down with Kat, a detox professional at La Ventana Treatment Programs, to hear her powerful story of addiction, homelessness, family separation, recovery, and rebuilding a life she once believed was out of reach. Kat shares how substance use gradually took over her life, leading to painful relationships, incarceration, losing custody of some of her children, and eventually finding herself on Skid Row while caring for her grandson. At age 52, she made the difficult decision to ask for help and begin again. Through shelters, recovery meetings, transitional housing, friendships, faith, and a strong support system, Kat slowly rebuilt her life one day at a time. Today, she has nine years of sobriety, renewed family relationships, a home, self-esteem, and a meaningful career helping others begin their own recovery journeys. This episode is a reminder that recovery is possible, even when life feels overwhelming. Kat’s message is simple: do not quit before the miracle. One phone call, one meeting, one conversation, or one decision can change the direction of a life. In This Episode, We Discuss:  How Kat’s substance use began and gradually escalated   The impact addiction had on her family and relationships   Her experience living on Skid Row with her grandson   The fear and humility involved in asking for help   Transitional housing, meetings, sponsorship, and community support   Starting over in recovery at age 52   Rebuilding trust with children and family members   Why Kat chose to work in detox and treatment   The importance of finding a recovery “tribe”   Encouragement for people in active addiction and their loved ones  Key Takeaway Recovery does not have to begin with having everything figured out. It can start with one step: calling someone, entering a meeting, accepting help, or choosing to keep going one more day. About La Ventana Treatment Programs At La Ventana Treatment Programs, we provide compassionate, personalized care for individuals struggling with substance use, mental health challenges, and trauma. Through individual therapy, group support, family involvement, detox, residential treatment, and structured levels of care, our team helps people take the next step toward healing. For more details about our process at La Ventana, call (800) 560-8518. Real people answer 8am–8pm, seven days a week.

What happens when two independent female clinical directors pull back the curtain on the invisible emotional labor women carry every single day? In this powerful episode of La Ventana’s Beyond the Window podcast, hosts Carla Fernandez, LCSW, and Isabelle Pilato, LMFT, explore the complex realities of women’s mental health, leadership, and empowerment. From the historical weaponization of the term “hysterical” to modern pop-psychology trends like the “Let Them Theory,” Carla and Isabelle break down the everyday conditioning that teaches women to maintain everyone else’s emotional comfort at the expense of their own boundaries. Together, they dive deep into the professional and psychological hurdles women face when stepping out of traditional roles, bringing the clinical insights and the hard statistics to back it up. Whether you are navigating corporate spaces, family systems, or your own self-growth journey, this episode is a call to unlearn the pressure of playing small. In this episode, we discuss: The Language of Suppression: How labeling assertive women as “loud,” “crazy,” or “intimidating” is a modern extension of historical female suppression. The Caregiver Trap & Codependency: Why traditional family structures and cultural formatting condition women to be hyper-vigilant of others' feelings, leading directly to burnout, resentment, and identity erosion. Women in Leadership: Real talk on navigating imposter syndrome, breaking the habit of over-explaining, and ending the addiction to unnecessary apologies. The Receipts (The Statistics): A look at the disproportionate global rates of PTSD, anxiety, and eating disorders among women, as well as the societal anxiety surrounding physical aging. Redefining Strength: Why true empowerment means fewer explanations, zero apologies, and the courage to unapologetically take up space. About the Hosts: Carla Fernandez, LCSW, is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and the Clinical Director with La Ventana Treatment Programs. Isabelle Pilato, LMFT, is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and the Clinical Director for La Ventana’s Women’s Residential Treatment program. Connect with La Ventana Treatment Programs: If you or a loved one are struggling with mental health, trauma, or dependency issues and want to learn more about our trauma-informed, specialized recovery programs, please reach out to us. We have compassionate, real individuals ready to help seven days a week. 📞 Call Us: (800) 560-8518 (Available 8 AM – 8 PM) 🌐 Website: https://laventanatreatment.com 📺 Watch on YouTube: Tune in to watch video versions of our episodes on our official YouTube channel.