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.