Chaz Franke, LCSW, is the owner of Light Source, a private practice in Belleville, Illinois, is an adjunct professor in the MSW program at St. Louis University, and has over 15 years of experience working with trauma. Chaz shares his journey to becoming a trauma therapist, the role curiosity can play in the therapeutic relationship, and how his work has impacted him and his clients. 

Chaz had many opportunities early in his career that supported him to better understand trauma and how to be with clients in a way that supports their healing. He was mentored by highly skilled figures in the field of trauma and therapy such as Dr. Ira Chasnoff and Dr. Bruce Perry. Chaz shares that Dr. Perry helped him to look beyond the behaviors and to try and understand the person, not pathologizing them, but to hold compassion and curiosity.

Chaz also shares about his background in Zen Buddhism which helped him better understand suffering and the importance of not putting pressure on himself or his clients to rush the healing process. The relational framework that Chaz uses, which involves the therapist slowing down and not pressuring themselves, or their clients, is aligned with the NARM framework as well.

Chaz reflects on the reality that despite their best intentions, helping professionals over the years have created harm for their patients due to the lack of support and competency around trauma. He explains that an important area of trauma-informed focus for therapists is on their own connection to Self as helping professionals. He shares about how he uses supervision as an opportunity for therapists to be self-reflective, shifting patterns of self-criticism and self-shaming that lead to over-efforting, pressuring, comparing and other disruptive strategies for therapists. 

When give the right kind of support, therapists can be more effective in connecting with themselves and their clients, and more effective in their healing work.  

Chaz finds hope in the healing work of trauma therapy.  He shares, “I think that therapy is 100% the coolest thing in the world.”

Bio: Chaz Franke, MSW, LCSW owns Light Source, a private practice in Belleville, Illinois and is an adjunct professor in the MSW program at Saint Louis University. Chaz has over 15 years experience working with trauma and has been providing clinical supervision since 2010.

Learn more at: www.findyourlightsource.com

To read the full show notes and discover more resources visit http://www.narmtraining.com/podcast

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The NARM Training Institute provides tools for transforming complex trauma through: in-person and online trainings for mental health care professionals; in-person and online workshops on complex trauma and how it interplays with areas like addiction, parenting, and cultural trauma; an online self-paced learning program, the NARM Inner Circle; and other trauma-informed learning resources.  

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