Meet Alauna Curry | Dr. Alauna, Trauma Psychiatrist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alauna Curry and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alauna, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
As I encountered challenges to my health that forced me to retire from clinical medicine, I began to recognize a significant gap that my background in translational medicine and education could fill. It started with recognizing that psychological trauma is a hidden pandemic in our global society! Most people think of trauma as something that requires overt violence, such as war, or physical impact, such as a car wreck, yet the majority of psychological trauma occurs with no physical contact. Psychological trauma causes invisible wounds that we rarely acknowledge. The good news is that even with extensive, chronic, generational damage occurring, our brains are powerful enough to begin to recognize the predictable programming of our protective primitive systems. Through intentional Empathy Skills PracticeTM, I explain ways to improve one’s self control over the brain, body and behavior, while providing biological explanations for the mental health challenges that we all face. Through information and practice, I teach people to evolve their thinking, about themselves and others! It has been a challenge to create a new model of trauma recovery, yet so worth it to see the many lives changed through this process.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
The public service component of my business is the Dr. Alauna Trauma Recovery Institute, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to eradicating the effects of psychological trauma through education, outreach and training opportunities. Considering that there are 7+billion traumatized human Creators on Earth, experiencing painful and damaging events in the past, present and future, there is a HUGE gap in the number of trauma-trained mental health providers and people who need help! The good news is that you don’t have to be a trained professional to understand the predictable patterns of change created in your brain when trauma is experienced. I create accessible and affordable content that is not only entertaining and educational, but provides roadmap for self-guided trauma healing through development of internal cognitive skills. I challenge people to become more aware of their thoughts, emotions and actions, to ultimately improve the words and choices that lead to better outcomes in life. I also teach through public speaking and contribute to various podcasts, seminars and events geared toward mental health education and psychological trauma. This has become even more important during the COVID-19 era, as we are experiencing ongoing acute and chronic trauma from many challenges facing our society, even as we grapple with ongoing unaddressed traumas, including racism, sexism, xenophobia and beyond. I started my entrepreneurial journey in 2016 and it has NOT been easy!!! I have many years of training and practice as a clinical psychiatrist; I never imagined becoming my own business!!! However, in keeping with the model I learned from medical school, I knew I needed to find mentors and professionals to help me. Life is about keeping an eye out for your own blind spots and bringing in folks who can coach you through them! They have walked me through the ups and downs of the entrepreneurial journey. One of the greatest challenges I’ve faced is getting people to shift their expectations of me as a psychiatrist. People are used to the traditional one-on-one care format, delivered in 30-60 min sessions, usually with prescription medication management. I recognize that with the plethora of people who need trauma services, I can be more effective by providing a Skills Over Pills approach, focusing on education about the physical and psychological human body, and cognitive, emotional and communication skills that improve the learner’s ability to respond effectively to what they are experiencing in the moment. To my knowledge, there is no other psychiatrist that I know of who takes this trauma education, coaching-only approach, so I had to create a whole new concept, trauma psychiatry. The most important thing I want people to know is that TRAUMA is TREATABLE! It is a belief-based condition, and only YOU have control over what beliefs you empower. We cannot completely prevent painful or “bad” things from happening to us in life, AND we can change what we tell ourselves about what those experiences mean to our lives. I am honored to be the world’s only Trauma Psychiatrist, bringing a message of hope and healing to so many people. Empathy is the salve that will help us heal from our traumas. ‘Trauma hurts. Empathy heals.’ – Dr. Alauna

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Houston is such a diverse and thriving city, with so much to do! I love visiting our parks and walking the trails; the Arboretum and Herman Park are great places to exercise and see natural beauty. When I need to recharge with the ocean, I drive down to Surfside Beach. Churrasco’s and Ruggles Black are my go-to food spots. Check out the The Ensemble Theatre for amazing live performances!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
This is dedicated to the Dr. Alauna Team (Nicque, Deirdre, Robyn, Scotland, Makayla, La Kesha, Michael, Eddie, Carolyn, all the Moniques and many more). I would not be able to do this without them!

Website: www.DA-TRI.org

Instagram: www.instagram.com/dralauna

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/dralauna

Twitter: www.twitter.com/dralauna

Facebook: www.facebook.com/dralauna

Youtube: www.youtube.com/c/dralauna

Other: www.dralauna.com