What is NARM®?

You’ve carried more than memory — you’ve carried survival. For many people, what shows up as anxiety, depression, chronic stress, disconnection, or relationship struggles isn’t only a “right now” problem. It’s the long echo of earlier experiences — times when we had to adapt in order to get through. That deeper pattern is often called Complex Trauma or C‑PTSD. Unlike a single traumatic event, complex trauma develops over time — often in childhood or within important relationships. When the people who were meant to protect, attune, and care for us couldn’t (or didn’t), we learned ways to cope and to keep going. Those strategies helped us survive. Later, they can feel like the very things that keep us stuck.

What Complex Trauma Can Look Like

Everyone’s story is unique, but common signs include:
  • Nervous system swings: feeling revved up, shut down, or stuck in between
  • Trouble regulating emotions; “big reactions” that don’t match the moment
  • Chronic shame, self‑criticism, or feeling “not enough”
  • Patterns of distance, people‑pleasing, or conflict in relationships
  • Feeling disconnected from the body — numbness, tension, pain, or not knowing what you feel
  • Identity confusion or feeling split between parts of yourself
C‑PTSD is not your fault. It’s an understandable response to developmental and relational injuries. And with the right kind of support, it is possible to move toward steadiness, connection, and aliveness.

How We Heal: The NARM® Approach

In my practice, I often use the NeuroAffective Relational Model™ (NARM®) — a therapy model designed for complex and developmental trauma. Rather than asking you to relive the past, NARM focuses on the survival patterns that formed in response to early experiences (for example, disconnecting, collapsing, staying on high alert, or over‑adapting). Those patterns once kept you safe; together we learn how to loosen their grip so you can live with more choice.

What this means:

  • We start in the present. What’s happening in your body and relationships right now becomes our guide.

     

  • We’re strength‑based. We draw on what’s already working — your resources and capacities — as part of the healing.

     

  • We include the body, mind, and emotions. NARM brings a gentle, integrated focus so you can reconnect with yourself without being overwhelmed.

     

  • The relationship matters most. Tools help, but healing happens in safe, attuned connection.

     

NARM fits well alongside other approaches I use — like EMDR, parts work (IFS), and NeuroAffective Touch® — so we can choose what best supports you at each step.

What Working Together May Look Like

  • Slowing down enough to notice the patterns your system learned to survive 
  • Building capacity to stay present with sensations and emotions, one small step at a time 
  • Exploring how old strategies show up in your identity, your body, and your relationships 
  • Gently widening what’s possible: more connection, more choice, more self‑trust 

We’ll move at a pace that respects your nervous system. No pushing for catharsis, no rushing — just steady, compassionate work.

Ready to Explore?

If this resonates, we can talk about whether NARM‑informed therapy is a good fit for you and how it could support your healing.

 

Learn More about NARM

 

Reach Me

Jennifer DiGennaro MA LPC
1324 Lake Drive Suite 8
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506

Tel: 616.446.6728
E-mail: Jen@NourishedEnergy.com

Schedule a free 15 minute phone consultation with Jen