I’m so excited for you guys to hear this week’s episode of the podcast! Today on the show you’re going to hear from Karrie Garcia, and we’re chatting about the topic of soul care vs. self care. This is a hot button topic among women everywhere today, and Karrie has a perspective on them that I think is so eternal in helping us understand what God wants from us in these areas. A little bit more about Karrie;
As a pastor, life coach, author and CEO, Karrie Garcia inspires change in others by boldly sharing her journey to freedom. With more than 10,000 hours of experience under her belt, Karrie has been speaking formally since the age of 19. Her audiences range from church small groups to crowds of thousands. People are drawn to Karrie by her charisma, humor, and ability to share God’s word in ways that reach everyone from the non-believer to the Bible scholar. However, it’s Karrie’s authentic, raw, and fearless approach to addressing challenging, and sometimes uncomfortable, topics that truly makes those who hear from her feel known, loved, and accepted. She is not afraid to wade through deep waters and wants to bring those who are hurting along, so they too can experience the freedom that leads to flourishing.
Karrie will be the first to tell you she’s not perfect. A pastor’s daughter from a family living in fear of sharing their struggles with the world, Karrie turned to unhealthy, and often damaging, methods of coping in her adolescent and young adult years. Karrie has navigated dark places—including drug addiction, the suicide of her mother, and the breakdown of her first marriage—and emerged victorious through the freedom she found in the grace, mercy, and healing that can only come from Jesus Christ. At the point Karrie felt most disqualified from ministry and life itself, Scripture finally came alive for her to reveal God’s purpose and plan. This is the truth that continues to transform her life, and now Karrie is on a mission to redefine freedom for others.
It was from this conviction that Freedom Movement was born. Karrie started the nonprofit in 2014 with the understanding that every single one of us is broken and has wounds, many of which are not often addressed within traditional church environments. She saw firsthand that God’s true redemptive purpose for our lives does not begin once we’re free from pain, rather it stems directly out of that pain.
A licensed life coach through the International Coach Federation (ICF), Karrie is a natural at creating space for others and has been been involved in coaching and counseling, whether professionally or informally, for nearly 25 years. Through Freedom Movement and its programming, Karrie has fostered an environment where anyone can begin to process and heal, whether they’re taking their first or their last step on the road to freedom. Today, the organization has partnered with major churches in addition to Christian universities and conferences to offer this same healing space on a larger scale.
Karrie is also the author of The Exchange, a nine-week course through which she guides individuals and groups from hurting to hope with readings, videos and reflections in an interactive workbook format. She is currently working toward her Training Certificate Level I at The Allender Center, a program that addresses trauma-focused narrative therapy taught by leading Christian psychologist, Dr. Dan Allender. Karrie has been a certified health and wellness coach for more than a decade, using her training in the area of psychology to help others connect their minds with their bodies for a holistic approach to overall wellness.
