Deepa Karmakar, LCSW (she/hers)
“Whenever we care for someone, we cannot remind ourselves too often that it is not we who are going to heal someone; we are simply going to create the inner and outer conditions, which are most favorable for the operation for what is already whole in that person. What is most precious does not need to be brought in by us, for it is already there, inside them.”
-Jean Yves LeLoup, Compassion and Meditation
I'm Deepa (she/her/hers), a Licensed Clinical Social Worker based in Los Angeles, CA. I received my MSW at University of Southern California with an emphasis on Children and Families. For the past 6 years, I have worked in a variety of settings including residential treatment centers, schools, and community-based mental health agencies. My client base has ranged from adolescents to older adults. I have supported clients with childhood trauma, attachment wounds, PTSD, relationship issues, grief and intimate partner violence. I'm trained in Brainspotting, Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) and Safe & Sound Protocol.
I don't believe there is a 'one size fits all' in how therapy works. In each session, I bring my expertise as a therapist, and you bring your expertise as a person who has lived with yourself your whole life. It is the meeting of these two kinds of experiences that can produce profound and real change. Healing looks different for people and I invite you to join me in creating a safe space that allows your voice to be heard, acknowledged, and validated. I work in a relational manner. This means that I see our relationship - and the feelings and thoughts we both have during our sessions - as a potential point of focus and means of healing.
Outside of the therapy room, I am a strong advocate for human rights and was previously a sitting member on the Victim Advisory Board at the National Crime Institute. I am also starting to publish in areas that are important regarding violence and healing. I have co-authored a book chapter that was published in March 2023 titled "Promoting Smart Decarceration". If you subscribe to this website, you will occasionally receive my publications and blog posts as they happen throughout the year.
Guiding You On the Path of Self-Healing
Education, Trainings + Professional Memberships
Education
Master of Social Work, University of Southern California
Bachelor's Studies in Criminal Justice & Psychology, Rutgers University
Trainings
EMDR Level 1 and 2 Professional Training: EMDR Institute
Brainspotting Phase 1: Southeast Brainspotting Institute
Safe & Sound Protocol
Gottman Method Couples Therapy: Level 1
Parent Child Interaction Therapy
Professional Memberships
Victim Advisory Board, National Crime Institute 2021-2023
Publications
Hernandez, R, Karmakar, D, & Kim, S (2023). Social work education and the grand challenges: Approaches to curricula and field education. London, UK: Routledge/CRC Press
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