For over 30 years, Carmen Dominguez has been sitting in the space where psychotherapy meets ancient wisdom — first as a young therapist during the HIV/AIDS crisis, where she watched people stripped of every mask discover their essence underneath, and now as Chief Clinical Advisor at Integrative Life Network, weaving neuroscience together with Toltec traditions and somatic practice.
In this conversation, Carmen and HeatherAsh dig into what Carmen calls the myth of power: the idea that we're wired from birth to chase safety, connection, and belonging, and that this wiring quietly hijacks our sense of worth. Carmen explains how our gifts — the things we're naturally good at — get recruited into that chase, until we mistake the gift itself for our value. She shares how she unlearned this in her own life, and how she now helps clients (from artists to Harvard students to people in addiction recovery) get into right relationship with their gifts instead of using them to prove they're enough.
They also talk about the nervous system: why turning inward can feel like crossing a river with slippery rocks, why awareness itself is medicine, and why something as simple as noticing one second of calm is how real change gets built.
Episode Highlights
- Carmen's childhood under the trees during her family's move from Cuba, and how that became the seed of her life's work
- Her early years as a therapist during the HIV/AIDS crisis, learning from clients who had nothing left to hide behind
- Naming the myth of power: how the search for safety, connection, and belonging gets twisted into chasing status
- The Harvard client who linked his worth to his intelligence — and what it looked like to untangle that
- Why "the gift is something we value, not our value" is the turning point of the whole conversation
- The river metaphor for turning inward, and why it gets harder before it gets easier
- Shaking the body with intention versus venting anger without it — and why that distinction matters
- Building nervous system capacity one nanosecond at a time, like adding weight at the gym
About Carmen
Carmen is a seasoned psychotherapist and consultant with over 30 years of experience, currently serving as the Chief Clinical Advisor at Integrative Life Network. Drawing from a diverse spectrum of therapeutic methodologies, she bridges ancient wisdom with modern psychology and neuroscience, incorporating holistic medicine, yoga therapy, and expressive therapies into her practice. She values evidence-based treatment models while aiming to deepen understanding and enhance support for individuals on their journey of self-discovery and authentic alignment. Carmen’s practice is informed by relational cultural theory, the principles of social justice, polyvagal theory, and somatic and systemic approaches. Additionally, she has trained in Family Therapy at the esteemed Cambridge Family Institute. Carmen has also served as an adjunct professor at Lesley University for 22 years, contributing to the education of future therapists. She co-facilitates spiritual journeys to Teotihuacan alongside best-selling author Gini Gentry, known for "Dreaming Down Heaven: The 12 Keystones.”. All of Carmen’s work is driven by a deep passion for nurturing transformational healing, emphasizing that this process is fundamentally relational. She believes that we are all wired for safety, connection, and belonging, and guides individuals to reconnect with their inherent wisdom and return to authenticity.
