Carla's Story
Introduction
Meet Carla
Buck
Warrior Brain was founded by Carla Buck, a therapist and advocate dedicated to supporting anxious and neurodiverse minds.
Carla Buck, LMHC
Founder of Warrior Brain
U.S. Licensed Therapist (WA, USA)
Anxiety Specialist & Neuroinclusive Advocate
“People don’t really understand what it takes to hold it all together, until they realise they’ve been doing it for everyone but themselves.”
— Carla Buck
My Lived Experience
As a young girl, I noticed unspoken truths everywhere. A masked smile when I could sense an adult’s underlying sadness. Being told “I’m fine” when I asked, but somehow knowing and feeling in my own body that they weren’t fine at all.
These experiences meant I quickly learned to become an observer of Truth. I studied people closely, learning to search for the real truth, not just in their words, but in their eyes, their tone, their silences.
Over time, that skill shaped how I moved through the world. It helped me understand people deeply, but it also taught me to prioritise their comfort over my own Truth.
From Truth-Seeking to People-Pleasing
The skill of reading people was useful but it came at a cost.
When you spend a lifetime monitoring the needs and moods of those around you, you forget to care for yourself. I stopped asking myself what I wanted or needed. I hid my own thoughts and feelings. I became the peacekeeper, the helper, the one who smoothed things over.
In adulthood, this meant caretaking for loved ones while keeping my own needs off the table. Hello Enneagram 2! (Half 2, half 7 actually) Even if people had wanted to care for me, they wouldn’t have known how. Because I never knew how myself!
The Cracks Form
Eventually, my body started telling the truth I was expertly avoiding.
My body developed high levels of inflammation and I needed to biopsy two different non-cancerous growths in 2 years. I was only 33 years old. I knew I didn’t want to face a third one.
So I dealt with the inflammation head on. I researched everything I could find on the topic. That’s when I found Gabor Maté’s The Myth of Normal, and his words about how suppressing theTrue Self can feed disease, hit home for me.
Then came the moment I couldn’t ignore: I realised I wasn’t living for myself at all. I was following other’s training schedules instead of following my own, so that I could feel connected. I was planning my holidays around other people’s preferences, instead of taking the time to know mine. I didn’t even have hobbies that helped me feel alive – just responsibilities.
The
Shift
I began making choices that were mine.
I took up kitesurfing and blocked off a few afternoons a week to be on the water. I raised my prices because I finally recognized my own value. I travelled alone to Europe. I pursued new learning that excited me and encouraged me to grow. I even started meditating and loved it!
Perhaps most importantly I started answering the question, “What do you want, Self?” with my own voice. The more I used my own voice, the more comfortable it got for me to discover who I was.
In my own therapy sessions, I noticed my frustration at not being handed easy answers from my therapist. I had to sit in the discomfort of finding them for myself. And in doing so, I realised: the more deeply I lived in my own Truth, the more I gave others permission to find theirs.
My “Becoming” Today
Now, I listen to my body, my intuition, and my inner voice. I give myself space to speak my Truth before I rush to hide it “just in case” it inconveniences someone. I give a lot of credit to my kite surfing journey for helping me learn how to create space for myself in my own world.
This has become the heart and soul of Warrior Brain. A place where people come to stop living for other people’s comfort, and start building lives aligned with their own values, needs, and Truth.
For us, authenticity isn’t optional. It’s your gift. Brutal honesty shines a light at what hides in dark corners. This way, the outcome starts to matter less than the daily act of staying true to yourself, starting with the relationship you have with you.
Why This Work Matters
I used to think my job was to help anxious kids focus, and to help anxious adults feel confident and capable in their own skin.
But when a 10-year-old girl with ADHD told me she was in a “black hole of eternal sadness,” and a tech executive the same week admitted they were terrified of looking weak if they took burnout leave, I saw it clearly:
Different ages. Different packaging. Same spiral.
And no one was teaching us how to interrupt it in a way
that honoured Truth and values.
Credentials & Experience
Carla Buck, LMHC
- U.S. Licensed Therapist (WA, USA)
- Certified in ADOS-2, Conners 4, CAARS
- 1,000+ hours annually working with neurodiverse children, parents, and anxious professionals
- Corporate mental health training for companies including EY and Bayer
- Featured in The Washington Post
More than credentials, I understand what it feels like to appear “together” while quietly unraveling and the relief of finally being seen without needing to hide.
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Things aren't as hopeless as it feels. You're overwhelmed and that's okay. And the right kind of aligned support can be thing you need to turn it all around.
