Carrie Lara was born and raised in the northern California wine country. She met her husband, Roger, in college at CSU Monterey Bay. Carrie went on to graduate school to earn her doctorate in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology/Alliant International University in San Francisco, with specific training in child and human development, systems, and abnormal psychology. She has worked in multiple settings in mental health and has extensive experience in clinical application/therapeutic intervention, leadership, program development and management, organizational systems, project improvement, and supervision. Carrie enjoys helping clients find balance in their lives and reach their full potential.
Throughout life, Carrie has enjoyed reading and writing and finds a catharsis in the creative expression of the written word. Carrie and Roger have a daughter born in 2011 and a son in 2017. She loves watching them grow, experience the world, and have adventures. It is the highlight of every day. Roger is from Nicaragua, and being a bicultural family, days are spent in a blend of language and culture, and they love to learn and explore other cultures as well. This has led naturally to a focus in Carrie’s writing, where her stories have themes of cultural identity, multiculturalism, and supporting families to have conversations about diversity.
Carrie has published four books through Magination Press, three of which Marvelous, Maravilloso: Me and My Beautiful Family, The Heart of Mi Familia, and A Year of Celebraciones were inspired by her children’s bicultural experiences. The fourth, Out of the Fires: A Journal of Resilience and Recovery After Disaster, was written during and after the 2017, 2019, and 2020 wildfires that Carrie and the community of Sonoma County experienced. Working with many families who are still dealing with the traumas caused by the fires – evacuation, losing their homes, the visual devastation, and the rebuilding nightmares – along with her own family’s experience of those times, inspired the development of a story to help young victims of natural disasters.
Carrie continues to write and work on more projects for the near future. In addition, she has done presentations and lectures based on her writing and publications and is available for booking.