The Chuck and Laraine Story

Chuck and Laraine know what it's like to show up for work after having suffered devastating emotional trauma.  They know the difficulty of doing a job while trying to deal with tremendous emotional challenges. 

Chuck Chamberlain spent his early childhood chasing lizards in a small town with a dubious distinction.  The “one stop sign” community held a ring-side seat to the open-air nuclear test facility in the Nevada desert.  Maybe it was a childhood tainted by radioactive fallout that caused Chuck to think so differently.  At any rate, Chuck has successfully spent his life trying to think "outside the coconut."   

Laraine, on the other hand, did not waste her early years dodging gamma rays.  She was born a twin (and has stayed a twin throughout her life).  Laraine enjoyed family camping trips (avoiding the Nevada test site, of course) and cross-country RV jaunts.  She enjoyed her childhood so much, in fact, that she managed to remain childlike throughout her adult life.  

Thinking imaginatively in high school, Laraine plotted with an older sister to arrange “blind” dates with the objects of their respective interests.  Unsuspecting and innocent, Chuck was new in town and happy to go on this “blind date.”  Of course, after only minimal exposure to Laraine’s infectious laugh, Chuck was officially hooked.  But a two-year separation would test their affection.   

After his freshman year at BYU, Chuck served a two-year church mission in Hong Kong where he discovered the difficulties of a new language.  He made a shocking discovery during his last week in Asia.  For two years, whenever he entered a crowded bus he would say, “Excuse me – Excuse me.”  But he was disheartened to realize he had actually been saying, “Big sister – Big sister.”   

After two years he returned home to reunite with the girl who waited.  This occurred when, with violins playing, he and his beloved Laraine ran 60 yards into each other’s arms in a made-for-Hollywood embrace.  (OK, there were no violins – but there SHOULD have been).  For their wedding announcements they chose the theme, “The Road Less Traveled,” by Robert Frost.  To keep him busy, Chuck was allowed to choose the pattern on the wedding napkins.  Exercising great restraint, Laraine actually allowed him to print the pattern of his choice – a ball and chain.   Their union would eventually produce four daughters, two sons and five grandsons (as of last count).

Chuck and Laraine have had to overcome some incredibly difficult challenges while continuing to be productive in the workforce.  (See right column for partial list of challenges)    

Chuck’s corporate life began after completing a B.S. degree in psychology at BrighamYoung University and a fascinating two year stint supervising at a state mental hospital.  Responsible for staff scheduling, he devised an unprecedented 10-hour workday schedule to boost patient care and staff morale.  Ironically, surrounded by textbook “abnormal psych” cases, he somehow learned how to foster health and productivity.  

Chuck soon entered the sales force of a large HMO where he learned to work cooperatively with human resource staff to develop and present health benefits to major corporations.  He went on to successfully fill leadership roles as a National Sales Director, National Director of Business Development and Vice President of Sales for various private and publicly traded high tech organizations.  Some of his greatest accomplishments involved winning major new contracts by seamlessly integrating disparate partnerships.  Through it all, however, he started to miss the relative sanity of the mental hospital.   

It was following the “insanity” of WorldCom’s decision to acquire his company, and following some of his own major personal challenges that he recognized a problem –  the typical organization suffers tremendously from the stresses and problems its employees bring from their personal lives.  And the solution to the problem (therapy) was falling out of favor with the majority of employees and employers.    

While Chuck observed an emerging trend in the corporate world, Laraine’s natural cheeriness and warmth led her to leadership roles in various professional and volunteer organizations.  She also found she enjoyed playing host and, not satisfied to enjoy time away from husband and children by herself, she created “escape” plans for other women to join her through a series of women’s retreats.  In doing these retreats, a friend introduced her to an unusual method called “Creative Journal Expressive Arts” or CJEA.  This method was unique in how it integrated the capabilities of left and right brain to reduce stress, foster emotional awareness and improve understanding and relationships.  Laraine quickly became certified in this approach, developed by Dr. Lucia Capacchione.   

Chuck and Laraine soon realized the incredibly powerful tools available to them to improve health and relationships and to discover a new vision for our lives.  They developed a program of workshops and CDs around CJEA methods called - "Living Inside/Out".  "Living Inside/Out" programs are used by their three entities:  Chamberlain Leadership Group LLC, For Every Marriage LLC (a hosting company for relationship retreats and workshops found at www.ForEveryMarriage.com) and www.GivingItaVoice.com a support site for abuse sufferers.    

Together, Chuck and Laraine are on the national boards of three volunteer organizations and are active in their church and community.  They have degrees in Psychology and Family Relations, are certified in CJEA and Laraine is certified in Dr. Capacchione's Visioning® Coach program.