What Is Trauma Healing

Trauma healing can look different depending on the modality. When the body can be directed to sensing safety—through resource, relationship, or connection—it can begin to transmute the traumatic charge and return to a state of rest, calm, and well-being.

In this work, we renegotiate the stored survival energy that came on in a time of threat—or perceived threat—and has remained in the body — and that can leave someone’s nervous system chronically “on” in a state fight or flight or freeze).

However, for the majority of my clients, and those with complex chronic health issues and/or c-PTSD, their traumas are comprised of a combination of relational loss or betrayal or even abuse, sexual, medical, or shock trauma—but also something called developmental trauma.

Developmental trauma is where maternal stress, complications in the birth process, medical interventions, disruptions in parent and caregiver attachment and attunement, and generational trauma can impact the early development (in utero to about ages 3, 4, 5) of our nervous system — in particular the “myelination” (which allows nerve impulses to travel faster) of the part of our nervous system (ventral vagus) responsible for social engagement, connection, safety, regulation (of threat). These interruptions can mean that we don’t have a “real” window of tolerance. Which is essentially the ability to tolerate stress and be in a calm and regulated state.

But the good news is that the human body and the nervous system are able to be rebuilt.