The Big Myth About Trauma Healing

Hot Take: We don't heal from trauma by just thinking about and talking about it.

So while venting to your friends about how bad you feel might be cathartic (and it may help you calm down in the moment) it's almost never enough to actually move the body from survival mode to feeling safe, calm and present in a long-term way.

That's because trauma does not just happen in the mind, it happens in the physical brain and the physical body.

For most people with PTSD symptoms, some form of body work or connecting to the physical body (aka somatic work) while thinking and talking about the event is necessary to achieve healing.

This kind of somatic approach not only helps to connect fully to the experience of wounding (allowing you to understand it), it also helps your body to orient to the present, it helps the nervous system to shift out of fight/flight/freeze, and it helps your body complete the stress cycle after being activated and triggered.

This is why I always recommend therapies that include a somatic component for trauma survivors. Examples include:

• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

• Somatic Experiencing

• Internal Family Systems

• Sensorimotor Psychotherapy

Don't have a therapist? There’s also dozens of ways we can connect to an incorporate bodywork from home! I talked about this in an Instagram post this week, but some other examples include:

• Walking without headphones - noticing your surroundings and your body's reaction to them (pleasant or unpleasant?)

• Practicing yoga from home - Yoga with Adriene is one of my favorites

• Weight lifting or bodyweight exercises

• Group fitness activities like Zumba or Pilates

• Putting in headphones and allowing your body to move intuitively

All of these strategies help you to connect to the body mindfully. This lays the groundwork for you to be able to feel your emotions in the body (somatically) and find what kinds of movements and body postures help you feel safe, calm, and connected.

Have questions or thoughts? Comment below!

With love,

Summer