You might have resorted to patterns that undermine your wellbeing in order to manage or avert painful memories and emotions or deter revictimization. These might include disordered eating, self-sabotage, self-imposed isolation, reactive aggression, self-harm, dissociation, substance use and other risk-taking behaviors. This might lead to experiences of misunderstanding and rejection in your relationships, triggering shame. I view these mechanisms as adaptive survival strategies that develop in the context of traumatic stress. 

When it comes to trauma, talking isn’t a cure-all. Focusing primarily on word-based thinking and narratives can keep therapy at a surface level and trauma may remain unresolved. Trauma has profound effects on the body and nervous system, and many symptoms of trauma are somatically driven. Trauma is reenacted in breath, gestures, sensory perceptions, movement, emotion, and thought. Our minds have an innate ability to integrate and heal that can often be blocked after trauma.

As my understanding of the impact of trauma deepened, I began to study and integrate into my practice evidence-based treatment interventions that target and reverse the physiological imprint of trauma. These healing pathways include Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR), Drama Therapy, Psychodrama, Creative Arts Therapies, and Trauma-Informed Yoga. I am committed to studying emerging findings on the impact of traumatic stress and effective treatment interventions.