Why is Healing Trauma Important
Jan 03, 2024
We all have experienced some form of trauma in our lives, whether it's big T trauma like abuse, accidents or assault, or little t trauma from situations like bullying, criticism, or emotional neglect. Trauma gets stored in our bodies and can impact how we move through the world, relate to others, and even our physical health.
The good news is—trauma can be healed. When we address past hurts through modalities like therapy, coaching, and energy healing, we can rewire our nervous systems and free ourselves from limitations rooted in fear.
In this post, I'll explain:
- How unresolved trauma impacts the body and mind
- The differences between Big T and little t trauma
- Why insight alone isn't enough to overcome trauma
- How energy healing can help rewrite trauma responses
- Tips for starting your trauma healing journey
I hope this post provides an empathetic space to reflect on your own trauma history and inspires you to take steps toward deeper healing.
You deserve to feel safe, empowered, and fully alive!
How Unresolved Trauma Wreaks Havoc in the Body
Unresolved trauma doesn't just live in our minds—it also gets logged in our bodies in the form of survival responses and blocked energy.
Bessel van der Kolk, renowned trauma researcher and author of The Body Keeps the Score, explains how trauma therapy must engage the body, not just the mind:
“These methods do not rely on insight or understanding, but on shifting internal states of the bodily experience. They can bring about remarkably rapid changes in the way people feel and move into the world.”
When we don't fully process painful events, our nervous systems get stuck in fight, flight or freeze mode, even when real danger has passed. We may overreact to small upsets or numb ourselves as a form of self-protection.
Over time, this wreaks havoc on our bodies and minds:
- Chronic inflammation that leads to autoimmune issues
- Depression, brain fog, and lethargy
- Sleep disturbances
- Strained relationships
- Difficulty making empowered choices
The good news is—we can rewrite these trauma responses through releasing blocked energy and reorganizing the nervous system. Keep reading to learn how.
Big T vs. Little t Trauma
Not all trauma is created equal. Therapists often distinguish between Big T and little t trauma:
Big T Trauma
This refers to acute, life-threatening events like:
- Natural disasters
- Serious accidents
- Physical or sexual abuse
- Witnessing violence
- War
With Big T trauma, the danger is obvious and immediately destabilizing. However, how people recover depends largely on the care and support they receive after the event.
When trauma survivors are believed, protected and given space to process, they're more likely to integrate the experience in a healthy way. But when people are blamed, dismissed or forced to keep up appearances, it can compound the trauma.
Little t Trauma
This is not life-threatening, but involves situations where important emotional needs go unmet over time. Some examples include:
- Emotional neglect or abandonment
- Harsh criticism
- Bullying
- Loss
- Living with a caregiver's untreated mental illness
- Growing up in a dangerous neighborhood
Little t traumas shape our nervous systems and self-image in subtle ways, leading to issues like people-pleasing, perfectionism, and self-doubt. We lovingly refer to these as "first world problems" but hey, trauma is trauma.
The important thing to remember is that all trauma is valid, no matter how “big” or “little” it may seem. If an experience feels painful to you, it’s worth exploring in a therapeutic context.
Why Insight Alone Doesn't Rewire Trauma
When it comes to overcoming trauma, insight is not enough. Understanding why we act or feel a certain way doesn’t automatically allow us to respond differently.
Yes, it helps to understand where our funky behaviors come from and how to stop our inner mean girl from yapping away. But let's be real, just talking about our feelings doesn't magically rewire our hot mess nervous systems.
As Bessel van der Kolk explained, real transformation happens by reorganizing the bodily experience. Talk therapy alone often fails trauma survivors for this reason.
Sure, it helps to understand:
- How past events shaped our coping mechanisms
- Where fear-based beliefs came from
- How to challenge inner critic voices
But to create lasting change, we need to work directly with the nervous system and release blocked energy through modalities like:
- Somatic therapy
- EMDR
- Tapping/ EFT
- Mindfulness
- Yoga
- Energy healing
- Brainspotting
- Invoke and Release®
These body-based practices help discharge stuck fight/flight reactions, so we don’t get triggered as easily. We can then access higher reasoning centers in the brain needed to form new beliefs and responses.
How Energy Healing Rewires Trauma
One powerful way to rewrite trauma responses is through energy healing modalities like Invoke and Release® or EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique).
These methods use the body's energy meridians to process difficult emotions and repattern the nervous system. By stimulating acupressure points, we can release trapped energy and come back into a state of inner peace.
Energy psychology offers a way to directly reorganize the bodily experience of trauma, without having to analyze situations intellectually. It's fast, gentle, and complements other therapeutic approaches.
Benefits of energy healing for trauma include:
- Lowering baseline stress
- Improving sleep
- Strengthening the immune system
- Restoring inner safety and equilibrium
- Allowing healthy intimacy with others
- Taking empowered action
Because energy healing is so effective at recalibrating the nervous system, it enables you to then do the deeper personal growth work to change thought and behavior patterns. Insight becomes more accessible once unsafe "visceral" feelings are discharged through the body.
A Client’s Story: Healing Developmental Trauma
To see energy psychology in action, let’s look at a client story:
Jennifer struggled with intimacy and was terrified of sad emotions. Whenever a partner cried or tried to have a vulnerable conversation, she bolted.
In our trauma healing sessions, we uncovered the source of this fear:
When Jennifer was little, her brother died suddenly. She witnessed her parents fall into deep grief and depression. Young Jennifer felt she had to hide her own pain and "be the strong one."
We used guided imagery followed by the Invoke and Release® method to pinpoint where this trauma was lodged in her mind, body and spirit. Going back into that scene and gave little Jennifer what she really needed—validation that it's okay to feel sad, while also being reassured that she is safe and loved.
Reorganizing her nervous system this way allowed Jennifer to release the fear of emotions she carried. She can now have closer relationships and sit with painful feelings without panicking.
Tips to Start Healing from Trauma
If you're ready to rewrite your own trauma responses, here are some tips to get started:
- Consider both Big T and little t experiences. Reflect on any painful or invalidating events from your life.
- Try body-based practices. Shake what trauma gave you with some yoga, mindfulness, energy tapping or somatic therapy to discharge stuck energy from your frazzled nervous system.
- Find an empathetic therapist. Look for someone trauma-trained who really connects with you and your backstory vs. just nodding along while watching the clock.
- Explore energy psychology. Invoke and Release®, tapping, EFT and energy healing, repattern the nervous system quickly.
- Practice self-compassion. Befriend and care for yourself through the healing process.
- Trust your timing. Give yourself permission to take small steps. There's no rush.
You deserve to feel safe, empowered, and fully alive. With compassion and the right support, you can heal from past trauma and create a joyful life and relationships.
In Summary
I hope this post shed some light on why prioritizing trauma healing is so vital for living the life you want and deserve. When we unwind our past, we create space for our highest self to emerge and thrive. We develop true unshakable self-worth.
If you're on the fence about digging deeper into your own trauma healing, I encourage you to take the plunge! Start small and be patient with the process. You don't have to do it alone—support is available.
Wishing you much love and healing! Now go out there and start rewriting your story.
What is Invoke and Release®?
- A powerful energy psychology healing protocol to help alleviate the trapped trauma held in your body
- A healing modality that releases our unintegrated past held in our mind, body, and auric field
- An easy-to-use tool to lower stress, improve your sleep, support your immune system, and remove energy blocks to restore your inner peace
When nothing else has worked, energy psychology like Invoke and Release® often does. What does it do?
- Assists you in letting go of pain, trauma, fear, anxiety, and more
- Removes limiting assumptions, outdated routines,and old beliefs
- Activates the body's innate healing mechanisms
- Supports our immune system and removes blocked energy
- Improves your sleep and restores our inner peace because, when we're in that state, we're kind of bracing against the world and pushing through it.
