How to Overcome Trauma: Strategies for Healing

Trauma changes the brain, leaving a lasting imprint on a person’s mental and emotional well-being. It doesn’t merely exist as a distant memory; rather, it lingers in the present, subtly, or overtly shaping how individuals perceive and respond to the world around them. The profound effects of trauma are often visible not just in what happened, but in how individuals react to the challenges they face today.

Trauma leaves the nervous system stuck in a reactive state of fight, flight, freeze, fawn, or flop. These hardwired survival responses, while once necessary for coping with danger, can wreak havoc in our present-day lives. They often lead us to become overly emotional, shut down, or react disproportionately in situations that don’t match the intensity of our response. This disconnect can create challenges in relationships, work, and daily functioning, as the body continues to respond as if it’s still in danger. At its core, trauma deeply impacts how we process emotions and experiences, and it is often the root cause of many mental health symptoms, such as anxiety, depression, and difficulty regulating emotions. Understanding this connection is key to addressing and changing the long-term effects of trauma.

Trauma Treatment

Recovery from trauma is a complex and multifaceted journey. It begins with recognizing how your trauma history impacts the present-day challenges that bring you to therapy. For many, this can feel surprising or even counterintuitive. The human brain has an amazing ability to protect itself, often by shutting down direct connections to painful or overwhelming events from the past. While this self-protective mechanism can be helpful at the moment, it can later create barriers to understanding and addressing how those experiences affect your life now.

Pycho education

This is where psycho education comes in—it helps you understand how your brain has adapted to trauma and why it reacts the way it does. Through this process, you can start to gently confront the effects of trauma and take the first steps toward healing or what I call resolution. Recognizing these patterns is not easy, but with patience and the right support, it’s possible to reconnect with yourself and move forward.

Stabilization

The next step of the process is stabilization, critical in trauma work – a phase that builds the foundation for deeper healing. Stabilization requires more than patience; it demands an intentional commitment to understanding and nurturing one’s nervous system. But what does stabilization truly mean in a world where the very word is often misunderstood?

Redefining Stabilization

For many, the concept of stabilization is equated with an idyllic state of life free of stress and hardship. But true stabilization is not the absence of stressors—it is learning to equalize amidst turmoil. Life, filled as it is with unpredictable twists and turns, requires us to develop resilience. To stabilize is to regulate oneself when the emotions are fierce, to develop the tools needed to ride the waves rather than be subsumed by them.

Each person’s stressors are as unique as their fingerprints. What might be manageable for one person may feel overwhelming for another. Stabilization is not a one-size-fits-all solution but a process of exploring and discovering what works on an individual level. It’s about creating a personalized toolbox of strategies, methods, and practices that support calming the nervous system—a critical gateway to healing.

Tools for Stabilization: Finding What Works for You

The nervous system can feel like a tightly wound spring when trauma stirs within. To unwind it, numerous practices can cultivate an inner sense of balance or equilibrium:

Mindfulness and Yoga

These practices anchor us in the present moment. Whether through slow, focused breathing or a grounding yoga practice, they provide structure and rhythm to take center of our bodies and minds.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

DBT offers practical tools to manage emotional swings. It’s particularly helpful for learning to tolerate distress while slowly building an emotional equilibrium.

Sensory Coping with Fidgets, Warmies, and Hammock Swings

Neurodivergent individuals may find solace in tactile or kinesthetic tools. The physicality of these practices aids in regulating the nervous system, offering a soothing reprieve from inner unrest.

Physical Activity and Nature Therapy

Movement can metabolize stress and allow for emotional release. Whether jogging outdoors, hiking with your dog, walking, or even simply stimming, engaging in repetitive motions or connecting with animals can be profoundly grounding.

Daily Rituals to Reclaim Stability

Consistency is key. Building these techniques into daily routines creates a dependable scaffold for navigating life’s unpredictable challenges.

Stabilization isn’t about perfection or instant results. It’s an ongoing practice of curiosity and patience. It is the interplay of trial and error, of discovering which methods resonate with your nervous system. Like learning a musical instrument, it takes time to achieve harmony.

Dissociation and Stabilization

Stabilization is not about becoming numb; it’s about maintaining a present, alert state. Many individuals with a history of trauma experience symptoms of dissociation, a response to overwhelming stress or trauma, serving as a psychological defense mechanism to protect the individual from distress.

Dissociation is a psychological phenomenon where a person disconnects from their thoughts, emotions, memories, or sense of identity. It can manifest in various forms:

• Detachment: Feeling disconnected from oneself (depersonalization) or from the environment (derealization).

• Emotional Numbing: A diminished ability to feel emotions, often described as feeling "numb."

• Altered Perception: Experiencing the world as dreamlike or unreal.

• Memory Gaps: Difficulty recalling personal information or events, often linked to trauma.

• Identity Confusion: A sense of fragmentation or uncertainty about one’s identity.

While dissociation can be a response to trauma, it is not stabilization and requires specialized care from a trained therapist.

Neurodivergent considerations for dissociaitons

To further complicate matters, if you have ADHD, some symptoms might be mistaken for dissociation, or you might be more prone to dissociation due to its bidirectional relationship with PTSD. Additionally, Autistics may be misdiagnosed with dissociation, as sensory differences could be at the core of their experiences. It’s essential to consult a trained therapist who can accurately differentiate between these conditions and provide the appropriate support.

Trauma Processes

While stabilization lays the groundwork, it is just the initial step. For those ready to confront and process their trauma more comprehensively, there are several advanced therapeutic techniques. These methods go beyond surface-level symptoms to address the core of traumatic experiences, unlocking a deeper path to healing.

Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR)

At the onset of the body's trauma response is a component of shock—a natural biological brain reaction that triggers the alarm system. This unresolved shock often leaves emotional and psychological wounds that linger, impacting daily life in subtle or significant ways. DBR, or Deep Brain Reprocessing, works by gently guiding individuals to revisit shock in a safe and controlled manner. Through this process, the emotional burdens tied to these experiences are gradually released, allowing individuals to find relief and new perspectives. It’s like peeling away the layers of a long-locked door, slowly revealing an inner sanctuary of clarity. By addressing trauma at its core, DBR clears the mental and emotional space needed for transformation. This approach is particularly effective for those who experience dissociation or have a history of developmental trauma offering what I call resolution.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

Perhaps one of the most well-known trauma therapies, EMDR provides a protocol for revisiting traumatic memories without the need to verbally recount them. By using bilateral stimulation—such as guided eye movements—the brain learns to reprocess and relocate disturbing memories to areas where they can be stored as resolved experiences. This unique process alleviates emotional burdens, offering tangible relief from current symptoms. However, EMDR is intense and may not be suited for everyone. Individuals experiencing high levels of dissociation might struggle with its requirements, making alternatives like DBR a valuable consideration.

The Beauty in Working Through Trauma

Trauma therapy is much like tending to a neglected garden. Over time, weeds have overgrown the landscape, choking out the flowers that once thrived. As you begin to work through trauma, it’s as though you’re slowly pulling out the weeds, tilling the soil, and the original garden grows. The act of clearing the nervous system from its burdens is one of reclaiming, renewing, and reviving. Symptoms of trauma—whether they manifest as anxiety, avoidance, rage, emotional outbursts, shutdowns, or physical tension—begin to loosen their grip. What once seemed insurmountable becomes manageable, and pathways to a brighter future emerge.

For many, this process requires courage, patience, and willingness to sit with discomfort. Yet the rewards—are invaluable. Trauma therapy holds the key to unlocking emotional freedom, helping individuals gain clarity not only about their past but also their present and future.

Trauma-Informed Therapist

If you find yourself grappling with mental health symptoms, trauma may be at the root of your mental health and worth exploring. You don’t have to carry the weight of your past alone. Therapy provides a safe space to confront and release the emotions and memories that hold you back.

Healing is not an easy road, but it is an achievable one. It is a path toward transformation, where pain can be replaced with strength. Allow yourself to experience the life-changing power of trauma therapy. Take the first step today to reclaim your body today.