Trauma is an elusive foe. It hides in the body, making it tricky to recognize—mainly because it often is not what people think it is. Many believe trauma results only from major events like a fire, a terrible accident, or a natural disaster. However, the truth is that trauma happens when the body perceives a threat or senses danger—whether real or imagined.

Everyone has experienced these sensations at some point. The panic might hit when you realize you may have left the stove on or the sinking feeling from a hard-to-read email at work. These moments leave a trace. Each time your body encounters a perceived danger, it stores that experience as a marker of harm and builds a protective response for the future. The body then reacts to anything resembling past harm, even subtly.

Hebb's axiom (Hebb, 1949) tells us that "cells that fire together wire together." Researchers have noted that such cells also "survive together" (Post et al., 1998). This information means that the elements of an experience—sights, sounds, emotions—link to form a neural network that encodes the memory. The whole system can react when even one part of that network is triggered by a present-day event. This process is what we often call "remembering."

Dr. Bessel van der Kolk's well-read book The Body Keeps the Score describes what happens with trauma. It truly is miraculous how our bodies care for us. They care so well that trauma can start to feel like part of our personality. But here's the good news: we can identify and heal from past harms. We can move trauma out of our bodies and create space for peace and wholeness.

As an author, trauma practitioner, life coach, and assistant professor in higher education, I have done this work myself. I've walked the path of healing from my trauma, and I share what I've learned in my book, The Truth About Trauma.

Healing trauma requires a roadmap—a guide to restoration and resilience. That's what The Truth About Trauma offers. It is a companion for those seeking to understand their pain, release what no longer serves them, and build a peaceful life.

For a long time, I believed that how I reacted to words, actions, events, or proximity was just "who I was." I was wrong. I wasn't responding as myself—I was reacting to the trauma that had taken root in my body. But those experiences don't have to define us. The harm may be in the body, but you can be free.

Three Levels of Healing
The book describes three levels of healing. Level 1 focuses on the body's sensations. Since trauma lives in the body, it is foundational to get to know your body well. One step toward getting to know the body is getting still enough to hear your body communicate.

Pay attention to body sensations and sudden changes in behavior or feelings. When the body experiences too much too soon, it could respond differently. When your body gives you information, listen. A sensation could be a sudden change in feelings like irritation, fear, pain, dread, or reactive behaviors. Many times, we ignore our body and its sensations.

First Tip
Pay attention to your body and what it is communicating to you. Responses could be flight, fight, freeze, fawn, or flock. Flight is the need to get away. Fight is the feeling of pushing back or confronting. Freeze is the inability to move, a sense of stuckness. Fawn is the feeling of currying favors or pleasing people. Flock is the need to be in a group (safety in numbers). We live with collective, historical, and cultural trauma in our society. The Truth About Trauma explains what trauma is and is not and details different forms of trauma. The book provides guidance to assist in establishing a relationship with your body—an array of self-care tools for body connection are in every chapter.

Level 2 is paying attention to our mind patterns. Our thoughts are important and influence the body. What thoughts are going through your mind? Many times, we take our thoughts for truth. Our thoughts can be a manifestation of past harmful experiences.

Second Tip
If thoughts are degrading, mean, and unkind, be curious about where these thoughts come from in your history. Loving, kind, and peaceful thoughts are aligned with living in peace. Being curious about these thoughts can uncover harm. Thoughts could originate from an earlier time in younger life or any problematic situation. In The Truth About Trauma, practical tools guide you toward healing mind patterns. The activities assist you in learning more about your thoughts, like Younger Selves and the Thinking Map, and establishing healthy habits like meditations, rituals of self-care, and affirmations.

Level 3 contains reflective tools for positive reconnection to the body, mind, and Spirit. Level 3 builds on the previous levels to pave the way for peaceful living.

Third Tip
By listening to your body sensations, you begin to identify possible trauma responses in your body. These curiosities assist in removing experiences through learning about trauma and using the tools in the book that work for you. Negative mind patterns are interrupted by the menu of tools provided in the book. These processes provide a fertile ground for exploring the being that harmful experiences have covered. Level 3 includes the beautiful exploration of your soul through chakra healing, muscle testing, and spirituality. The Truth About Trauma consists of tools for body sensations, mind patterns, and connecting more deeply to yourself.

The Truth About Trauma is a book about a healing journey based on my experience and the use of all the tools in the book, and supports the personal exploration of health. Start your own healing journey with your copy today.

Reference:
Badenoch, B. (2008). Being a Brain-Wise Therapist: A Practical Guide to Interpersonal Neurobiology. W. W. Norton & Company.