You can’t think your way out of something that you didn’t think your way into. In trauma, it’s our emotions and nervous system responses which get trapped. And this can’t be resolved by relying on cognition alone.

This is why I don’t believe that CBT is suitable for healing trauma, especially complex trauma.

While cognition is important to help us to make sense of what happened in the present – e.g. by understanding more about the impacts of trauma – there’s also a danger of intellectualising it and remaining stuck.

For survivors, this can feel like a safer thing to do because – when the nervous system is always on high alert – emotions feel intolerable and inhabiting the body feels unsafe.

In trauma our bodies respond to past danger as if it’s still happening in the present. But our bodies are also designed to heal, repair, and connect with safety again.

How?

The nervous system responds to threat and is activated outside our conscious thoughts. But it is possible to learn to become more aware of how our nervous system is responding.

Just noticing and being curious about what's happening in our body, can promote regulation and safety – calming the mind by calming the body.

We might be able to notice that we’re either shutdown and numb (frozen) or anxious, hyperactive, and hypersensitive to threats (fight or flight).

Movement that energises – e.g. stamping feet, tapping – can help us to shift from freeze to a sense of presence within and connection to our bodies and surroundings. At the same time, movement that soothes the nervous system can switch off the fight or flight response.

Gradually, with practice, noticing becomes easier and curiosity – rather than judgement – allows us to retrain the nervous system and restore safety so that later in therapy, it becomes possible to process traumatic memories.

If you would like support to help you release trauma from your body in a safe and compassionate setting, please reach out.