As summer draws to a close and autumn is becoming, it is a wonderful time of year for introspection and healing. As the earth changes so do our bodies. Here at The NRG Wellness Group we offer services and support those changes and to look at both the emotional and physical levels, that are intimately linked. The physical is a direct reflection of the emotional. There is emotional stress and there is trauma too. This newsletter is to talk about trauma and hopefully shed some light on what is trauma.
What is Trauma?
For many of us, we do not know what trauma looks like or feels like. We have a hard time to recognize stress, never mind trauma.
So what is trauma? Can we define trauma? Defined by many traumatologists, trauma has common results in disruption of our nervous system and interruption with relationship to our selves and others. Our favourite definitions come from Dr. Gabor Mate. “Trauma is the invisible force that shapes our lives. It shapes the way we live, the way we love and the way we make sense of the world. It is the root of our deepest wounds.” “ Trauma is not what happened to you, its what happens inside of you as a result of what happened to you.” We do not ask for trauma as a part of our experience, nor are we capable of knowing what to do with it if we don’t have understanding of it.
There are many kinds of trauma. Trauma can be physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, religious, transgenerational, medical, developmental and shock trauma. Some traumas are obvious and remembered. Some traumas are far less obvious and for some, trauma is not remembered at all.
What are the signs of trauma?
We will start with a list of symptoms, that can show up on the physical level as well as mental/emotional levels. Trauma can encompass a large variety of symptoms. A few of the signs of trauma are:
depression/hyperactivity/panic attacks,
chronic inflammation, pain and fatigue, muscular tension,
sleep problems and nightmares,
relationship issues,
PTSD,
addictive behaviours,
autoimmune disorders,
sensory sensitivities,
hypervigilance,
forgetfulness,
medically undiagnosed symptoms,
and many more.
What Are the Impacts of Trauma?
Traumatic experiences leave us changed and altered in our bodies and minds. We lose our ability to be our authentic selves. All aspects of our lives can be impacted by trauma. Relationships with self and others can be challenging. Our health suffers. Our lives are constricted, and we can not live the fullness of life we may desire.
Trauma results in a disconnection from ourselves, our value, our feelings, our bodies, other people and the world. Trauma narrows the view of your world, causing constrictions that interfere with a person’s natural growth process. After trauma, we are more constricted than before the traumatic experiences occurred. We override our gut feelings (which we need to survive), leaving us unable to trust our instincts. In fact, we often ignore our instincts after trauma.
Trauma changes our nervous system in fundamental ways. We expect to be attacked and we are left in a permanent defensive mode. This limits our capacity to react to the world. Our nervous systems take us into the survival modes or fight, flight or freeze, which are hangovers from the reaction we initially had in the past. Trauma makes it nearly impossible to stay in the present moment. Being in the present moment can be just too painful and intolerable for many people. We have to go into the past because it is safer to not be in the present.
How Can We Heal From Trauma?
For those of us who have adverse histories, we need help to heal; we can not heal alone. Happily, there are many ways to address trauma. We invite you to consider one of more of our services to help find understanding of trauma. Liberation, resilience and healing are possible for all of us. Resolution of trauma allows us to thrive, not just survive.
Terri has been studying and training for the past 5 years. Her focus is now helping clients to understand their trauma. In 2017, Terri became a TheraPhi therapist and now has a deep knowledge and respect for this amazing energy wellness device. Thousands of hours of sessions have brought incredible healing results to our clients. Originally, she was using TheraPhi to help people heal their physical bodies with great success. After observing why people were gaining the healing of their organs and tissues, she observed that shock and trauma were being addressed at an unconscious level.
TheraPhi has become the starting point for those working on their adverse pasts.
What Help Do We Offer?
Terri studied with Dr. Gabor Mate for more than a year to become a Certified Compassionate Inquiry Practitioner. She has been successfully assisting people with Compassionate Inquiry(CI). CI is a beautifully compassionate and gentle therapy that allows people to reveal long hidden limiting beliefs from childhood that leave people living less than full lives. These beliefs appeared as a result of trauma and continue to affect us throughout our lives. CI is a way of liberating the mind and body of the effects of trauma.
In 2021, Terri took the amazing Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) training with Stephen Porges. SSP is a sound intervention that uses specially filtered music to positively impact the vagus nerve, the care taking nerve our body, allowing it to feel safe so we can engage with others and with life. Vagus can become disorganized when trauma has been a part of a person’s experience. Trauma moves the state of the vagus nerve away from homeostasis and social engagement into survival modes. Survival is essential but it is also limiting to our bodies and to the choices we have available to us. When vagus nerve is feeling safe, which the SSP sound intervention facilitates, then our bodies naturally move into happy healthy function, known as ventral state. Quality of life beneficially changes, and healthy body function is restored. We feel connected and engaged once again.
The combination of these three beautiful modalities (TheraPhi, Compassionate Inquiry, SSP) is offering life changing results for our clients. Everyone is welcome at the NRG Wellness Group. Trauma is just one avenue of inquiry of healing. We honour everyone’s journey and goals.
“Healing is possible, it is worthwhile, it is beautiful, and it belongs to all of us”. - Dr. Gabor Mate
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