Trauma and the Central Nervous System: Understanding the Body’s Response to Stress
Dive into healing trauma and central nervous system regulation with Williamson & Associates. Understand your body's response to stress and start your healing journey today.
Do you experience unpredictable emotional responses in generally safe situations, like feeling agitated or suddenly frightened? Is your sleep disrupted, or do you have difficulty focusing even on the simplest tasks? Perhaps you experience sudden mood swings or panic attacks, feeling completely drained and overwhelmed afterward. These experiences might indicate that your nervous system struggles to return to balance and safety after trauma. Understanding your body's response to stress is the first step toward healing trauma.
At Williamson & Associates, we specialize in trauma therapy, and central nervous system regulation. We use the latest neuroscience knowledge and relational therapy to help clients understand how trauma has affected their neurological system.
Understanding Trauma
Defining Trauma
Trauma is any event or experience that overwhelms our ability to cope, impacting our physical, emotional, and psychological well-being. Whether it’s acute trauma (a severe incident, physical assault, a natural disaster), chronic trauma (ongoing domestic violence), or complex trauma (ongoing physical, emotional, sexual abuse, workplace exposure), this experience pushes us beyond our capacity.
The Central Nervous System's Response to Trauma
Living in your body after trauma may be challenging. Maybe memories of a traumatic event come rushing back in the most unexpected moments, leaving you feeling terrified, sad, or ashamed. Or perhaps you frequently have an unsettling sense that something terrible is about to happen. When we detect a threat, our mind doesn't distinguish whether it is real or imagined, activating the body's stress response.
Trauma activates the autonomic nervous system, priming the body for immediate survival through the fight, flight or freeze responses. The sympathetic nervous system triggers these responses, accelerating heart rate and redirecting blood flow to critical body parts, preparing it to face or escape threats. However, if this natural protective mechanism is persistently activated, it can become maladaptive. Therapeutic interventions like EMDR help the body and mind process and recover from traumatic experiences.
Impact of Trauma on the Body
If you've been through a traumatic experience, you may relive physical sensations from traumatic events through hypervigilance, hyperarousal, and dissociation. You might find that unexpected triggers, such as a song that played when you were attacked at the bar, can cause intense physical reactions like shaking, sweating, or a fast heartbeat. This can leave you feeling overwhelmed and puzzled as your body automatically responds as if the trauma is reoccurring. These reactions happen when reminders of the trauma cause strong physical responses. While initially protective, these responses can persist long after the danger has passed, disrupting your everyday functioning and mental health.
Chronic stress can raise the risk of cardiovascular disease, weaken the immune system, and be frequently accompanied by chronic pain. Psychologically, chronic exposure to trauma can lead to anxiety, depression, and PTSD. It can also impact your cognitive functioning, making it difficult to remember or keep your emotional reactions in check. Understanding and addressing these is the first step toward recovery and healing.
Healing Trauma and Regulating the Nervous System
Trauma-Informed Therapy Approaches
Trauma therapy approaches are intended to address the unique needs of persons who have experienced trauma, assist them in processing these experiences, and regulate their central nervous system.
At Williamson & Associates, we specialize in trauma therapies such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Somatic Experiencing (SE), and Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY).
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) uses eye movements to help the brain reprocess traumatic memories, effectively mimicking the psychological state of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. This process helps reduce the distress associated with traumatic memories, allowing you to approach these memories with less emotional charge.
Somatic Experiencing (SE)
Somatic Experiencing (SE) focuses on recognizing and releasing physical tensions that remain in the body after trauma. By gradually working through these body sensations in a controlled and therapeutic setting, Somatic Experiencing helps you release stored trauma and restore your body's natural balance.
Trauma Center Trauma Sensitivity Yoga (TCTSY)
TCTSY is a complex trauma treatment that incorporates yoga practices specifically meant to help you focus on your body and its sensations and restore autonomy and a sense of safety in the body.
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and Nervous System Regulation
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) is important for helping people regulate their nervous systems and form stable attachment ties by exploring their emotional responses and building healthier, more supportive interpersonal dynamics. EFT focuses on and changes the negative patterns of interaction that lead to emotional dysregulation, enabling people to react to things more adaptively.
Practical Strategies for Central Nervous System Regulation
In addition to therapy, here are some straightforward strategies to help regulate your nervous system:
Deep breathing exercises
Progressive muscle relaxation
Mindfulness meditation
Making these exercises part of your everyday routine can boost your ability to handle stress and enhance your overall well-being. Additionally, having a safe, supportive environment and strong positive relationships is essential when healing trauma.
Trauma Therapy in Olds, Alberta
The connection between trauma and the central nervous system is deep and complex. However, it highlights how trauma-informed therapies like EMDR, SE, and TCTSY can foster nervous system regulation and healing trauma.
If you're seeking support to navigate and heal from trauma, contact us today to schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation with Williamson & Associates Counselling.