Trauma happens when something overwhelming or frightening occurs and your body and mind aren't able to fully process it in the moment. Trauma isn't just about what happened — it's about how your nervous system responded. When you're in a traumatic situation, your brain shifts into survival mode. Your body reacts instantly to protect you — fight, flight, freeze, or collapse — and the normal way that memories get processed gets disrupted.

Instead of being stored like a regular memory, the trauma becomes fragmented — like shards of glass. The emotional intensity of the experience gets locked in the amygdala, which is the brain’s threat detection center — responsible for recognizing danger and triggering immediate reactions. Meanwhile, the hippocampus, the part of the brain that organizes and stores memories with a timeline, often can’t keep up. That’s why traumatic memories often feel disjointed, vivid, or as if they’re still happening — because, in a way, your brain hasn't filed them away as 'in the past.'

This is part of what happens in PTSD, or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Something — a smell, a sound, a look, even a certain kind of emotion — can unconsciously remind your brain of the trauma. The amygdala responds immediately with a fear or survival reaction — fast, automatic, and often without your conscious awareness. Your heart races. You might shut down or feel a sudden wave of panic. It can feel like you’re right back there, even if you’re safe now.

Another key player here is the prefrontal cortex — the part of your brain that helps you stay grounded in the present and think clearly. When you're triggered, this part of the brain often goes offline. That’s why it can feel so hard to reason with yourself in the moment or to remind yourself that you’re not actually in danger. The trauma response bypasses logic — it’s about survival.

In treatment, we work on gently and safely reconnecting the dots. We identify the triggers — the situations, sensations, or feelings that set off your alarm system — and we begin to understand how they’re connected to past trauma. We use tools to bring your awareness into the present, helping your prefrontal cortex come back online so you can begin to respond from a place of safety and choice, rather than automatic fear.

Over time, trauma healing helps your brain do what it couldn’t do before — to process the memory, place it in the past, and reduce the emotional charge.

The goal isn't to erase the past — it’s to change your relationship to it. To help you feel safe in your body again. To create space between the trigger and your response. And to remind you, gently and consistently, that you are not broken — you are surviving something your system never had the chance to fully understand or release. Together, we create that chance now.