By Embodywise Somatic PractitionersΒ
Theββββββββββββββββ things that happen to a child stay with that child forever. Not in a blame way, but in a very genuine way. Your childhood was not just a period you went through. It determines your nervous system, your beliefs, and your bodyβs ability to feel safe.Β
If you had a traumatic childhood, you are probably still holding that trauma with you. Not necessarily as a memory that you are aware of. As an emotion in your body. As a nervous system that is always on guard. As behavioural patterns that were logical at the time when you were small and unsafe.Β
The good news is: the nervous system can learn something different. The body can let go of what it has been holding. Trauma during childhood does not have to be the main theme of your life.Β
Here at Embodywise, we deal with people whose early experiences have deeply affected their nervous systems. We understand that healing from childhood trauma cannot be achieved by only comprehending the past. It is the body that needs to learn that safety is possible ββββββββββββββββnow.
Trauma isn’t just the dramatic things. It’s anything that overwhelmed your capacity to cope as a child.
Obvious traumas include:
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But trauma also includes:
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What these have in common: your young nervous system didn’t have the resources to process what was happening. You did your best to survive. Your body learned protective strategies.
Theββββββββββββββββ most impressive overhaul of the brain and nervous system happens in early life, really. At the same time, you were figuring out how the world works. You were finding out whether you are safe. Whether people can be trusted. Whether your needs matter.Β
When your childhood environment was going through a messy or unstable phase, or was even scary, your developing nervous system didnβt have the option but to learn that it must always be on a high alert. Your amygdala, the threat-detection centre of your brain, became hyperactive. Your stress hormone system was getting ready to find danger everywhere.Β
It was very reasonable when you were a helpless child in a scary situation. Your nervous system was the one saving you. However, as things stand today, you are a grown-up. The danger scenarios your body learned are out of date, and often, your current reality is completely different. Nevertheless, your nervous system is still stuck with the old programs.Β
Science keeps proving that the effects of trauma in early life are visible in the actual brain structures that change over time. For instance, the hippocampus, responsible for memory, shrinks in size. The amygdala becomes overactive. The parts of the brain which govern emotion and stress become less engaged.Β
Moreover, your body was trained in the art of numbing out and dissociating. Dissociation was survival. If you were unable to run away physically, you went away mentally. You learned to sever the connection with your body and your ββββββββββββββββfeelings.
Childhood trauma ripples through your entire life if you don’t address it.
Adults who experienced childhood trauma have higher rates of:
The trauma doesn’t automatically go away when you turn 18. If you don’t process it, it follows you into adulthood.
Childhood trauma affects how you connect with people.
You might struggle with trust. Your nervous system learned that people hurt you, so you have difficulty believing anyone is safe. You might keep people at a distance or push them away before they can hurt you.
You might find yourself in unhealthy relationship patterns. You might accept treatment you shouldn’t accept because it mirrors what you learned in childhood. You might be attracted to people who remind you of your abuser because your nervous system recognizes that energy.
You might have difficulty with boundaries. If you grew up having your boundaries violated, you might not know how to set them. You might be too rigid with boundaries or have none at all.
Your body holds stress. Childhood trauma that never gets processed means decades of carrying tension and activation.
Studies show that adults with childhood trauma histories have:
Your nervous system’s chronic stress response literally changes your physiology.
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Many people who experienced childhood trauma internalize the message that something is wrong with them. They believe they deserved the abuse. They feel fundamentally broken.
They struggle with self-worth. They don’t believe they deserve good things. They sabotage success or connection because they don’t believe they deserve happiness.
They often have perfectionist tendencies. They work hard to prove they’re worthy. They’re often their own harshest critics.
Here’s something research is just discovering: childhood trauma changes how you interpret everyday stress.
An adult who experienced childhood trauma perceives normal life challenges as more threatening than someone without that history. Your stress appraisal system is calibrated differently. What’s a minor inconvenience to one person feels catastrophic to you.
This means you’re constantly perceiving threat. Your nervous system is exhausted from overreacting to normal life
The reason childhood trauma sticks around is that it lives in your body and nervous system, not just your mind.
When you’re a child experiencing trauma, your body has an automatic survival response. But as a child, you can’t fight back or run away. You freeze. You shut down. Your body gets stuck mid-response.
This incomplete response stays in your nervous system. Your body is still trying to complete what it couldn’t finish decades ago. It’s waiting for permission to shake, cry, rage, or whatever response got interrupted.
Talk therapy alone doesn’t necessarily access this. You can understand intellectually that your childhood wasn’t your fault. Your nervous system can still be stuck in survival mode.
If you experienced childhood trauma, it likely shows up in your daily life.
You might:
These aren’t character flaws. They’re signs that your nervous system was shaped by trauma and needs help returning to baseline.
Traditional talk therapy has value. Understanding your history matters. But it’s not enough by itself. Your body needs to heal, not just your mind. Somatic approaches work with the nervous system directly.
Before processing any trauma, your nervous system needs to experience genuine safety. A somatic practitioner creates a contained, safe space where your body can gradually relax its hypervigilance.
This happens through presence. Through the therapist’s regulated nervous system helping regulate yours. Through gradual experiences of being with your discomfort without judgment.
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Your body has responses that never finished. A somatic practitioner helps these responses complete naturally.
You might feel a tremor. You might feel an impulse to move or make sounds. Rather than stopping it, you follow it. Your body finishes what it started decades ago. After the response completes, your nervous system naturally settles.
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You don’t dive into your deepest trauma on day one. A somatic therapist works with small amounts of activation at a time. You feel a little bit of what your body is holding, then you come back to safety. You alternate back and forth.
This gradual approach prevents retraumatization while still allowing healing.
Your somatic practitioner helps you notice when you’re activated, then shifts your attention to something grounding. You attention moves back and forth between the activation and the resourced state. Over time, your nervous system becomes more flexible.
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You learn to notice what’s happening in your body without fear. A tight chest isn’t dangerous. It’s information. Your body is talking. By developing sensitivity to your internal sensations, you can catch dysregulation early and self-regulate.
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Many trauma survivors have learned to avoid their bodies. It doesn’t feel safe to inhabit your own skin. Somatic joy spotting helps you find sensations that feel neutral or good. You linger with the pleasant sensations, building the nervous system’s capacity to feel okay in your body.
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As an adult, you can offer your inner child what they didn’t receive. You can be the protective, nurturing presence that was missing. This might be through visualization, dialogue, or gentle movement. You’re reparenting yourself.
While working with a skilled somatic practitioner is important, daily practices support your healing.
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Throughout your day, pause and notice: Where are my feet touching the ground? What textures can I feel? What do I hear? What do I see?
These simple practices bring you into the present moment. They interrupt the trauma narrative running in the background.
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Conscious breathing settles your nervous system. Inhale for four counts. Hold for four. Exhale for six. The longer exhale activates your parasympathetic nervous system. Practice this several times daily.
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Your body was designed to move. Gentle, rhythmic movement like walking, swimming, or dancing helps process stored activation. Find movement that feels good to you.
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Practice saying no and noticing your body’s response. Set small boundaries and experience that you survive and people still care about you. Your nervous system learns through experience that boundaries are safe.
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Your nervous system needs safe connection to heal. Time with people you trust, being in community, experiencing being seen and valued. These rewire your attachment system.
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Healing from childhood trauma doesn’t mean you forget what happened. It means:
Recoveringββββββββββββββββ from a traumatic experience in childhood is a process that requires a lot of time. The patterns you have lived by for years, you have developed during the time, and now your nervous system is going to take months or even years to rewire.Β
Some people get so much better within a few weeks. They start sleeping better. They become calmer. What used to be a constant anxiety gets less and less.Β
There are some people who need longer. Complex trauma (multiple events, prolonged abuse, early trauma) requires more time to be inured to.Β
What matters the most: healing is still going on when you don’t see it. Every time you bring your nervous system back to balance. Every time you experience a sensation without dissociating. Every time you trust someone a little bit more. Your system is ββββββββββββββββrewiring.
Ifββββββββββββββββ your early years were marked by trauma, then the positive impact of such a professional cannot be overstated.Β
Consider a specialist whose credentials include the following:
At Embodywise, we believe that different therapies converge when it comes to childhood trauma, which hence is why we train the practitioners to work with the body and nervous ββββββββββββββββsystem.
Childhoodββββββββββββββββ trauma is real. Its effects are real. But it doesn’t have to be the one that dominates your life.Β
It was your nervous system that learnt the protective modes. That system kept you alive. But now you are safe enough to learn a new thing. Your body is able to let go of what it has been keeping. Your nervous system can find calm which is its normal state.Β
Healing is not about being perfect or never having a hard time again. It is about having more of the life’s flow, more connection, and more capacity to experience joy.Β
It is about coming home to your own body. About trusting yourself again. About believing that you are worthy of the good things that life offers.Β
Your nervous system is willing to heal. It is a system that is designed for recovery. What it really needs is the right support and lots of safety in order to be able to release what it has been holding.Β
You were not the one who deserved what happened to you. And you are the one who deserves to get better from ββββββββββββββββit.
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