If there is one topic therapists have made leaps in understanding in the last 20 years, it would be trauma. Trauma doesn’t just mean having your body hurt. This is emotional trauma. It could be from a single incident event or a life time of events.

Research has shown a few interesting things about our bodies and trauma. For one, it appears that when we experience trauma, our brain actually rewires. This happens even with one time stress, suggesting that emotional memories may be a forever things.

We know from a leading expert in trauma, Dr.Van Der Kolk, that the specific areas affected by trauma in the brain are areas related to experience pleasure, engagement, control, and trust.

He says in the podcast, ON BEING, how memories are a sensory experience and our body keeps a kind of history, a score,  of what has happened to us. His research shows how body activities like Yoga, mindfulness, or eye movement therapies like EMDR can bring back the sense of well being and safety to an individual’s life once lost.

Our bodies are resilient, but we need to find the right methods to help them. If you feel like you have experienced trauma in your relationship, family, or otherwise and it has affected your life and body negatively, consider the interventions listed above. Find a counselor for your marriage or life who understands how to help your body and mind heal in researched ways.