What is Trauma?

What is trauma?

How does trauma SHOW UP?

A few years ago, no one was talking about trauma… it was almost a dirty word.

But now… trauma healing is becoming a recognized need for many of us around the world.

With the world in the state that it is, we need all the healing we can get right now!

Natalia Rachel, founder of Illuma Health, defines trauma as:

“Trauma is when a past experience of threat (that is over), is living and breathing in us now. It may affect us physically, emotionally, and relationally. Trauma is not a past event or relationship… It’s how we are affected by it.”  


Unresolved trauma decontextualizes in ways that can be hard to spot and make sense of.

This can leave us feeling like something is wrong, unable to heal, and with a sense of shame.

‘Why am I like this?’

‘What’s wrong with me?’


These are the questions we often ask ourselves when there is trauma at play.

Healing trauma is a complex process.

It starts with acknowledging trauma as an origin.

Next, we need to identify how it's showing up inside us and around us.

Only then can we begin the healing process.

Some of the areas we can explore on our healing journey include:

Repairing The Nervous System

Am I experiencing safety or danger? Is my experience a product of the present or the past?

We need to learn what our survival responses are, how to switch them off, and cultivate the capacity for our more difficult experiences

Identifying core emotions and beliefs

Every manifestation of self comes from a driving emotion and belief about ourselves. When we understand what is at play in our dysfunction, we can start to reparent ourselves and create a new internal foundation.

Reintegrating the fragmented self

When it comes to trauma, parts of ourselves that did not have a safe place to express, become triggered in the present. Learning about these parts of us and inviting them to tell their stories and be cared for, is an essential part of integration.

Somatic Exploration

Often the mind and the body have lost touch with each other. The body is hiding and protecting the stories and emotions that we couldn’t bear to process. Creating safety in the body to explore and allow these stories to emerge and repair the mind-body split brings us wholly to the present.

Relational Restructuring

Our trauma shows up in relationships when we engage in our trauma. We will never be truly connected, responsive, and harmonious with others until we learn how to respond to our trauma… and hold space for each other. Learning to identify and restructure our relating patterns is key to recovering and creating a more joyful dynamic with ourselves, with others, and the world at large.


Are you ready to explore how trauma may be showing up inside you and around you?

Take one of our online courses, or book to see one of our trauma-informed practitioners

 

Ready to be Trauma-informed?

 

Book in a session

For more information or to book a session click below or contact: natalia@illumahealth.org or WhatsApp Illuma Health: +6590068393

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