Healing Trauma: Weaving a Tapestry of Resilience and Growth

Healing trauma is not a simple, one-step process. It unfolds over time, shaped by many layers of experience and care. Instead of trying to erase or hide the pain, healing means learning to live with it in a way that feels natural, and gives you strength. This process is like weaving threads of your traumatic experiences into the fabric of your everyday life. The result is not perfect or neat, but it is real and beautiful in it's complexity and strength.

Weaving threads of trauma into life, symbolizing healing and resilience

Understanding Trauma’s Many Faces

Trauma does not live in just one part of us. It affects the body, emotions, and mind, which is why meaningful healing must address all three.

Physiological Effects

Trauma can leave the nervous system stuck in survival mode. You may notice hypervigilance, feeling constantly on edge, or the opposite—numbness and disconnection from your body. These responses once helped protect you. Over time, however, they can become exhausting or confusing. Understanding them as adaptive, rather than “wrong,” is an important first step toward healing.

Emotional Effects

Depression, anxiety, panic attacks, irritability, emotional shutdown, paranoia, or turning to substances to cope are common responses to trauma. These experiences signal an overwhelmed emotional system that is trying—often desperately—to regain balance and safety.

Psychological Effects

Trauma can erode trust: trust in yourself, in others, and in the world. You may question your perceptions, memories, or sense of safety. The world can begin to feel unpredictable or dangerous, making connection and grounding more difficult. Healing involves slowly rebuilding this trust, both internally and externally.

Building a Support System

Trauma healing is not meant to be done alone. A supportive network provides safety, perspective, and steadiness when things feel unmanageable.

Partners and Family

Loved ones can offer stability and care, especially when they respect your boundaries and honor your pace of healing.

Friends

Trusted friends provide connection and normalcy. They help remind you of who you are beyond your trauma and reflect your strengths back to you.

Therapists and Counselors

Trauma-informed professionals can guide the healing process, offering tools and structure while helping you avoid overwhelm or retraumatization.

Building support takes courage. Asking for help is not a weakness—it is a skill essential to recovery.

Learning How Trauma Affects the Body and Mind

Knowledge creates empowerment. Understanding trauma responses allows you to respond to yourself with patience rather than judgment.

Helpful resources include:

• The ACEs Study – A landmark study demonstrating the long-term physical and mental health effects of childhood trauma

• Bessel van der Kolk, MD – Psychiatrist, trauma researcher, and author of The Body Keeps the Score

• Gabor Maté, MD – Physician and author focusing on trauma, stress, and addiction

• The National Center for PTSD (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs)

Learning to Cope With Symptoms

Mindfulness

Mindfulness helps you stay anchored in the present moment. By observing thoughts, sensations, and emotions without judgment, you can reduce reactivity and regain a sense of control.

Nervous System Regulation

Trauma often disrupts the nervous system, leading to states of hyperarousal (anxiety, panic, agitation) or hypoarousal (numbness, shutdown). Noticing these shifts and responding with regulating practices is essential.

Evidence-based approaches include:

• Spending time outdoors, which naturally calms the nervous system

• Physical activity, which releases stored tension and improves mood

• Yoga, strength training, and cardiovascular exercise, which reconnect you with your body in supportive ways

(For additional strategies, see my blog post on the Window of Tolerance and Coping Skills.)

Knowing When—and How—to Face Trauma

Healing does not require reliving painful memories all at once. In fact, pushing too hard can be counterproductive.

Gradual Exposure

When appropriate and supported by a professional, gently approaching traumatic memories can reduce their intensity over time. This process should always prioritize safety and pacing.

Timing Matters

There are seasons in life when focusing on stabilization and self-care is more important than processing trauma. Knowing when to pause is a sign of wisdom, not avoidance.

Medications and Trauma Healing

When trauma symptoms significantly interfere with daily functioning, medication can sometimes help regulate the nervous system enough to allow participation in therapy and other healing practices.

The only FDA-approved medications for PTSD are sertraline (Zoloft) and paroxetine (Paxil).

Other medications are commonly used off-label, including:

• Venlafaxine (Effexor) and other SSRIs/SNRIs

• Prazosin for trauma-related nightmares

• Propranolol or clonidine for autonomic hyperarousal

• Mirtazapine, trazodone, or amitriptyline for insomnia

Benzodiazepines (such as Xanax, Klonopin, or Valium) are generally not recommended for PTSD, as they may interfere with long-term recovery. In rare cases, they may be used short-term when symptoms are otherwise unmanageable.

Medication is not a cure, but for some, it can be an important support.

PTSD and Trauma-Focused Therapies

Several evidence-based therapies are specifically designed to treat PTSD and trauma-related symptoms. These approaches help reduce distress, integrate traumatic experiences, and restore a sense of safety and agency.

Prolonged Exposure (PE)

Prolonged Exposure therapy helps reduce avoidance and emotional reactivity by gently and systematically approaching trauma-related memories, thoughts, and situations. Over time, this process teaches the nervous system that the memories themselves are not dangerous, decreasing fear and reactivity.

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)

Cognitive Processing Therapy focuses on identifying and challenging trauma-related beliefs about safety, trust, guilt, shame, and identity. CPT can include trauma processing, but it can also be done by working directly with distorted or unhelpful thought patterns without revisiting the trauma narrative in detail.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

EMDR uses structured recall of traumatic memories paired with bilateral stimulation (such as eye movements or tapping). This process helps the brain and nervous system reprocess memories that are “stuck,” allowing them to be integrated without overwhelming emotional charge.

Practical Steps to Support Healing

• Establish a daily routine that includes grounding practices such as deep breathing, journaling, or gentle movement

• Stay connected to your support system, even during periods of stability

• Learn about trauma through books, workshops, or trusted resources

• Set realistic goals and celebrate small, meaningful progress

• Seek professional help when symptoms feel overwhelming or persistent

  
  

Embracing the Process of Unfolding

Healing trauma is not about fixing what is broken—it is about allowing growth where there was once survival.

As Luca Fogale sings in Unfolding:

“I am not breaking, I am not broken, I am unfolding.”

Your healing will include progress and setbacks, clarity and confusion. This complexity is not a failure—it is the process itself. By weaving your experiences into your life with care, you create resilience, meaning, and hope.