What Is Trauma? Understanding How It Impacts the Brain and Body

May 30

Trauma is a word we hear often—but what does it really mean? And how exactly does trauma affect the brain and body?

Whether you’ve experienced a single distressing event or ongoing emotional pain, understanding trauma is the first step toward healing. Let’s break down what trauma is, how it shows up in the nervous system, and why therapy can be a powerful part of recovery and true transformation.

What Is Trauma?

At its core, trauma is the emotional response to an overwhelming event or series of events that exceed your ability to cope. In other words, anything that feels too overwhelming for your nervous system to hold. These events might include:

Abuse or neglect
Accidents or medical emergencies
Natural disasters
Loss of a loved one
Witnessing violence
Long-term emotional or psychological stress

Trauma can be:

Acute (from a single event)
Chronic (from repeated exposure)
Complex (especially when it starts in childhood)

How Trauma Affects the Brain

When something traumatic happens, your brain goes into survival mode. The amygdala, which detects threats, becomes overactive. Meanwhile, the prefrontal cortex, responsible for logic and reasoning, shuts down.

This is part of your body’s “fight, flight, or freeze” response—meant to protect you. But when trauma remains unprocessed, that survival state can linger.

Common effects of trauma on the brain include:

Feeling constantly on edge (hypervigilance)
Flashbacks or intrusive thoughts
Emotional numbness
Trouble focusing or making decisions
Dissociation (feeling detached from reality)

How Trauma Affects the Body

Trauma doesn’t just live in the mind—it lives in the body. Unresolved trauma often dysregulates your nervous system, leading to physical symptoms like:

Chronic tension or pain
Digestive issues or headaches
Insomnia or restless sleep
Heightened sensitivity to noise, touch, or light
Feeling “off” or uncomfortable in your body

This is why trauma therapy often includes somatic (body-based) tools to support healing from the inside out.

How Trauma Therapy Can Help

Healing from trauma doesn’t mean “getting over it”—it means learning how to feel safe, regulated, and empowered in your body and mind.

As trauma-informed therapists, we help clients:

Understand how trauma shows up in their life
Reconnect with their bodies and build safety
Develop tools for emotional regulation
Rewrite painful narratives with compassion
Rebuild self-worth and self-trust

You Don’t Have to Carry It Alone

If you’ve been thinking “Why do I still feel this way?”—you’re not broken. Your body and brain are simply responding to pain that hasn’t yet had space to heal.

You deserve support. You deserve peace. And you don’t have to go through this alone.

If you're ready to begin your healing journey, we invite you to book a free 15-minute consultation to see if we’d be a good fit. We offer compassionate, personalized care for teens and adults navigating trauma, anxiety, self-esteem, and depression.