3 Steps to Healing Trauma

I just read a powerful new book about trauma by Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Bruce Perry, a trauma specialist, called: What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing.

Oprah shares many stories from her own life experience as well as the thousands of people she’s interviewed.

Dr. Perry shares stories from his long career helping people recover from trauma and also the latest research on trauma.

One of the things I found most interesting was Dr. Perry’s description of how, in order to heal, we need to address the different levels of the brain in a certain order.

This helped me understand why, when I was dealing with a lot of trauma, talk therapy wasn’t helpful - my nervous system was just too dysregulated.

Here are some suggestions from the book:

Step 1: Regulate - Find what naturally soothes your nervous system, especially activities that have a rhythmic element such as walking, swimming, music, dance, knitting, the sound of waves breaking on a beach.

Step 2: Relate - Seek out positive human interactions, especially with people who love and accept you unconditionally.

Step 3: Reason - Engage the higher part of your brain (the cortex) in processing, understanding, and finding meaning in your experiences. 

I still have so much to learn about trauma.

I’m excited to learn more for my own ongoing healing and for my clients.

Love,

Liz

P.S. I’m a life coach for heart centered women. I can help you calm your nervous system and feel better so you can thrive. DM me to set up a free discovery call.