The Neuroscience of Trauma: How Your Brain Changes and How to Heal
The Neuroscience of Trauma: How Your Brain Changes and How to Heal
Trauma doesn’t just affect your emotions—it rewires your brain. Experiencing overwhelming events triggers changes in how your brain processes information, responds to stress, and even forms memories. But neuroscience also shows us something incredible: the brain is plastic. Neuroplasticity gives us the power to retrain our brain, nervous system, reclaim safety, and recover from trauma. Practices like self Havening and other everyday exercises harness this ability, helping you physically and mentally release trauma over time.
But change is a process, not an event, and the reality is it takes real effort and commitment to make these long term shifts. Moreover, is it possible that we can we learn from terrible experiences and listen to the wisdom are bodies have to offer so we can create a more compassionate and engaged self going forward?
How Trauma Rewires the Brain
When we experience trauma, the brain enters survival mode. Key changes include:
Amygdala Hyperactivity: The amygdala, our “alarm system,” becomes overactive, making us hypervigilant or easily startled.
Hippocampus Impact: Trauma can shrink or impair the hippocampus, the area responsible for processing memory and distinguishing past from present danger.
Prefrontal Cortex Shutdown: The part of the brain that regulates emotion and rational thinking may underperform, leaving you reactive instead of reflective.
These changes explain why trauma can feel like it takes over your life—your brain is literally wired to stay in survival mode, even long after the danger has passed. Think small window of tolerance, hyper/hypovigilence (jumpiness or being numbed out), anxiety, chronic stress.
Neuroplasticity: Your Brain’s Ability to Heal
Here’s the good news: your brain is not fixed. Neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to reorganize itself—means new neural pathways can form even in our older age! Over time, with the right practices, you can:
Reduce overactivation of the amygdala
Strengthen your prefrontal cortex for better regulation
Improve memory integration in the hippocampus
Restore a sense of safety and calm in your body and mind
Healing is not about forgetting trauma—it’s about retraining the brain to respond differently, to live in the present rather than the past and allowing those memories to be processed and organized in to the brains filing cabinet where they belong.
How Havening Works
Havening is a neuroscience-based psychosensory therapy that helps rewire trauma responses at the cellular and neural level. Gentle touch, combined with eye movements and guided visualizations, activates delta waves in the brain, which help the amygdala “let go” of traumatic charge. Essentially, it allows your brain and body to store the memory of trauma as neutral, freeing you from the emotional intensity that keeps trauma alive.
Unlike talk therapy alone, Havening works directly on the nervous system, giving you a practical tool to release trauma stored in your body
Everyday Practices to Train Your Brain Out of Trauma
Healing doesn’t stop in therapy. You can strengthen your nervous system and retrain your brain every day with simple, consistent practices:
Breathwork: Slow, deep, diaphragmatic breathing signals safety to the nervous system.
Movement: Gentle yoga, stretching, or even walking engages the body and helps release stored tension.
Grounding Exercises: Notice sensations in your feet, hands, or environment to anchor yourself in the present.
Mindful Awareness: Journaling, meditation, or sensory focus strengthens prefrontal regulation.
Havening Sessions: Even short, regular sessions help de-condition your brain from trauma responses over time.
Consistency is key—neuroplasticity happens gradually, and every small practice reinforces new, healthy neural pathways.
Reclaim Your Brain and Nervous System
Trauma leaves its mark on your brain and body—but neuroscience shows that healing is possible. By combining Havening with everyday exercises and awareness practices, you can:
Reduce anxiety and hypervigilance
Restore emotional regulation
Reconnect with your body and sense of safety
Rewire your brain to respond from resilience rather than survival
Your brain may have been shaped by trauma—but it can also be reshaped by healing.
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