Trauma Lives in the Body—But So Does Healing

How Trauma Therapy Works at CARE Counseling, Inc.

If you’ve ever felt stuck in anxiety, constantly on edge, emotionally shut down, or confused by your own reactions—you’re not alone. These experiences are not signs that something is “wrong” with you. They’re signs that your nervous system has been overwhelmed, and it’s still trying to protect you.

At CARE Counseling, Inc., we specialize in trauma-informed therapy that helps clients gently reconnect with safety, trust, and their own inner strength. Using insights from neuroscience, the window of tolerance, and nervous system regulation, we help you understand what’s happening inside—and how to begin healing from the inside out.

What Is Trauma?

Trauma is the brain and body’s response to an experience that is too much, too fast, or too overwhelming to process in the moment. Trauma isn’t defined by the event—it’s defined by how the experience impacted your nervous system.

Some examples of trauma include:

• Car accidents, falls, surgeries, or medical trauma

• Abuse (physical, emotional, sexual) or neglect

• Childhood emotional abandonment or relational betrayal

• Domestic violence or controlling relationships

• Systemic and intergenerational trauma (e.g., racism, poverty, displacement)

• Bullying, grief, chronic stress, or toxic work/school environments

Trauma can be acute (from a single event) or complex (from repeated experiences over time). It may leave you feeling anxious, disconnected, numb, reactive—or like you’re still “stuck” in the past.

The Neuroscience of Trauma: What Happens in the Brain and Body?

Trauma changes how the brain and nervous system function. During overwhelming experiences:

• The amygdala (your brain’s alarm system) goes into overdrive

• The prefrontal cortex (the part responsible for logic and reasoning) shuts down

• Your body activates survival responses: fight, flight, freeze, or fawn

• The trauma is often stored not just in memory—but in the body

Over time, this can lead to symptoms like:

• Hypervigilance, anxiety, or panic

• Emotional numbness, shutdown, or dissociation

• Difficulty concentrating or sleeping

• Digestive problems, chronic pain, or fatigue

• Trouble with trust, boundaries, or relationships

• Cycles of self-criticism, people-pleasing, or burnout

The good news? Your brain is plastic. Healing is possible when we help the nervous system feel safe again.

Understanding the Window of Tolerance

The Window of Tolerance is a concept from Dr. Dan Siegel that describes the zone where your nervous system can function optimally. When you’re inside your window, you feel emotionally regulated, connected, and present.

But trauma can shrink that window, leading to:

• Hyperarousal (fight/flight): anxiety, panic, racing thoughts, anger

• Hypoarousal (freeze/fawn): numbness, fogginess, depression, disconnection
  

Trauma therapy helps expand your window of tolerance, so you can respond to life with more calm and control, instead of reacting from survival mode.

What Does Trauma Therapy Look Like at CARE Counseling, Inc.?

Trauma therapy at CARE is always:

• Collaborative – we go at your pace, with your consent

• Compassionate – we honor your lived experience

• Neuroscience-informed – grounded in how the brain and body heal

We don’t force disclosure or push you to relive the past. Instead, we help you restore regulation and self-trust—with care and respect.

Depending on your needs, your trauma therapy may include:

Internal Family Systems (IFS)

Work with the “parts” of you that carry fear, shame, or protection. Learn to connect with your inner Self and support your wounded parts with compassion.

Brainspotting or EMDR

Process trauma stored in the subcortical brain through focused, eye-based or body-based work—without needing to relieve painful memories in detail.

Somatic & Polyvagal-Informed Therapy

Learn to listen to your body’s cues and use movement, breath, and grounding to shift your nervous system toward safety.

Psychoeducation

Understand how trauma shaped your responses—and how they can change. Learn tools for self-regulation, boundary-setting, and emotional resilience.

You Are Not Broken—You Are Adaptive

You may have learned to survive by shutting down, staying alert, avoiding closeness, or criticizing yourself. But you don’t have to stay in survival mode forever.

At CARE Counseling, Inc., we see your symptoms not as signs of failure, but as proof that your body has always tried to protect you. Now, it’s time to help it feel safe enough to heal.

Your story matters. Your body remembers. And your healing is possible.