Trauma and the Nervous System
Trauma and the Nervous System (Polyvagal Theory)
Not “what’s wrong” with you, but what’s happened to you.
Trauma isn’t just a story from the past — it’s something that lives in the body. When difficult experiences overwhelm us, we can lose not only our sense of safety but also our connection to our own bodies.
Drawing on Polyvagal Theory, we look at how your nervous system has learned to protect you. Whether through fight, flight, freeze, or fawn, these responses were shaped by your lived experiences and the environments you grew up in. They weren’t mistakes; they were intelligent survival adaptions that made sense at the time.
A key part of this perspective is the belief that there is nothing inherently “wrong” with you. Trauma does not just happen to us — it happens inside us. The ways we’ve learned to cope, shield ourselves, and adapt were creative, necessary responses to what we faced, even if those patterns are no longer helpful today.
In our work together, we gently build awareness of your nervous system’s signals and develop more internal flexibility. We explore ways of co-regulating with another person and self-regulating on your own, always at a pace that feels safe and respectful of your system.
From here, it becomes possible to move beyond just survival — toward connection, presence, and a deeper sense of aliveness.
