Understanding Trauma: How It Shapes the Mind and Body — and the Path to Recovery
Trauma can touch every part of our lives — our thoughts, emotions, body, and relationships. While many people associate trauma with extreme or catastrophic events, it can also develop from ongoing stress, emotional neglect, or repeated experiences that overwhelm our ability to cope. Understanding how trauma affects the brain and nervous system is the first step toward healing and rebuilding safety and connection.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, around 75% of Australians experience at least one potentially traumatic event in their lifetime. Yet with the right support, recovery is not only possible — it’s expected.
What Is Trauma?
Trauma occurs when we experience something that is too overwhelming, too painful, or too unpredictable for our nervous system to process at the time. It’s not the event itself that defines trauma. It’s how our mind and body respond to it.
For some, trauma stems from a single incident, such as an accident, assault, or loss. For others, it develops over time through chronic stress, emotional invalidation, relationship instability, or unsafe environments. These experiences can leave the body in a state of hypervigilance or shutdown, even long after the danger has passed.
The Neuroscience of Trauma: What Happens in the Brain
When we experience trauma, our brain’s alarm system — the amygdala — becomes overactive, sending danger signals to the body. The fight, flight, or freeze response takes over, increasing heart rate, muscle tension, and alertness. Meanwhile, the prefrontal cortex — the part of the brain responsible for reasoning, regulation, and perspective — becomes less active, making it difficult to think clearly or feel in control.
The hippocampus, which helps process and store memories, can also become disrupted. This is why memories of trauma may feel fragmented, intrusive, or physically charged. The body’s stress system (the HPA axis) stays activated, keeping cortisol levels high and leaving you feeling anxious, tense, or exhausted.
Healing involves helping the brain’s alarm system quiet down while re-engaging the parts responsible for regulation and safety. Through therapy and mindfulness-based practices, the brain can form new neural connections — a process known as neuroplasticity — supporting emotional balance and long-term recovery.
Types of Trauma
Not all trauma looks the same. The way it develops and shows up can depend on the type of event, how long it lasted, and the support available at the time. Understanding these differences helps guide the most effective path to healing.
Acute Trauma: Results from a single distressing or life-threatening event (e.g., assault, accident, natural disaster) that overwhelms your ability to cope in the moment.
Chronic Trauma: Stems from repeated or prolonged exposure to distressing or unsafe situations (e.g., ongoing abuse, workplace bullying).
Complex or Developmental Trauma: Develops through prolonged adversity in childhood, such as emotional neglect, inconsistent caregiving, or attachment disruptions. It can deeply affect identity, trust, and relationships.
Vicarious Trauma: Occurs when someone is indirectly exposed to others’ trauma. This is common in helping professionals, first responders, and carers. Over time, this repeated exposure can lead to emotional exhaustion, hypervigilance, or loss of empathy.
Intergenerational or Historical Trauma: Trauma passed down through generations, often related to systemic injustice, cultural loss, or displacement. It can influence emotional patterns and stress responses even decades later.
Each type affects the brain and body differently, but all can be supported through trauma-informed therapy.
Vulnerabilities That Increase the Risk of Trauma
Certain factors can make people more vulnerable to developing trauma-related symptoms, such as:
Early exposure to stress, neglect, or inconsistent caregiving
A history of attachment difficulties or emotional invalidation
Ongoing stress or burnout with limited recovery time
Previous experiences of loss, discrimination, or interpersonal violence
Lack of social support or safe relationships
Pre-existing anxiety, depression, or neurobiological sensitivity
Recognising these vulnerabilities isn’t a sign of weakness — it helps identify where additional support, boundaries, and compassion are needed for healing.
Common Symptoms of Trauma
Trauma can affect both mind and body, showing up in emotional, physical, and relational ways. Common signs include:
Intrusive memories, flashbacks, or nightmares
Emotional numbing or disconnection from self or others
Heightened startle response or persistent tension
Difficulty concentrating or remembering details
Sleep disturbances or chronic fatigue
Avoidance of reminders or situations linked to the trauma
Feelings of shame, guilt, or hopelessness
Difficulty trusting others or feeling safe
These symptoms can fluctuate and may appear months or years after the initial event.
How Trauma Impacts Daily Functioning
Trauma influences how we think, feel, and relate to the world. It can disrupt concentration, affect work performance, and make relationships more challenging. Some people become highly self-reliant or overproductive to maintain control, while others may withdraw or avoid new experiences.
Physically, trauma can manifest as chronic pain, muscle tension, or fatigue, reflecting the body’s prolonged stress response. Emotionally, it may show up as hypervigilance, irritability, or emotional numbing. Over time, untreated trauma can contribute to depression, anxiety, or difficulties maintaining close relationships.
Comorbid Disorders: When Trauma Overlaps with Other Mental Health Challenges
Many people who experience trauma also develop co-occurring mental health difficulties, known as comorbid disorders. This doesn’t mean something is “wrong” with you — rather, it reflects how deeply trauma can affect the brain’s stress, mood, and regulation systems.
Trauma can increase vulnerability to:
Anxiety disorders: including generalised anxiety, panic attacks, and specific phobias, as the nervous system remains on high alert.
Depression: ongoing sadness, loss of motivation, or feelings of guilt and worthlessness are common as the body and mind remain in survival mode.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): involving intrusive memories, flashbacks, and avoidance of reminders of trauma.
Dissociative disorders: feeling detached from reality or from one’s body, often as a protective response during overwhelming experiences.
Substance use disorders: using alcohol or drugs to numb distressing memories or emotions.
Eating disorders: attempts to regain control or soothe emotional pain through food restriction, bingeing, or purging.
Chronic pain and somatic symptoms: ongoing physical symptoms like fatigue or tension that arise from dysregulated stress pathways.
Because these conditions often overlap, therapy focuses on understanding the underlying trauma responses driving distress rather than treating each symptom in isolation.
Trauma and Relationships
Trauma often affects how we connect with others. It can make relationships feel unsafe, unpredictable, or overwhelming. Some people may struggle with trust or fear vulnerability, while others become overly accommodating to maintain stability.
Therapy helps identify these patterns and rebuild safety in connection — teaching boundaries, communication skills, and emotional attunement. Over time, this fosters deeper, more authentic relationships.
Building Resilience After Trauma
While trauma can feel life-altering, resilience is possible and learnable. Healing is supported by:
Safe, trusting relationships
Consistent routines and grounding activities
Gentle exposure to positive and meaningful experiences
Self-compassion and emotional awareness
Physical care — sleep, nutrition, and movement
Professional support through therapy
Therapy helps strengthen these protective factors, allowing your nervous system to relearn safety and balance.
Healing Trauma: Evidence-Based Interventions
At Be Anchored Psychology, we use trauma-informed, evidence-based approaches tailored to your needs, including:
Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT): Reframes unhelpful beliefs and reduces avoidance.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): Builds psychological flexibility and supports living by values despite distressing memories.
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR): Helps reprocess traumatic memories and reduce emotional intensity.
Somatic and Mindfulness-Based Therapies: Increase awareness of bodily sensations and teach self-regulation.
Schema or Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT): Supports deeper emotional processing and attachment repair.
Healing doesn’t mean forgetting — it means learning to feel safe in the present and reconnecting with yourself and others.
Try This: A Simple Grounding Exercise
When you feel overwhelmed, pause and name:
5 things you can see
4 things you can touch
3 things you can hear
2 things you can smell
1 thing you can taste
This simple sensory exercise helps anchor your body and brain in the present moment, easing the intensity of distress.
The Path Forward
Recovering from trauma takes time, compassion, and the right support. At Be Anchored Psychology, we provide a safe, collaborative space to explore your experiences, regulate your nervous system, and rebuild connection.
If you’re ready to begin your healing journey, reach out today to learn more or book a session. You don’t have to carry this alone — recovery and reconnection are possible.
Healing doesn’t erase the past — it changes your relationship with it. With the right support, you can move from surviving to living, one step at a time.