Bessel van der Kolk
Trauma is not just a memory stored in the mind, but an enduring physiological imprint that can reshape the brain and keep the nervous system oriented toward danger.
Trauma creates a profound disconnection between the thinking brain, which may attempt to minimize the event, and the feeling brain, which holds onto raw fear and physiological reactivity.
Because trauma can suppress the brain's speech centers and is often encoded as fragmented, preverbal sensory experiences, talk therapy alone may not fully resolve the body's chronic hyperarousal.
Healing often requires bottom-up interventions, such as yoga and deep breathing, which help the autonomic nervous system shift out of survival mode.