How Trauma Changes the Brain (And What You Can Do About It)
Let’s be real: if you’ve ever felt stuck in a pattern of anxiety, shutdown, people-pleasing, or emotional overwhelm — even after the trauma is “over” — you’re not broken.
Your brain just got rewired for survival.
And the most empowering truth?
It can be rewired for safety, joy, and trust too.
Trauma Isn’t Just in Your Head — It’s in Your Brain and Body
Most of us grew up thinking trauma meant war zones or emergency rooms.
But trauma can also mean:
- Repeated emotional neglect
- Being shamed for expressing feelings
- Constantly walking on eggshells
- Not being allowed to make your own decisions
- Being forced to “perform” for love, approval, or safety
As Dr. Bessel van der Kolk writes in The Body Keeps the Score:
“Trauma is not the story of something that happened back then. It’s the current imprint of that pain, horror, and fear living inside people.”
Trauma changes the brain by reshaping its core survival systems. And unless you intentionally work with those systems — it keeps running the show.
So… How Trauma Changes the Brain, Exactly
Let’s break it down like this:
1. Your amygdala goes into hyperdrive.
This is your brain’s fear center. After trauma, it becomes hypersensitive — sounding the alarm even when there’s no real danger. This is why loud noises, facial expressions, or rejection can feel overwhelming.
2. Your prefrontal cortex (PFC) dims down.
This part handles logic, planning, and regulation. In trauma, it often goes offline, especially when triggered — which explains why you might know you’re safe logically, but still feel panicked or frozen.
3. Your hippocampus shrinks.
This area helps you organize memories and separate past from present. When trauma shrinks the hippocampus, it can feel like the past is happening right now — which is why triggers hit so hard and feel disorienting.
(Source: The Body Keeps the Score, 2014; Bremner et al., 1995; Rauch et al., 1998)
Trauma Changes the Brain and Doesn’t Just Stop There — It Rewires Your Nervous System
This is the part most people miss:
The nervous system stores the trauma response.
It’s not about “getting over it.” It’s about teaching your body you’re safe now.
That means:
- Calming a hypervigilant system (fight/flight)
- Gently waking up a shutdown system (freeze/fawn)
- Reconnecting to your breath, body, and choices
Healing isn’t just about thinking differently. It’s about feeling safe enough to be different.
But Here’s the Hope: Your Brain Can Heal
Neuroplasticity — the brain’s ability to change — is how you heal.
What you practice, you strengthen.
When you practice:
- Regulating your breath
- Setting gentle boundaries
- Reframing thoughts
- Making one empowered decision at a time
- Creating new sensory associations of safety
…you literally rewire your brain’s pathways.
You’re not bypassing trauma — you’re reshaping the internal world it left behind.
Practices That Help Rewire a Trauma-Affected Brain
Here are a few gentle, science-backed ways to support your healing journey:
✨ 1. Vagus nerve activation
Breathwork, cold exposure, humming, or even gargling can stimulate the vagus nerve — signaling to your body that it’s safe. (Porges, 2011 – Polyvagal Theory)
✨ 2. Somatic tracking
Noticing the sensations in your body without trying to change them helps you build tolerance and safety in the present moment.
✨ 3. Journaling with structure
Using guided prompts that blend reflection with nervous system awareness helps the prefrontal cortex re-engage.
✨ 4. Safe relationships + co-regulation
We heal in connection. Being around people who feel safe, warm, and consistent helps rewire your relational blueprint.
✨ 5. Movement
Trauma often gets stored as tension or numbness. Gentle movement — walking, yoga, shaking — helps discharge stuck energy.
Final Truth: You Are Not Broken — You Are Brilliantly Adaptive
If you learned to shrink yourself, second-guess your gut, or dissociate just to get through life — that was your brain doing its best to keep you safe.
Now you get to thank it.
And choose to rewire it.
You are allowed to feel safe again.
You are allowed to take up space.
You are allowed to trust yourself.
And the science? It’s on your side.
If this resonated, you’ll love my free Trust Your Gut Decision-Making Guide — packed with trauma-informed tools to help you reconnect with your inner voice and rewire for confidence.
👉https://coachingbymonica.com/contact
Want to go deeper?
Let me know and I’ll create a follow-up post on how your trauma responses (fawn, freeze, flight, fight) show up in real life and what to actually do about them.
You are so much more capable than you’ve been led to believe. Let’s keep building from that truth. 💛
