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Trauma has become a bit of a buzzword recently, and while that’s raising awareness, it can also create confusion about what trauma actually is. Questions like "What qualifies as trauma?" and "How can I tell if my body is storing trauma?" come up often. Let’s unpack these important topics. What Qualifies as Trauma? Trauma isn’t tied to a specific event—it’s tied to our experience of that event. As Peter Levine, the developer of Somatic Experiencing, says: “Trauma is not in the

A Childhood Dream to Help Since I was a little kid I wanted to help people. I remember at some point in my childhood declaring that my dream job, what I wanted to be when I grew up, was the Salvation Army bell-ringer outside of a grocery store. (You can ask my family, they’ll confirm this declaration I often made.) In my mind, at that age, that seemed like such a direct and accessible way to help people who were suffering. Of course, with time and maturity, how I express my d

Somatic work has completely changed my life, and I'd love to share with you some of the ways it has done that. So let's start out by taking a look at some of the issues I was facing in life before I found somatic work. This is not comprehensive, but just some of the main things. My Life Before Somatic Work Before discovering somatic work, I struggled in several profound ways: Identifying and Naming Emotions: I couldn’t pinpoint or articulate my emotions. They felt overwhelmin