A nervous system that has been through long periods of chronic stress and/or trauma…

… is a system that is already in a state of hyperarousal and for many, like it was my case, there is a mixture of freeze/shutdown responses as well; hence the go, go, go then a huge crash afterwards.

A traumatised nervous system can’t take too much pressure.

You work hard and push towards your goal. You start seeing results and then you crash hard. Does this sound familiar?

This has happened to me again and again. I have also seen this happening repeatedly in clients’ life too.

A nervous system that has been through long periods of chronic stress and/or trauma is a system that is already in a state of hyperarousal and for many, like it was my case, there is a mixture of freeze/shutdown responses as well; hence the go, go, go then a huge crash afterwards.

There is also the effect of trauma in the psyche, such as fragmentation. The psyche fragments in 3 main subparts: The Traumatised self, The Survivor self and the Healthy self.

The Survivor self is the part that does the push, wants to fix, to manage situations. It works hard. It keeps “The Healthy self” protected from the “Traumatised self”. It fears getting in touch with the “Traumatised self”. It fears the emotional pain it can bring.

Meanwhile, in order for true integration to happen, “The Traumatised self” needs to be felt, fully seen and understood.

There is a tug of war between these two parts. “The Survivor self” keeps pushing to get things done (a survival strategy) while “The Traumatised self” keeps having tantrums in the background.

See how exhausting it can for the body-mind to accomplish anything when there is this huge battle in your psyche?!

Once I finally gave in, slowed down and allowed the deeper and wiser part of myself (The Healthy self) to regain control was when true healing and real integration happened. Somatic Experiencing (SE) work was a huge key to help me slow down.

Slow, steady and gentle.
Getting back into my body changed everything!

I invite you to slow down as well. Notice all these inner parts that are incoherent. Give them some space.