“Is it true that it takes 2 to 5 years
to heal from all this trauma?
I didn’t sign up to be in therapy that long!”
my client moaned.
Rightfully so!
I assured him, “Although doing it one-hour at a time takes longer,
it shouldn’t take 2 to 5 years!”
My belief is that workshops or intensives (3 hours or more)
are the best way to do trauma healing.
Because the results are exponential in an immersive setting.
(I’ve spent years watching, listening, doing … to create for those I serve a path when they can’t see the forest for the trees. A clear path out of the repeats of what sabotages their life. Or as one client said: “I’ve come to the fork of my road in life and it feels like a dead end either way. With a a sign that reads…Nothing works!”)
Regardless of how long it takes …
we all need healing after trauma.
Trauma doesn’t just hurt … it hijacks everything about our lives.
How?
· It rewires the nervous system to expect threat
· It drains the body’s energy reserves
· It distorts how we see ourselves and how we experience the world
· It leaves relationships empty, lonely, tired
· It detours our career, business, and financial journeys
· It twists our worldview
That’s why trauma survivors often feel …
both exhausted and on hyper‑alert …
at the same time.
Constantly “on,” but totally depleted.
(You arrive there without even knowing it
and life becomes endless scenes of your/mine/our
emotions reacting instead of simply reading the moment.)
Don’t forget this:
The same neuroplasticity that allows trauma to rewire your brain
is the exact power that can rewire it back … and the path out (the other side) is often much shorter than the path in to where you are now!
For those who work with me … we wire it to an even better version than it was prior to trauma!
Always remember this:
The chaos trauma leaves behind for us isn’t a life sentence …
it’s a blueprint for rebuilding.
Healing isn’t just recovery — it’s repurposing.
Trauma is someone else’s failure that feels like ours.
It does not belong to us.
When we realize and embrace that it’s not our fault …
It frees our mind, heart, and body from behind the bars of someone else’s sin.
1. Healing Doesn’t Have to Take Forever
We often hear that trauma takes years or decades to heal.
It can take time, but the nervous system is designed to recover …
not to stay stuck.
Trauma totally reorganizes our neural pathways for survival.
But those same circuits are highly adaptable.
I believe that God knew that life would be tough.
So, we were created for our healing to be as simple as recognizing y\our trauma exists.
The National Institute of Mental Health (2023) found that targeted trauma therapy can reduce PTSD symptoms by more than 60% within 8–12 weeks.
Neuroscientists at Harvard’s McLean Hospital (2022) reported that mindfulness based practices literally increase gray‑matter density
in the prefrontal cortex (the part of the brain that regulates fear responses) in about 8 weeks.
A study conducted in 2021 at the University of California in San Diego discovered through using functional MRIs that neuroplastic rewiring is evident after as little as 6 sessions of trauma‑focused therapy.
Why do I list these studies?
For a couple of reasons.
First … to assure you that your nervous system is not permanently “broken” after trauma.
Even though at times it feels like it.
Secondly … to assure you that you are not in for years and years of therapy and healing!
When I shared these with my client, he said, “I would definitely put in the years if I had to! But I’m truly relieved!”
When our body experiences
consistent safety,
movement,
and regulation,
the brain recalibrates faster than most people realize.
(The brain doesn’t know the difference between
doing something or imagining you’re doing that something.)
Small, but intentional habits like …
breathing exercises,
sensory grounding exercises,
and other healthy routines
begin reprogramming our bodies and our nervous system.
-They tell us that the threat has passed.
-From there, healing accelerates.
-I promise you … you don’t have to stay where trauma left you.
The fix is as easy as knowing it, seeing it, finding it!
LET’S DO THIS!
2. Trauma Can Make You Stronger
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger …
Stand a little taller
Doesn’t mean I’m lonely when I’m alone
What doesn’t kill you makes a fighter
Footsteps even lighter
Doesn’t mean I’m over ’cause you’re gone
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, stronger!”
I often say that Kelly Clarkson’s song was written about trauma.
It’s not that I think trauma is ever okay … or deserved!
I do know its immediate impact knocks us down, and feels like it kills something inside of us.
But with the right healing …
it can make us stronger!
There’s actually an area of science called PTG (post traumatic growth).
It’s a phenomenon where people emerge with …
deeper purpose,
greater resilience,
stronger empathy after adversity.
My client commented, “I almost killed my marriage … but now it’s stronger than ever. So, I guess that’s what you’re talking about?”
“YES!” I responded.
“And it’s the very reason I do what I do!”
This is actually verified by a 2019 meta study in the Journal of Traumatic Stress.
It revealed that 72% of the people who engaged in trauma treatment reported significant growth in …
meaning,
relationships,
and personal strength.
Don’t give up!
YOU can be one of those 72%!
The complexity of your healing is as simple as your willingness to do the work!
Researchers at Penn State (2020) observed measurable increases in resilience biomarkers in people who reframed their trauma as a source of purpose rather than demise.
The trauma healing process toughens emotional muscles we didn’t even know we had.
Please understand I’m not saying that anything is “worth” what trauma does to us.
Our growth doesn’t mean that the pain it caused was “worth it.”
It simply means you can find a life of purpose and meaning after trauma.
As Viktor Frankl wrote after surviving the concentration camps: “In some ways, suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds meaning.”
3. Don’t Settle for What Trauma Leaves Behind
Trauma can leave its mark in so many ways …
in our hormones,
in our posture,
the way we carry ourselves,
in our digestive process,
in the way we sleep (or fail to sleep),
in our mental health,
in the way we focus, or fail to.
But “trauma brain” and “trauma body” are not fixed identities.
They’re adaptations to trauma.
But those adaptations can be healed and reversed.
The Yale School of Medicine (2022) revealed that the hippocampus in our brain that’s often shrunk as the result of trauma … can regain its volume after 6 months of trauma healing.
Trauma can have an impact on our memory and mental acuity.
But in a Stress and Resilience Study done at Harvard in 2021, trauma survivors who practiced regulated breathing and resistance training lowered cortisol levels by 45%
and improved memory scores significantly.
You are not stuck with the residue of trauma.
You know what I mean …
foggy focus,
hypersensitivity,
chronic tension,
depression,
poor sleep, and more.
Your nervous system can be taught safety again.
Start small some of these small things daily:
· Move every day. (Even slow walks reset the vagus nerve.)
· Sleep in darkness (or with a sleep mask) and consistency.
· Nourish your body with anti‑inflammatory foods (like fruits, veggies, whole grains, and salmon).
These kinds of choices send a strong message to our bodies:
It’s time to start rebuilding.
Don’t let trauma have the final word in your body or your life.
Part of healing is reclaiming what your body forgot that it could feel like.
*****
Trauma is not a life sentence, although it may feel like it.
Instead, I’d like for you to consider all the symptoms as an invitation into transformation.
It hurt you, I know it did!
You did not deserve it!
But I also know that healing opens the possibility to rebuild
stronger,
deeper,
clearer than ever before.
Science and spirit agree:
your brain can rewire,
your body can heal,
your soul can awaken.
But please decide that your story won’t stop at survival.
Let trauma become something you healed from.
And not to become your identity.
How does it make you stronger?
Every scar informs your nervous system
that you’ve already done hard things.
And that you can AND WILL do the healing too.
As you may already know, I’m a person of deep faith.
I love the words of Jesus.
The sermon on the mount may be the greatest self-realization for trauma healing ever spoken.
Jesus said, (my paraphrase)
“Blessed are those who feel what they need to feel …”
And He gave a promise of healing.
Just like now God gives us permission to feel what we need to feel.
And a promise that when we do … we shall be comforted.
If you’re interested in my upcoming one-hour trauma healing workshop, click here: https://bit.ly/TransformPainToPurposeWorkshop