How Trauma Lives in the Body and How to Heal It

I know you have heard it before: “Trauma lives in the body!” People are talking about it on talk-shows, at dinner parties, on the train. But what does this mean? Most people think of trauma as simply “bad memories” of something that happened to them in the past that come up when triggered; memories, flashbacks, anxiety. While this is true, it’s only part of the story. Trauma is stored in the body, and the body remembers. 

That’s why talk therapy alone sometimes isn’t enough. You might understand your story perfectly, accept rationally that what happened to your wasn’t your fault, but you may still feel stuck in patterns and beliefs you can’t break free from. 

In my work as a trauma therapist in New York City, I help people reconnect to their bodies, not to relive the pain, but to finally release it.

THE SCIENCE: Your Nervous System Never Forgot

Trauma isn’t just “remembered,” it can shift how we feel in our bodies. 

When something overwhelming happens and the body can’t process it in the moment, the nervous system may lock into survival mode:

• Hyperarousal (fight or flight)

• Shut down (freeze or dissociation)

• Or oscillating between both

You may feel this as:

• Chronic tension in your jaw, neck, or shoulders

• Digestive issues or gut distress

• Overreactions to small stressors

• Emotional numbness or disconnection

Your bodies can lock into these nervous system states because it believes its keeping you safe. Being on edge may make a part of you believe you will be prepared to respond if another danger presents itself. 

HOW HEALING HAPPENS:

The good news is, healing doesn’t require you to relive your trauma. It does require you to bring the body into the healing process.

In my practice, I integrate:

• Somatic therapy to listen to your body’s signals

• EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) to gently reprocess memories and sensations

• Breathwork, grounding tools, and HRV biofeedback to rewire your nervous system over time and practice what it feels like to feel safe, grounded and connected. 

Attunement is key. We follow the body’s pace and gently reestablish a sense of safety.

WHAT YOU CAN TRY TODAY:

Start simple:

• Notice where you hold tension in your body right now.

• Place your hand on that area and breathe into it.

• Whisper to it: “In this moment, I allow myself to feel safe.”

Habits become ways of being. Let’s start a habit of safety in the body. 

YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO IT ALONE:

If you’ve tried to think your way out of trauma, and it hasn’t worked it’s not your fault.

Let’s try something different.
Based in NYC or open to virtual work?
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You’re not broken.
Your body is wise.
Its sensations are a roadmap.
And healing is possible.

The Science of Sound: Why I Use Vibrational Healing After EMDR Trauma Sessions

In my clinical practice, I integrate advanced trauma therapy methods like EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), a powerful modality that supports the reprocessing of painful memories and stored emotional responses. These sessions can stir deep layers of the nervous system, leading to emotional breakthroughs, but sometimes, they can also leave clients in a heightened or dysregulated state. That’s where sound enters the picture, not just as ambiance, but as a clinically-informed tool for healing.

Sound is not simply a passive experience. It is vibrational energy, measured in waves called hertz (Hz), that interacts directly with the human body. Our bones, tissues, and fluids are excellent conductors of sound. In fact, our entire body is a resonating system, our nervous system especially responsive to specific frequencies. Recent advances in neuroscience and biophysics have begun to catch up to what ancient traditions have long known: sound can heal.

I often turn to sound therapy as a closing ritual in trauma work. In-person, I use the Opus SoundBed, a vibrational healing technology that emits frequencies specifically designed to soothe and regulate the nervous system. It’s not just a luxury or spa-like add-on. When clients lie down on the SoundBed after EMDR, their body receives carefully calibrated sound waves that resonate through their entire system, supporting a shift from sympathetic arousal (fight-or-flight) into parasympathetic calm (rest-and-digest).

This is backed by emerging research. Studies in vibroacoustic therapy suggest that low-frequency sound stimulation can reduce stress markers, improve heart rate variability (a key measure of nervous system resilience), and even decrease chronic pain. Frequencies in the range of 40 Hz–120 Hz have been associated with neural coherence bringing brainwave patterns into greater harmony.

Jonathan Goldman, in Healing Sounds, writes about the idea that frequency plus intention equals healing. In my practice, the intention is to help clients safely return to their bodies after doing deep emotional work. When paired with a resonant frequency, especially after the activation that EMDR can bring, the result is not only calming, but integrative. The body doesn’t just relax; it reorganizes itself around a new experience of safety.

Clients often report feeling grounded, emotionally centered, and physically lighter after these sound sessions. The experience helps seal in the gains made during EMDR while preventing overwhelm or emotional flooding. For those I see virtually, I offer guided sound recordings that echo the vibrational principles of the SoundBed, using binaural beats, harmonic layering, and intention-setting meditations to achieve a similar effect.

Sound is ancient, but the science is catching up. Whether through the physical resonance of a sound bed or the frequencies embedded in a digital track, vibrational healing is more than a trend—it’s a nervous system technology. And in trauma work, where safety and integration are everything, it can make all the difference.

From Childhood Patterns to Executive Presence: How Early Attachment Styles Shape Leadership Behaviors

Have you ever left a high-stakes meeting thinks: “Something doesn’t feel right?”

You stayed composed. You said all the right things. But inside, something was off in your body: tight chest, clenching jaw, sweaty, and nagging thoughts that you weren’t good enough, respected enough, safe enough.

That discomfort? It often started long before that critical promotion, title, or pitch. It starts in childhood and it follows us into boardrooms, brainstorms, and partnerships in ways we don’t always recognize.

Leadership Isn’t Just Strategy—It’s Nervous System History

In my work with high-performing professionals, executives, founders, creatives, I’ve noticed a common thread: behind even the most confident exterior is a nervous system shaped by early childhood relationships.

Attachment theory, first developed by John Bowlby, helps explain this. Our earliest experiences with caregivers form internal blueprints about how safe it is to connect, to lead, to be seen. These attachment styles (secure, anxious, avoidant, or disorganized) don’t just show up in romantic relationships. They show up in how we lead, communicate, delegate (or DON’T delegate), and even manage conflict.

How Attachment Styles Shape the Way You Lead

1. Anxious Attachment:
Often hyper-aware of others’ emotions and approval. You may over-function, over-explain, or avoid asking for help or sharing tasks for fear of disappointing others. This can lead to burnout or resentment over time.

2. Avoidant Attachment:
Fiercely independent and self-reliant, but often disconnected from team dynamics or feedback. You may appear calm but feel isolated, secretly overwhelmed, or rigid when things get emotional.

3. Disorganized Attachment:
A push-pull dynamic with leadership. You may oscillate between micromanagement and withdrawal. Under pressure, reactions can feel unpredictable or chaotic to others, even if you’re unaware of it.

4. Secure Attachment:
Comfortable with autonomy and connection. Able to regulate emotions, navigate conflict, and lead from presence rather than protection.

The good news? Our attachment patterns can shift with insight and healing. You can grow into secure patterns with the right support.

This Isn’t About Blame. It’s About Awareness

Leadership development often skips over this territory because it’s considered “personal.” But let me be clear: your ability to lead is deeply shaped by how your body learned to protect you growing up.

If you were raised around emotional inconsistency, criticism and intense pressure, or lack of emotional attunement and mirroring, your nervous system likely built survival strategies. And those same strategies may now be misread as “leadership style.”

What looks like stoicism might be shutdown. What looks like hustle might be hypervigilance. What looks like confidence might actually be overcompensation.

So, What Can You Do?

Self-awareness changes everything.

Tools I use with clients to evolve leadership from the inside out:

• EMDR therapy to clear unresolved attachment wounds and limiting beliefs

• Somatic practices to notice and regulate your physiological responses in high-stress moments

• Mindfulness and breathwork to ground presence before difficult conversations or decisions

• Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) to open access to deeper self-reflection and emotional healing for those who feel "stuck"

Executive Presence Begins in the Body

The next time you walk into a room, pause. Check in with your body. Are you leading from urgency or grounded clarity?

Because leadership isn’t just about vision. It’s about the internal environment you carry into every interaction.

And if parts of that environment were shaped by early survival patterns, you don’t have to stay trapped in them. There is a path to secure, embodied leadership—and it starts with understanding the story your nervous system has been telling.