Trauma Informed Care through Acupuncture

Trauma is becoming a hot topic in the world of alternative/complimentary medicine as well as allopathic western medicine. What East Asian medicine has documented and practiced for years is becoming more thoroughly studied and understood by western and eastern practitioners alike. The mind and the body are linked in deeper and more profound ways than we will likely ever know. Pain and trauma are not simply "in your head". The brain and body have a symbiotic relationship; one cannot be healed without the help of the other. They work together, always. Overwhelming experiences affect the development of brain, mind, and body awareness, all of which are closely intertwined.

One of my favorite texts, "The Body Keeps the Score", written by a medical doctor that specializes in trauma and PTSD, goes into detail about how trauma is stored and expressed in the somatic body in a multitude of ways. A patient might feel anxiety in their chest with heart palpitations, might feel depression as low back pain, or might suffer from incredible headaches stemming from chronic stress or trauma. Not only is it anecdotally evident, but through empirical study, trauma existing in the body can be proven in double blind, peer reviewed studies.

One of the many discoveries unearthed in these studies is huge aspect of our nervous system, the enteric nervous system, that lives in the gut and helps us to create many of our necessary neurochemicals. With such complex nervous systems, it is no wonder we are still discovering more each day on how the human body works and, more specifically, how we react to and store trauma internally.

Luckily enough, numerous studies detailed in the aforementioned book show that acupuncture, meditation, and mindfullness practices are the best way to process trauma out of the somatic and heal our minds and bodies simultaneously. If you have experienced trauma and you suspect it might be showing up in your body and mind, reach out. We can help.