“Wil therapy help me?” is a great question to ask. Consider these tips when you are thinking about starting therapy or finding a new therapist.

When we disconnect from our body and stay in our head, we miss out on a connection to the deeper wisdom we can find within. Our body’s signals can often be dismissed or seen as less important than the messages we are receiving in our brains. However, it’s important to listen to our bodies, as the body is wise and can tell us what it needs to thrive.

Often a traumatic experience from a long time ago can show up in the here-and-now and most people won’t be aware that their response to something in the present moment has roots in something from years ago.

Once the body has encoded an experience as a threat to survival it is remembered and stored within the limbic system, which allows it to be recalled easily and quickly as opposed to long-term memory.

If the experience stays in the limbic system, for a variety of reasons, then this past experience can be triggered, or ‘lit up’, months or years later with something as small as a sound or a smell, and the victim can feel like the trauma is happening all over again, even though it is not.

If you have been experiencing constant worrying, chaotic thoughts, loss of appetite, inability to focus, disconnection from others or your own body, and/or insomnia, know that you are not alone! The extensive power and water outages, as well as food shortages, last year were a real threat to our survival; hundreds of people did not survive and our bodies know this on a deep, unconscious level. The worrying, disconnection, and sleeplessness are a result of the trauma you experienced last year.