Healing Trauma: Why Your Nervous System Holds the Key to Chronic Illness Recovery

Healing Trauma Isn’t About the Event — It’s About What It Did to Your Nervous System

When most people think of trauma, they picture a single, devastating moment: a sudden loss, an act of violence, a terrible accident. But trauma is not always loud.

Sometimes it’s quiet — woven into the subtle moments you may have dismissed at the time.

A cutting remark. A parent who wasn’t emotionally available. A time you needed comfort but met silence instead.

Trauma isn’t the event itself.

As Dr. Gabor Maté says: “Trauma is not what happens to you; it is what happens inside you as a result of what happened to you.”

That difference is everything.

How Trauma Impacts Your Health

Modern science now shows that unresolved trauma is one of the most powerful contributors to chronic illness, autoimmune conditions, and mental health struggles.

Here’s what happens inside the body:

Chronic survival mode – Trauma locks the nervous system in fight, flight, or freeze. This means you’re living with constant surges of cortisol and adrenaline.

Inflammation and immune suppression – Long-term activation of the stress response disrupts immune balance, promotes inflammation, and can trigger or worsen autoimmune issues.

Epigenetic changes – Research in epigenetics shows trauma can alter how your genes are expressed, changing the way your body regulates stress for years — even across generations.

Structural and functional brain changes – Trauma can shrink areas like the hippocampus (memory and learning) and overactivate the amygdala (fear centre), keeping you hyper-alert and unable to rest.

These changes are why you can be doing everything right — clean diet, supplements, movement, meditation — and still not feel significantly better. That was my story too. Until I realised the missing piece was my nervous system.

Why a Body-Based Approach Works Better

While traditional talk therapy can help process the story, it often doesn’t reach the physiological imprint trauma leaves behind.

Trauma lives in the body — in muscle tension, breath patterns, gut motility, and subtle shifts in posture and tone of voice.

Bottom-up healing works with the body first.

It signals safety directly to the nervous system, creating the conditions where the mind and body can work together to heal.

My Nervous System-Focused Approach

I combine three core modalities to restore balance, safety, and resilience:

IEMT (Integral Eye Movement Therapy)

Works with the brain’s memory reconsolidation processes through guided eye movement. This helps “recode” how past experiences are stored, removing the emotional charge without re-traumatising you.

Benefits:

Reduces emotional triggers and intrusive thoughts

Releases stuck patterns and limiting beliefs

Resolves identity-level imprints of trauma

Safe & Sound Protocol (SSP)

A polyvagal-informed listening therapy that uses specially filtered music to tone the vagus nerve and restore social engagement.

Benefits:

Calms an overactive nervous system

Reduces anxiety, overwhelm, and sensory sensitivity

Improves emotional regulation and trust in self and others

Somatic Connection & Deep Relaxation

Gentle, embodied practices like Yoga Nidra, breathwork, and grounding techniques that restore the body’s sense of safety and connection.

Benefits:

Releases stored tension from the body

Improves sleep, digestion, and immune function

Rebuilds trust between body and mind

Ways to Work With Me

Healing trauma doesn’t have to be long, exhausting, or painful. When you address the body’s need for safety, change often happens more quickly than you expect.

I offer:

Rebalance & Rebuild – A 4-week group programme starting Tuesday 2nd September, designed for women experiencing chronic stress, fatigue, or autoimmune challenges. Blending science, spirituality, and embodied practice.

1:1 Coaching – Personalised programmes (Breakthrough and Freedom) to regulate your nervous system and reclaim your vitality.

IEMT Sessions – Standalone or integrated sessions to release the emotional grip of past experiences.

You Are Not Broken

Your symptoms aren’t a sign of weakness. They are signs of a body that has been protecting you for a long time.

The good news is: protection can give way to connection, rest, and renewal.

If you’re ready to move from survival into true living — your healing journey can start here.

📩 Contact me here or email hello@emmatoms.co.uk to explore the right path for you.

Client Testimonial

Hear directly from one of my clients about how this work transformed their life: