When we listen to the body within the context of the therapeutic relationship, we gain a deeper understanding of what we need and how to try to meet those needs; and we can discern whether our feelings are relative to the present moment or if they are old feelings arising from unmet childhood needs.

Frequently, feelings are confusing because some of them are arising from unprocessed past experience. Getting “triggered” is an indication of this. Psychological or emotional material remains unconsciously stored within the body-mind because we went through periods of time when we were alone and it was too overwhelming to process and feel our feelings. Or, our ancestors may have gone through trauma and we are processing this ancestral trauma now.

Any experience that is overwhelming and creates intense emotions that we, or our ancestors, are/were forced to bear alone is registered in the personal or collective body as trauma. To cope, our bodies survival patterns of fight, flight, freeze or fawn get activated. These patterns are initially mechanisms of protection; if they become chronic, however, they become mechanisms of ongoing stress and disconnection. These patterns often prevent us from being able to relate to ourselves and others in the ways we want to.