How Trauma Gets Trapped in the Body — And How You Can Finally Let It Go
What The Body Keeps the Score teaches us about healing subconscious wounds
If you've ever felt stuck in patterns of fear, self-sabotage, anxiety, or emotional shutdown — even when your logical mind knows better — you're not broken. You're not lazy or lacking willpower.
You're likely living with unresolved trauma and stress patterns that are stored in your body and nervous system.
Dr. Bessel van der Kolk's groundbreaking book The Body Keeps the Score explains how this happens — and why change can feel so difficult when trauma lives beneath the surface.
The Core Message: Your Body Remembers What Your Mind Tries to Forget
Trauma isn’t just a memory. It’s a biological imprint.
In The Body Keeps the Score, van der Kolk shares decades of neuroscience and clinical research showing that trauma and overwhelming emotional experiences are literally stored in the body — particularly in the brainstem, limbic system, muscles, and fascia.
These stored patterns affect:
Your stress responses (fight, flight, freeze, fawn)
Emotional regulation
Hormonal balance
Immune function
Decision-making and behavior
Even your posture and breathing
What’s especially profound is that trauma affects the way the brain processes information, sometimes leaving people disconnected from their bodies and unable to fully experience the present moment — or basic emotions like safety or joy.
Why Change Can Feel So Hard (Even When You Want to Heal)
When trauma is unresolved, the nervous system can get stuck in a feedback loop, reliving past emotional states in response to current triggers — even if the threat is no longer present.
That’s why people often feel frustrated with themselves:
“I know I should be over this.”
“Why do I keep sabotaging myself?”
“I understand the pattern — but I can’t seem to break it.”
The reason? Subconscious programming.
Your subconscious mind influences over 90% of your thoughts, behaviors, and emotions — including deeply rooted beliefs formed in response to past experiences.
When trauma, stress, or emotional pain isn't fully processed, it can become crystallized into limiting subconscious beliefs like:
“I’m not safe.”
“I’m not good enough.”
“I’ll always be alone.”
“The world is dangerous.”
“I have to stay small to be loved.”
These beliefs don’t just influence how you feel — they shape your entire life experience.
Science Confirms: Trauma Changes the Brain and Body
Van der Kolk’s research (along with studies in neuroscience, somatic therapy, and epigenetics) reveals that trauma can cause measurable changes in the brain, including:
Hyperactivation of the amygdala (fear and emotional response)
Reduced function of the prefrontal cortex (rational thinking, self-regulation)
Disconnection from the insula (body awareness)
In short: trauma rewires the brain to stay alert to danger and can disconnect a person from feelings of safety, pleasure, or possibility.
It also impacts cellular function, with chronic stress influencing gene expression, immune system responses, and how the body stores fat, inflammation, and pain.
The Body Keeps the Score — But You Can Change the Story
While trauma can become stored in the body, the good news is this: the brain and body have the capacity to rewire and heal through conscious, safe, and embodied healing techniques.
This is where PSYCH-K® can support the process.
How PSYCH-K® Helps Release Trapped Emotions and Rewrite Limiting Beliefs
PSYCH-K® is a powerful modality designed to help you:
Access the subconscious mind in a safe and non-invasive way
Identify limiting beliefs created during or after trauma
Release emotional stress stored in the body
Integrate new beliefs aligned with your desired emotional state or life direction
Unlike traditional talk therapy — which often works on the level of conscious insight — PSYCH-K® aims to address subconscious programs that influence habits, emotional reactions, and self-image.
Because trauma and stress patterns are held below the surface, using subconscious change processes can:
Help your nervous system feel safer
Free your body from chronic tension or shutdown
Create emotional space for peace, connection, and creativity
Dissolve resistance and inner conflict around change
Many clients describe the experience as feeling like “a weight lifted” or “something finally let go that I’ve been holding for years.”
Final Thoughts: You’re Not Broken — You’re Carrying Something That Needs to Be Released
The Body Keeps the Score reminds us that trauma is not something you can simply think your way out of. It must be felt, acknowledged, and transformed — at emotional, physical, and subconscious levels.
You don’t have to stay stuck in survival mode.
By honoring your body’s wisdom, addressing subconscious patterns, and releasing stored emotional stress, you can reclaim your energy, clarity, and freedom.