Trauma & Healing
Gentle reflections and tools from my own healing journey — shared with care, for anyone exploring the deep work of coming home to themselves.
Over the years, I’ve come to understand that trauma doesn’t always look like a single big event. It can live in the quiet moments too — in the things we were told (or not told), the ways we were shaped, the parts of ourselves we had to tuck away to feel safe, or loved, or simply accepted.
For me, it’s been a journey of recognising how my childhood — small moments like not being able to wear the outfit I wanted on my birthday — left lasting messages in my body: that it wasn’t okay to fully express myself, that maybe I wasn’t enough. And later in life, facing bigger losses — like the grief of losing my mum to cancer, and the weight of being there through her illness — deepened my understanding of how emotions, when unspoken or pushed down, can settle in the body.
Through this, I’ve worked with children with learning and behavioural difficulties, witnessed addiction in people close to me, and started connecting the dots between emotional pain and physical health. I began to explore tools — gentle, powerful tools — that support emotional healing: from Bach Flower remedies to meditation, somatic awareness, and understanding how the mind, body, and spirit are deeply intertwined.
This space isn’t here to give advice — but to offer what I’ve learned, what’s helped me, and what continues to support others. If you’re navigating your own healing, or just beginning to explore how your past has shaped your present, I hope this space feels like a soft place to land.
Books
These are the titles I’ve turned to during difficult moments, ones that gently shifted my understanding of myself, healing, and what’s possible. Some brought comfort, some cracked me open, and others offered language for things I’d long felt but couldn’t explain. I share them here in case they meet you at just the right time too.
This book made me pause — deeply. With such care and clarity, Dr. Gabor Maté explores something many of us intuitively feel but struggle to articulate: that our bodies often carry the weight of unspoken emotions. Through heartfelt stories and years of medical insight, he gently asks powerful questions — like whether loneliness can affect our health, or if suppressing emotions might play a part in illness.
Reading this felt like being given permission to look inward with compassion, not blame. It was like holding up a mirror to parts of myself I hadn’t fully acknowledged. It helped me understand how stress, people-pleasing, and emotional repression may quietly shape our wellbeing and how they have played out in my own life. What I especially loved were his “Seven A’s of Healing” — a kind, hopeful framework for finding our way back to ourselves. This book doesn’t offer a quick fix, but it does offer truth, understanding, and a softer way to start listening when our bodies speak.
This book is often called the “trauma Bible” — and honestly, I can see why. It is one of those life-changing books that gently — and sometimes uncomfortably — opens our eyes to the deep imprint trauma leaves on the body and mind. Through years of clinical experience, research, and heartfelt storytelling, van der Kolk shows us that trauma isn’t something that simply happens in the past — it lives in our nervous system, shapes our relationships, and often drives our behaviours in ways we may not realise.
Reading this book helped me see how unprocessed pain can linger silently beneath the surface — not just emotionally, but physically — and how healing requires more than just talk. It asks for connection, safety, and a reconnection with the body itself. If you’ve ever wondered why certain patterns persist, or why healing feels just out of reach, this book offers hope, science, and a deeply human path forward.
conversations
These are the voices I’ve returned to in quiet moments — conversations that opened something in me, helped me feel seen, or reminded me of what matters. Whether it’s gentle insights, bold truths, or unexpected wisdom, each episode here has stayed with me long after the listening ended. I hope they speak to you, too, in just the way you need.
In this powerful talk, Dr. Gabor Maté gently but boldly redefines trauma — not as the event itself, but what happens inside us as a result. With deep compassion, he shares how childhood wounds, emotional repression, and disconnection from self are often at the root of anxiety, addiction, and illness. This isn’t just about healing pain — it’s about coming home to ourselves.
"We don't respond to the present moment. We respond to the past."-Gabor Maté
Step Inside the Circle moved me deeply. Watching it revealed just how profoundly childhood trauma can shape a life — and how behind every hardened exterior is often a wounded child. This powerful short film invites us to see those in prison not as broken or evil, but as human beings shaped by pain. It reminded me that no one is born violent — and that healing begins with understanding and compassion.
teachings
This is a growing collection of resources, in the form of videos, articles, websites, and quiet corners of the internet that have guided me, answered questions I didn’t know I was asking, or led me deeper into something meaningful. These aren’t endorsements — just resources that sparked something real in me, and might do the same for you.
In this poignant talk, filmmaker Almudena Toral brings to light the unseen psychological scars left by trauma. Through the story of Adayanci Pérez, a six-year-old girl from Guatemala who suffered severe trauma after being separated from her father at the U.S. border, Toral emphasises the power of storytelling in healing. Her work is a heartfelt call to recognise and address the deep wounds caused by policies that dehumanise, urging us to listen, empathise, and advocate for change.
Dr. Gabor Maté’s keynote at Scotland’s ACEs to Assets Conference was a profound turning point in my understanding of trauma. It was the first time I encountered the term Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and it felt like a light switched on. Suddenly, the patterns of addiction, anxiety, and disconnection I’d witnessed in others—and felt within myself—made sense.
Maté’s message was clear and compassionate: trauma isn’t just what happens to us, but what happens inside us when we’re left alone with pain. He showed how early emotional wounds can shape our entire lives, and how healing begins when we reconnect with our true selves.
This talk reminded me that no one is born broken. We all carry stories, and with awareness and compassion, we can begin to rewrite them.