Reiki is widely reported by practitioners and clients to be a valuable complementary therapy for supporting trauma recovery and emotional healing, but it is not a standalone substitute for professional mental health care. It is used alongside traditional treatments like psychotherapy or medication to offer relief from trauma-related symptoms.
The belief is emotions and traumatic experiences can become trapped in the body, and somatic therapy helps release this pent-up tension and emotions. Somatic therapy uses body awareness, breathwork and movement exercises to be more aware of bodily sensations and release stored emotions.
In recent decades trauma healing has proved to be a holistic endeavor, and as the practice of energy therapies such as Reiki and Healing Touch are becoming more mainstream and even accepted in the medical community, these therapies boast a myriad of physical and psychological benefits that include trauma healing.
Wise Choices
THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTIONS FOR TRAUMA
7 Clear Signs Your Body Is Releasing Stored Trauma
Treatment for Unhealed Trauma
Common treatments for PTSD include trauma-informed therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). Trauma-informed therapy can provide a supportive and gentle approach when you walk into your therapist's office.
But in my experience, emotional healing happens in seven stages: awareness, acceptance, processing, release, growth, integration, and transformation. We don't move through these seven stages in a straight line, but we do pass through them all eventually on the path to healing.
Signs of Unresolved Trauma May Include:
The "3 C's of Trauma" usually refer to Connect, Co-Regulate, and Co-Reflect, a model for trauma-informed care focusing on building safe relationships, helping individuals manage overwhelming emotions (co-regulation), and processing experiences (co-reflection). Other "3 C's" include Comfort, Conversation, and Commitment for children's coping, and Catch, Check, Change from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for challenging negative thoughts in trauma recovery.
Healing from trauma requires working with both the mind and body. It means processing traumatic memories, challenging negative beliefs, and releasing stored emotions. With support and self-compassion, it is possible to rewire your brain and build healthier relationships.
What To Do
Complex PTSD (C-PTSD) involves classic PTSD symptoms plus additional difficulties, often described around 17 key areas, including severe emotional dysregulation (anger, hopelessness), distorted self-perception (shame, worthlessness), relationship problems (trust issues, isolation), dissociation (feeling unreal), and somatic issues (chronic pain, fatigue), alongside core PTSD symptoms like flashbacks, nightmares, hypervigilance, and avoidance.
Because our nervous system and brain can hold onto painful and traumatic events, chronic pain can be very real and present even after the physical injury has healed.
8 Trauma Release Exercises to Try at Home
It shows up as tight muscles, clenched shoulders, chronic headaches, and most commonly, digestive issues. These symptoms may not make sense to a physician, but a trauma-informed therapist can often tell that the discomfort is linked to a painful event your mind is trying to move on from.
Signs of childhood trauma
But it does provide some rough guidelines as to how soon may be too soon to make long-term commitments and how long may be too long to stick with a relationship. Each of the three numbers—three, six, and nine—stands for the month that a different common stage of a relationship tends to end.
Cherophobia is the fear of happiness, where individuals may believe that being happy leads to negative consequences.
Despite the challenges, healing from trauma is possible.
It's a journey of self-discovery, resilience, and transformation. Along the way, survivors learn to cultivate self-compassion and self-care, prioritizing their own well-being and honoring their inherent worth and dignity.
The “90-second rule,” introduced by Harvard neuroscientist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, reveals that an emotional surge in the body lasts only about 90 seconds—unless we mentally keep it alive.
If this unhealed trauma is not properly addressed, it can begin to manifest in several mental health disorders and negative behaviors. Those who are struggling with a substance use disorder are especially vulnerable to unhealed trauma, as drugs or alcohol can magnify the symptoms of a mental health disorder.
It won't rid you of PTSD and your fears, but let your tears flow and you'll maybe feel a little better afterwards. 'Crying for long periods of time releases oxytocin and endogenous opioids, otherwise known as endorphins. These feel-good chemicals can help ease both physical and emotional pain.
Symptoms of unprocessed trauma frequently emerge as: Physical symptoms: heart palpitations, sweating, or shaking. Emotional symptoms: panic, feeling trapped or terrified. Psychological symptoms: avoidance of situations that trigger the trauma.