LIVING WELL By Molly Fleming, LPC/MHSP, NCC, RYT
Heal Trauma Holistically Trauma is defined as “a deeply distressing or disturbing experience” and secondarily as “physical injury.” It can manifest as both but not always. A devastating single event like a natural disaster or unexpected loss of a loved one can cause trauma— or it can also be the result of chronic difficulty that overwhelms an individual’s ability to cope. Growing up in a physically violent or emotionally abusive environment; the isolation of extreme poverty, racism, and sexism; and the abuse of power in all its many forms, including political, social, and religious constructs can create trauma. It happens at the dinner table, on the playground, in the street. Trauma happens pretty much everywhere, and almost everyone has experienced something of it, whether we consciously recognize it or not. Trauma makes us sick. Physical ailments like migraines, TMJ, IBS, Fibromyalgia, and other forms of chronic pain, auto-immune disorders, hypertension, and addictions of all kinds are frequently associated with trauma.
Trauma also affects how we interact with others and how we experience ourselves, including personal and professional relationship challenges, anxiety, depression, self-judgment, shame, and anger management difficulties.
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Molly Fleming, LPC/MHSP, NCC, RYT is a counselor in private practice at Autumn House, near the Broad Avenue Arts District in Midtown Memphis. Molly works alongside three other licensed professional counselors, all independent mental health service providers who share a commitment to foster healing, choice, and freedom of expression in their work. To reach out, email Mollykflemingcounseling@gmail.com.
