Is Trauma Stored in The Body?: Weighing in on the Debate

You’ve probably seen some version of the debate around how/if/when the body stores trauma, and what that even means.

From where I sit, this issue is a language problem.

And more specifically, it is a concept problem.

Our understanding of “The Body” is changing. Scientifically. Spiritually.

The more we learn, the more specific the definition becomes - which consequently, and ironically, makes it more muddy.

For example, as we better define what the nervous system consists of and how it works, the more we tend to associate it with the mind and the more we remove it from the rest of the body. 

In some ways, it is as if we’re going the route of the transcendentalists and long for the day we can strip ourselves down to be transparent eyeballs. This desire to shed the body exists in multiple forms throughout history and ultimately comes down to a wish to escape the messy, painful elements of life.

However, the intersection of the conceptual nervous system as “not body” and the physical nervous system as “body” highlights for us the intersectionality of different systems.

Bodymind.

MindBody.

Psychosomatic.

The whole is always greater than the sum of its parts.

This is why I no longer treat bodies.

I treat people.

Of course it is important as practitioners for us to learn the details of the systems we affect, and to define what systems we are proficient at effecting.

At the same time, getting caught in rigid understandings of what constitutes those systems is misguided and will always break down upon closer inspection. Anyone who studies phases of matter knows that the line between a liquid and a solid is much blurrier than our gross categorization recognizes. Anyone who has explored spiritual truths knows that separation is illusory.

Where does mind end and body begin?

When you are ready to scroll past this post, is it the body or the mind that creates the movement?

In general, we can consider that there are 4 Bodies: 

• Physical - what we can perceive with our physical senses that most other people will also be able to perceive. Putting it crudely, if you can cut it out or interrupt its function by displacing its position, it belongs in this category.

• Mental - thought forms. The insubstantial content that creates and/or articulates how we understand ourselves, others and the world around us

• Relational/emotional - our responses consisting of the feedback around our interactions with various people (including ourselves) and circumstances

• Energetic/spiritual - often considered to carry the blueprint for the other bodies, it is defined by our connection to whatever we feel is larger than ourselves (nature, society, the Divine, etc)

Sitting with each description for a moment, and we can see there are large areas of overlap. The most effective therapists, bodyworkers and practitioners work in the overlap.

Separate systems don’t cobble together to somehow create a person. People are entities that express simultaneously through multiple systems.

We are symphonies and synchronies.

With this understanding, the question of whether or not trauma is stored in the body expands to as “which body?” And as with how the nervous system bridges those systems, then it stands to reason that trauma pain and trauma responses also cross bodies. The language we use to describe the anatomy of the intersection is going to be confusing for a while as our concepts update to meet our observations. Our present argument stems primarily from our adhering to strict categorization (which has been beneficial and necessary) that is slowly restructuring.

Let us keep learning about the elements that make us tick, because that will help us continue to answer the underlying question - how do we help people heal?

While also respecting the crossroads, remembering that no one piece outweighs the whole.