Trauma lives in the body, so healing has to include it
September 29, 2026 · 28 min read
Gabor Maté explains how unresolved trauma lives in the body, Nicole LePera says trauma stored in the body shapes belief, Mel Robbins' therapist teaches a somatic 'slithering' practice for morning dread, and Paul Conti describes processing trauma rather than avoiding it. Talking alone often isn't enough when stress is held physically.
The rules, numbers and steps worth keeping in front of you.
- Gabor Maté: trauma is the wound left inside you, not the event itself.
- Maté: severe childhood trauma raises inflammation and stress hormones, which over time raise blood pressure and suppress immunity.
- Maté: about 80% of people with autoimmune diseases are women; he ties this to culture and repressed healthy anger, not gender.
- Maté's three steps: stop running from your pain, get curious with compassion, ask for help.
- Maté: patterns that run by default are not your fault, but they are now your responsibility.
- Nicole LePera: affirmations fail while the body is in alarm; regulate first and let belief follow lived evidence.
- LePera: practice belly breathing daily, outside of panic, so the skill is there when needed.
- Anne Davin: join the symptom, turn toward it and amplify it; feel your way through.
- Mel Robbins' slithering: slide to the floor, move slowly, crawl, stand when ready, and never get back in bed; she did it for six weeks.
- Paul Conti: trauma overwhelms coping and leaves you different; avoidance, guilt and shame keep it stuck.
- Conti: put words to it by talking or writing, and let yourself cry.
- Conti's substitutes to watch: punishment, avoidance and control; alcohol for coping is never good.
- Conti: aim for at least an hour of therapy a week and prioritize rapport.
- Suicidal thoughts, past abuse, persistent panic or physical illness call for a qualified clinician, not self-guided practice alone.
This is the short form. The full insight has every expert's reasoning, their own words and the sources.