Health For Life Grand Rapids

Many mental health issues are related to a trauma response in the brain and body. Trauma is often conceptualized as one single event or experience that causes intense fear or distress. However, not all people who experience these kinds of events develop trauma symptoms, and many people who do experience trauma symptoms cannot identify a single event such as this. Another way to understand trauma symptoms is that they occur when an individual’s context overwhelms their nervous system’s ability to cope. This forces the nervous system to utilize strategies to try to bring the body back into balance. These strategies are usually useful or adaptive in the moment, but unhealthy and disruptive in the long run.

The coping patterns can be related to addiction, disordered eating, the way we emotionally engage in relationships, or the chronic up-regulation (anxiety) or down-regulation (depression) of our nervous system. All are attempts to process the energy stored in the nervous system in response to stressors. Together we will utilize elements of mindfulness, somatic expression, Family Systems Theory, and Narrative therapy to develop new strategies to express emotion, regulate the nervous system, and communicate effectively with ourselves and with the people in our lives.