Trauma is not an objective property of an event but a subjective experience created by the relationship between a present situation and past memories. Because experience is a combination of sensory input and remembered past, changing the meaning or narrative of past events can change the experience of trauma itself.

According to neuroanatomist Dr. Jill Bolte-Taylor, the brain's left emotional system stores past pain, trauma, and addiction. This isn't a flaw; it's a protective mechanism designed to trigger reactions based on past negative events. Healing involves understanding this system, not erasing it.

Trying to eliminate trauma is counterproductive. Instead, reframe its role by acknowledging it as a protective mechanism in your left brain. Thank it for its information, then consciously shift focus to other brain regions to self-soothe and move forward.

The "repetition compulsion" is driven by the brain's limbic (emotional) system, which trumps logic and has no concept of time. It compels individuals to recreate traumatic scenarios in an attempt to achieve a better outcome and "fix" the original wound.

Psychedelics may treat trauma by reducing activity in the brain's outer cortex (responsible for language, planning). This shifts consciousness to deeper regions like the insular cortex, allowing for profound insights and self-compassion without the usual cognitive filters of guilt and blame.

Trauma's definition should be tied to its outcome: any permanent change in behavior from an adverse event. This reframing allows for "positive trauma," where a difficult experience forces you to adapt and establish a new, higher-performing baseline, ultimately making you better off.

During REM sleep, the brain is in a unique state where the stress neurochemical noradrenaline is completely shut off. This allows the brain to reprocess difficult emotional experiences without the anxiety response, effectively stripping the painful charge from the memory itself.

To heal a relational wound, one must revisit the original feeling within a new, safe relationship. The healing occurs when this context provides a "disconfirming experience"—a different, positive outcome that meets the original unmet need and neurologically rewrites the pattern.

A therapy called IRT treats nightmares by leveraging memory reconsolidation. Patients actively recall a traumatic dream, rewrite its narrative and outcome while awake, and then resave the updated, less threatening version during their next sleep cycle, gradually diminishing its power.