Trauma does not live only in memory. It lives in the beliefs clients hold about themselves.
“I am not safe” and “It was my fault” are not irrational thoughts; they are conclusions the nervous system drew during an experience it could not fully process.
We see the client whose panic attacks began six months ago, but whose hypervigilance began in childhood; the high-functioning professional unable to let go of perfectionism; the parent who dissociates during bath time without understanding why. The past does not stay in the past. It shapes attachment, self-concept, relationships, avoidance and somatic reactivity.