Trauma isn’t just what happened to you, it’s how your brain and body responded to what happened.

As humans, we are survival beings, which means that we are designed to continue existing despite hardships or difficult conditions. The brain that is wired to survive can’t also be wired to self-destruct.

Coping skills, like deep breathing and grounding exercises, are absolutely essential when you are in the heat of a crisis. But they are still band-aids. They are used to get us through the challenging situation, not to heal us from it.