Reclaiming Connection and Clarity: Returning to the Embodied Self
By Michelle Doublet, LCSW, E-RYT, CCTP-II, Certified TRET Practitioner
The Impact of Complex Trauma on Connection and Intuition
Complex trauma shapes our entire being—body, mind, and spirit—disrupting our ability to connect authentically with ourselves and others. It leaves lasting imprints on our nervous system, influencing how we perceive the world and interact in relationships. Trauma survival mechanisms such as fight, flight, and shutdown are automatic responses designed to keep us safe in the face of danger, but when trauma is unresolved, these responses can remain activated, interfering with clarity, connection, and intuition.
Additionally, trauma often leads to relational survival strategies such as appeasement and placating, which are distinct forms of the fawn response:
Appeasement involves proactively trying to prevent conflict or danger by pleasing others, often at the expense of your own needs or boundaries.
Placating is reactive, occurring when fear of harm or rejection causes you to comply or agree, even when it doesn’t align with your truth.
These responses may have been essential for survival in unsafe environments but can lead to chronic disconnection from your inner wisdom and authenticity. Healing requires compassionately addressing these patterns, creating space to distinguish between survival-based reactions and intuitive, embodied responses.
The Role of Boundaries in Healing and Connection
Trauma frequently disrupts our ability to establish healthy boundaries. For some, this manifests as porous boundaries, where it feels impossible to say no. For others, trauma creates rigid boundaries that block connection and intimacy. Both extremes reflect a survival-based approach to safety.
Somatic boundary work helps restore balance, empowering you to set boundaries that protect your energy while fostering authentic connection. This involves:
Listening to the body: Recognizing the sensations and signals that arise when boundaries are needed or crossed.
Practicing agency: Learning to say yes or no based on your internal needs rather than external pressures.
Building trust: Developing boundaries that allow safety and connection to coexist.
Boundaries are a vital step in reconnecting with yourself and others, enabling you to move from survival-based patterns to embodied clarity and trust.
Trauma and the Nervous System: The Automatic Responses
The nervous system governs how we respond to stress and trauma. Its primary automatic responses—fight, flight, and shutdown—are designed to protect us in the face of perceived danger. While these responses are adaptive in the short term, unresolved trauma can leave the nervous system stuck in these survival states, disrupting our sense of safety and connection.
Fight: Activates aggression or resistance to confront perceived threats.
Flight: Drives avoidance or escape behaviors to seek safety.
Shutdown: Results in emotional or physical numbness, dissociation, or a sense of helplessness.
These responses are not a choice—they are automatic, rooted in the body’s innate desire to protect you. Healing involves teaching the nervous system to recognize when it is safe to move out of survival and into regulation and connection.
Reclaiming the Embodied Self: A Holistic Approach
Healing trauma requires addressing its imprints on the body, nervous system, and energy field. Through somatic practices, boundary work, Trauma Resolution Energy Therapy (TRET), and a Somatic Internal Family Systems (IFS) approach, you can restore balance, clarity, and connection.
Somatic Practices: Listening to the Body’s Wisdom
Somatic practices help you tune into the sensations, emotions, and signals stored in your body, fostering a deeper connection to your embodied Self. These practices include:
Body scans: Cultivate awareness of physical sensations and areas of tension or numbness.
Grounding exercises: Use breathwork and gentle movement to anchor yourself in the present moment.
Somatic boundary work: Practice physical gestures to embody boundaries, such as pushing movements or expanding personal space.
By reconnecting with your body, you can process stored trauma, regulate your nervous system, and reclaim your inner wisdom.
Somatic Internal Family Systems: Embracing All Parts
Trauma fragments our sense of Self, creating internal conflicts between protective and vulnerable parts. Somatic Internal Family Systems (IFS) helps you connect with and integrate these parts, fostering internal harmony and clarity.
Each part of you—whether it’s the appeaser, the protector, or the wounded inner child—has a purpose rooted in survival. By engaging with these parts somatically, you can:
Locate parts in the body: Notice where each part “lives” and its associated sensations.
Engage in dialogue: Use breath, movement, and curiosity to understand each part’s intentions and needs.
Release and integrate: Reconnect these parts into the larger whole, fostering safety and coherence.
This process strengthens the nervous system, enabling you to move out of survival states and into authentic connection.
Trauma Resolution Energy Therapy: Healing at the Cellular and Energetic Level
Trauma leaves not only physical and emotional imprints but also energetic ones. Trauma Resolution Energy Therapy (TRET) addresses these imprints at a cellular and energetic level, helping you release blockages and restore balance.
TRET supports healing by:
Clearing the energetic charge of trauma.
Reconnecting you with your natural vitality and flow.
Realigning your energy systems to support regulation and integration.
When combined with somatic and IFS practices, TRET facilitates deep, multidimensional healing, helping you reclaim connection and clarity.
Connection as the Key to Healing
Trauma often isolates us, not just from others but also from ourselves. Rebuilding connection is essential for healing. This connection can take many forms:
Connection to the body: Practices like trauma-sensitive yoga and somatic movement foster self-awareness and trust.
Connection to others: Safe, attuned relationships help rewire the nervous system and rebuild trust in others.
Connection to intuition: Reclaiming the body’s wisdom allows you to discern between survival-based reactions and authentic guidance.
Moving Toward Clarity and Wholeness
Healing is not about erasing trauma; it is about transforming your relationship with it. Through somatic embodiment, boundary work, IFS, and TRET, you can reconnect with your body, trust your intuition, and reclaim your authentic Self.
This journey requires patience and compassion, but each step brings you closer to a life rooted in safety, connection, and clarity. By leaning into all parts of yourself with kindness, you can rediscover the wholeness that has always been within you.
Sources
David E. & Elizabeth H. PhD, 2011 - Overcoming Trauma Through Yoga - Reclaiming Your Body
Yoga-Enhanced Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (Y-CBT) for Anxiety Management: A Pilot Study
Lisa C, 2018 - The Art of Psychic Reiki
Susan McConnell - Somatic Internal Family Systems Therapy: Awareness Breath, Resonance, Movement and Touch in Practice
About Michelle Doublet
Michelle Doublet is a trauma expert specializing in somatic integrative psychotherapy, somatic embodiment coaching, subtle energy, yoga & movement-based healing. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP-II), Certified Trauma Resolution Energy Therapy (TRET) Practitioner, & Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RYT), she offers clinical and non-clinical services integrating mind-body connection, somatic practices, and energy medicine. With advanced training in somatic work & energy, along with a background in performing arts, dance, yoga, & fitness, Michelle deeply understands the body’s role in healing trauma. Based in New York, she is the founder of Thriving Light Wellness and creator of the Nervous System Musical Scale Theory, expanding the Polyvagal Theory to help individuals reclaim their inner light, personal power, & clarity.
Meet Michelle and learn more about trauma on The Embody Lab’s Therapist Directory.
If you’re interested in understanding more about how somatic practices can help you, consider working with a Somatic Therapist or Practitioner. The Embody Lab’s Somatic Therapist and Practitioner Directory can help you find the right practitioner to support your journey towards more self-compassion, connection, and authenticity. Explore our directory and find the support you need.
