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Sundown Healing Arts

Intuitive, compassionate bodywork for trauma

Signs of Trauma

When a traumatic event overwhelms your ability to handle it, the memory is stored as direct sensory information, rather than being processed and stored in the usual way. The physical and emotional shock of the event is also stored in the body.

The body and spirit do their best to work around the unprocessed memory and shock, but there is a continuing toll on energy, emotional well-being, and physical health. Over time, signs of unprocessed trauma urge you to seek healing.

Some signs of trauma include:

  • Chronic pain or recurring injuries which aren’t responding to treatment
  • Sensitivities and intolerances to foods and chemicals
  • Constant tension, inability to relax
  • Finding it challenging to keep up with basic self-care (laundry, meals, showers)
  • Consistently shallow breathing – from the chest rather than the belly
  • Chaotic, painful relationships
  • A sense of insurmountable isolation
  • Feeling fundamentally broken.
  • A fiercely critical internal voice that just won’t quit
  • Strong startle response to unexpected touch, sound, or light
  • Feeling anxious, panicky or terrified a lot
  • Feeling numb or blank a lot
  • Apologizing for everything
  • Doubting your perceptions
  • Suicidal thoughts or feelings
  • Avoiding emotions by overuse of alcohol, other drugs, sugar, exercise, overwork, etc.
  • A feeling of impending doom even when life is going well
  • Dissociation – consistent spaciness, feeling distant from current experience
  • Flashbacks – re-experiencing a past event through one or more senses (hearing, sight, emotions, etc.)

Please Note: People experience a full range of conscious memory after trauma, from complete details to complete amnesia. If you have some of these signs, but don’t remember any trauma, trust your inner wisdom as the final authority about your experiences.

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COVID-19 update here. Sessions available in person if vaccinated, and online.
Contact Sonia Connolly, LMT to schedule your appointment or free phone consultation in Portland, Oregon.
sonia@TraumaHealed.com
503-334-6434
My office is fragrance-free.

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People Say

Heidi

Sonia Connolly is truly a gifted therapist. Not only is she very knowledgeable and skilled, she also tunes in to my needs intuitively. She stays fully present and listens to me and my body. She provides a safe place for me to receive at my full capacity. Continue Reading (click twice)

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Sundown Healing Arts is size-friendly, diversity-friendly, queer-friendly, and trans-friendly. Persons of any body size, skin color, sexual orientation, and gender are welcome. Black Lives Matter.

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Sonia Connolly, LMT #12475    503-334-6434    2833 NE 8th Ave, Portland, Oregon 97212

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