Introduction: Trauma—It’s Like Adjusting a Kaleidoscope’s Lens
Ah, trauma. The word alone can feel as inviting as being volunteered for karaoke when you don’t know the song. But let’s get real: trauma isn’t just something that happens to “those people over there.” It’s a universal experience, like someone twisting the lens of your kaleidoscope world-view and scattering the patterns you thought you could rely on. The pieces are still there, but the way they align and reflect changes—leaving us feeling distorted, out of sync and unsure of how to move forward.
Trauma doesn’t break us; it remodels the lens through which we process safety, relationships, and meaning. It rewires our neural pathways, reshaping how we perceive the world and respond to it. For neurodivergent folks, the kaleidoscope already has unique wiring. Living in a world designed for neurotypicals often means enduring misunderstandings, sensory overload, and exclusion from the earliest of years onwards. This creates a baseline of trauma, layered with any additional life challenges like neglect, abuse, or systemic oppression.
Let’s not sugarcoat it: neurodivergent trauma is complex. It often starts early, in childhood, and shows up in unique ways depending on the wiring:
For autistic individuals: Trauma often arises from sensory overwhelm, constant masking (hiding true behaviors to fit societal expectations), and social exclusion. Imagine being in a noisy classroom every day while trying to suppress natural stimming behaviors—this daily battle with overstimulation can leave deep scars.
For ADHDers: Trauma frequently stems from chronic invalidation—being told to “just try harder” or “stop being lazy.” Executive dysfunction combined with societal pressures can create a sense of inadequacy, leading to emotional dysregulation and rejection sensitivity.
For gifted individuals: Trauma can emerge from feeling perpetually misunderstood, being labeled “too much,” or carrying the weight of high expectations. Gifted kids might internalize a need for perfection, turning every mistake into a source of shame.
These unique forms of trauma interact with life’s bigger challenges, like intergenerational pain, systemic oppression, or growing up in unsafe environments. But the beauty of the kaleidoscope is its capacity for transformation—adjusting the lens, bit by bit, until the patterns reveal something new and whole - yes we have the capacity to rewire our neural pathways and realign the kaleidoscope and world-view.
Trauma Across Cultures: How Different Lenses Adjust the View
Trauma isn’t a one-dimensional experience—it’s deeply shaped by culture, history, and individual perspectives. Different traditions bring unique approaches to healing, offering pathways to realign the patterns trauma distorts in our lives. Let’s dive deeper into how diverse lenses address trauma’s impact.
1. Western Therapy: Fight, Flight, Freeze, and the Amygdala
Western psychology dives deep into the biology of trauma, focusing on how it activates the fight-or-flight (or freeze) response in the brain. Trauma overstimulates the amygdala (the brain’s alarm system), keeping the body in a constant state of hypervigilance. The prefrontal cortex (the rational decision-maker) struggles to regain control, and the hippocampus (the memory processor) can get stuck, replaying traumatic events like a broken record.
Healing modalities aim to rewire these neural pathways:
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing): Helps the brain process stuck memories by mimicking the natural rhythm of REM sleep.
Somatic Experiencing: Focuses on releasing trauma stored in the body, teaching the nervous system to find balance again.
CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy): Challenges distorted thought patterns, creating new mental frameworks for understanding the world.
IFS (Internal Family Systems): Explores the “parts” of the psyche affected by trauma and works to unburden them, allowing for reintegration and harmony.
Trauma is also understood through attachment theory, exploring how early relationships shape our ability to regulate emotions and connect with others.
Expressive Arts Therapies: Creative modalities like art therapy, music therapy, and dance/movement therapy provide non-verbal pathways for expressing and processing trauma, tapping into parts of the brain where words might fail.
2. Indigenous Wisdom: Restoring Connection to the Web of Life
In Indigenous cultures, trauma is often understood as a loss of connection—to self, community, ancestors, and the natural world. Healing focuses on restoring these bonds. The shaman acts as a guide, not by “fixing” but by facilitating realignment. Using rituals, storytelling, and sacred ceremonies, they help individuals rediscover their place in the interconnected web of existence.
Plant Medicine (Ayahuasca and Others)
Sacred plants like ayahuasca, peyote, or iboga are used in ceremonial contexts to access deeper layers of the psyche and spirit. These substances can help individuals confront and integrate suppressed emotions, memories, and traumas, often guided by a shaman or healer. The experience is both cathartic and transformative, providing clarity and reintegration into a more balanced state of being.
South African Traditions
Trauma is also addressed through ancestral connection and the philosophy of Ubuntu, meaning "I am because we are." Rituals led by sangomas (traditional healers) involve animal offerings, drumming, and herbs to honor ancestors and restore communal and spiritual harmony. The collective nature of healing in South African traditions emphasizes shared experiences like song, dance, and storytelling, reinforcing bonds and providing emotional release.
Berber (Amazigh) Practices
In North Africa, Berber traditions incorporate healing through symbolic practices and connection to the earth. Cleansing rituals with natural elements like clay and henna are paired with protective symbols, tattoos, and amulets to realign the individual with spiritual and physical forces. Music, particularly through Gnawa trance rituals, uses rhythm and chanting to release trauma and connect with deeper layers of the soul, blending emotional release with spiritual grounding.
Trauma, in this lens, isn’t just an individual issue but a communal one. When one person is out of balance, the entire community feels it. Healing, therefore, is a shared endeavor—realigning not just the individual kaleidoscope but the larger patterns of the group.
3. Eastern Traditions: Observing the Flow of Life
Eastern traditions approach trauma as a disruption in the natural flow of life, whether it’s the balance of energies within the body or the patterns of the mind. Healing focuses on mindfulness, alignment, and restoring harmony to create a sense of clarity and wholeness.
Buddhism
In Buddhism, trauma is part of the universal experience of dukkha (suffering). The path to healing involves mindfulness, meditation, and compassion—tools that help individuals observe their trauma without clinging to or avoiding it. Over time, this practice allows the patterns of the kaleidoscope to settle, creating clarity.
Ayurveda
Trauma disrupts the balance of the body’s doshas. For instance, a vata imbalance may cause anxiety, while a pitta imbalance might lead to anger or inflammation. Healing involves recalibrating these energies through tailored diets, herbs, and rituals. Practices like yoga and pranayama (breathwork) are also key to restoring balance and releasing stored tension.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)
TCM views trauma as a disruption in the body’s vital energy, or qi, often causing blockages in the meridians (energy pathways). These disruptions can manifest as physical or emotional symptoms. Healing focuses on restoring the free flow of qi through acupuncture, herbal remedies, and practices like tai chi or qigong. TCM also sees trauma as closely linked to the emotions stored in specific organs like grief in the lungs, anger in the liver, fear in the kidneys, etc. By addressing these imbalances holistically, TCM aims to realign the patterns disrupted by trauma and restore harmony.
Chakra Healing and Reiki
Building on ancient Eastern philosophies, modalities like chakra balancing and Reiki work with the body’s energy centers. Trauma is often seen as causing blockages or imbalances in the chakras, which can manifest as physical symptoms or emotional distress. For example trauma in early childhood might block the root chakra, leading to feelings of instability or fear. Heartbreak or grief might close the heart chakra, impacting one’s ability to connect or trust. Reiki and chakra healing use gentle energy work to restore balance, promoting a sense of safety and flow.
4. Abrahamic Faiths: Wrestling with the Divine
In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, trauma often brings up existential questions: “Why me?” or “Why does suffering exist?” Healing involves wrestling with these questions in the context of faith, ultimately finding meaning and purpose.
Prayer and Meditation: Reciting sacred texts or personal prayers can create a space for reflection and connection to the divine, offering comfort and guidance.
Forgiveness and Lamentation: In these traditions, forgiveness isn’t just for others—it’s also for oneself. Rituals of lamentation (e.g., reciting psalms or other prayers of mourning) allow for the expression of grief and sorrow, creating emotional release and spiritual clarity.
Pilgrimage: A journey to a sacred site (like Mecca, the Western Wall, or Lourdes) offers an intentional space for healing, allowing individuals to physically and metaphorically move toward wholeness.
These traditions emphasize the power of communal healing. Belonging to a spiritual community provides a sense of safety and support, reframing trauma as a shared burden rather than an isolated experience.
Whole-istic Healing: Adjusting Every Layer of the Lens
In my work, I use a Whole-istic Healing Model because no single approach can tackle the complexity of trauma on its own. Every tradition—whether it’s Indigenous wisdom reconnecting us with nature and community, Eastern practices aligning our energy and balance, or Western therapy grounding us in neuroscience and relationships—brings something valuable to the table. Trauma reshapes how we experience the world, and by blending these diverse perspectives, we can adjust the lens to see life more clearly. This approach celebrates the richness of different healing paths, combining tools and insights to help each person realign their unique patterns into something balanced, personal, and vibrant.
Healing isn’t about picking just one path—it’s about finding what resonates with your own journey. My approach asks, What happened to me? instead of What’s wrong with me? This simple shift invites self-compassion and curiosity, making space to explore wounds without judgment. By integrating physical, mental-emotional, relational, and spiritual dimensions, we can look at trauma as a chance to find or (re)connect with our authentic selves, grow resilience, and uncover meaning in the process. Healing isn’t a straight road—it’s a spiral of learning, adjusting, and growing, all guided by compassion every step of the way.
1. Physical Healing: Supporting the Body’s Foundation
Trauma often leaves an imprint on the body, dysregulating systems and depleting resources. Physical healing creates a foundation of safety and vitality, helping the body return to a state of balance.
Nutrition: Whole, nutrient-dense foods support gut-brain health and reduce systemic inflammation. You may benefit from an anti-inflammatory diet rich in omega-3s, probiotics, and whole foods, which nurture both physical and emotional resilience.
Movement: Practices like yoga, tai chi, and qigong promote the release of stored tension while fostering mind-body connection. These gentle, intentional movements can widen the “window of tolerance,” helping individuals feel more present and grounded.
Somatic Awareness: Building on Gabor Maté’s work, somatic practices that integrate compassionate attention to bodily sensations (like TRE or body scans) allow individuals to reconnect with their bodies, recognizing them as a source of wisdom rather than fear.
Sleep Optimization: Restorative sleep is essential for regulating the nervous system. Trauma-informed sleep hygiene practices—like calming rituals, a consistent schedule, and minimizing screen time before bed—can help survivors reclaim this critical element of healing.
2. Mental-Emotional Healing: Rewiring Inner Patterns
Trauma rewires the brain, creating loops of fear, shame, and disconnection. Mental-emotional healing involves gently interrupting these patterns and creating new, more empowering ones.
Trauma-Focused Therapies: Modalities like EMDR, somatic experiencing, and trauma-informed CBT help process and integrate traumatic memories. Compassionate Inquiry complements these therapies by encouraging curiosity about the stories we tell ourselves and the origins of those narratives.
Attachment Work: Exploring early relational dynamics helps uncover how trauma may have shaped attachment styles, emotional regulation, and trust. Therapy informed by attachment theory fosters secure connections both internally (with ourselves) and externally (with others).
Journaling and Reflection: Writing exercises and compassionate self-inquiry provide a safe space for processing emotions, identifying triggers, and reframing negative thought patterns.
3. Relational Healing: Rebuilding Connection
Trauma often isolates individuals, severing their connection to others. Relational healing rebuilds these bridges, fostering trust and a sense of belonging.
Safe Communities: Finding or creating spaces where individuals feel seen, heard, and supported is vital. Trauma survivors often thrive in groups that value empathy and shared understanding, such as peer-support groups or communities rooted in shared experiences.
Family Systems Work: Breaking cycles of intergenerational trauma involves understanding how familial patterns and dynamics perpetuate wounds. Compassionate Inquiry helps identify these patterns with kindness rather than judgment, creating space for healthier connections.
Boundaries and Communication: Establishing clear, compassionate boundaries allows individuals to navigate relationships with autonomy and safety. Learning effective communication tools fosters healthier, more authentic interactions.
4. Spiritual Healing: Realigning with Purpose and Meaning
Trauma disrupts not just our sense of safety but our sense of purpose and connection to something greater. Spiritual healing invites individuals to rediscover meaning and transcendence in their lives.
Mindfulness Practices: Cultivating presence through meditation, breathwork, or body scans helps anchor individuals in the present moment, reducing reactivity and fostering self-awareness.
Nature Connection: Spending time outdoors—whether walking in a forest, gardening, or simply observing the rhythms of nature—restores a sense of interconnectedness and grounding. Compassionate Inquiry acknowledges the healing power of nature as a reflection of our innate capacity for growth and renewal.
Rituals and Symbolism: Engaging in personal or cultural rituals fosters transcendence and reconnection to traditions, ancestors, or spiritual beliefs. Whether through prayer, dance, or creative expression, rituals provide a pathway to reframe trauma as part of a larger narrative.
Barriers to trauma Healing
Healing from trauma is rarely a straightforward process. It’s a journey that can be disrupted by both personal struggles and larger systemic challenges. Trauma already distorts the way we see and navigate the world, and these barriers can further cloud the lens, making it harder to find clarity and balance. Among these hurdles, the toxic triad—Big Pharma, Big Food, and Big Farming—along with systemic injustice, plays a significant role in preventing recovery. These forces intersect with personal challenges, creating layers of complexity that make the path to healing even more difficult to start, continue or overcome. Let’s break down these barriers and explore their deeper impact.
The Toxic Triad: Pharma, Food, and Farming
Big Pharma: Medications often focus on symptom management rather than addressing trauma’s deeper roots. For neurodivergent folks, this is particularly complex. While medications can ease executive dysfunction or emotional dysregulation, they sometimes dull creativity or intensify sensory challenges. Overprescription, paired with a lack of accessible trauma-informed care, leaves many feeling stuck—regulated but not truly healed.
Big Food: A diet dominated by processed foods doesn’t just impact physical health—it clouds mental clarity and emotional stability. The gut-brain connection is especially crucial for neurodivergent individuals, whose sensitivities can amplify the effects of inflammatory foods. For example, a child with ADHD eating a diet heavy in additives and sugars may experience heightened hyperactivity and emotional swings, compounding existing challenges.
Big Farming: Industrial agriculture erodes not just soil but also our connection to the cycles of nature that are inherently restorative. Trauma healing often involves grounding practices, and the disconnection from nutrient-rich, natural foods and the physical act of tending to the earth makes this grounding harder to achieve. The shift toward regenerative farming and food sovereignty offers hope but remains inaccessible to many.
Systemic Injustice: Collective Trauma and Intersectionality
Trauma doesn’t operate in isolation; it’s often compounded by systemic factors. Marginalized groups, from communities of color to LGBTQIA+ individuals, live with the weight of structural inequities that exacerbate the impact of trauma. For example:
Racial and Cultural Trauma: Generational legacies of slavery, colonization, or displacement create deep wounds that ripple through families and communities.
Disability and Neurodivergence: Societal exclusion, lack of accommodations, and constant misrepresentation reinforce feelings of being “othered.”
Gender Inequality: Women and gender-diverse individuals face higher rates of trauma, particularly through gender-based violence and systemic oppression.
Neurodivergent individuals often navigate multiple layers of intersectionality, compounding their struggles. For instance, an autistic person of color may face discrimination not only for their race but also for their sensory needs and communication style, creating a web of systemic barriers to healing.
Additional Barriers to Healing
Medical Gaslighting: Being Misunderstood or Dismissed
Neurodivergent individuals can experience medical gaslighting, where their symptoms are minimized or misattributed. A neurodivergent adult seeking help for trauma might hear dismissive statements like, “Oh, that’s just your ADHD acting up,” or in the case of an undiagnosed individual, “You’re just overwhelmed, it’s normal to feel this way,” or “Maybe you’re just too emotional.” Such responses not only ignore the deeper root causes but also perpetuate harmful stereotypes, particularly around women’s health and neurodivergence. This dismissal reinforces feelings of invisibility, invalidates their lived experiences, and discourages individuals from seeking further help or advocating for themselves. It often leaves neurodivergent individuals navigating their healing journey alone, without the support and validation they deserve.
Economic Inequality: The Cost of Healing
Healing can be expensive—therapy, medication, dietary changes, and time for self-care all require resources that many people don’t have. Trauma disproportionately affects marginalized groups, who are often already under financial strain. This creates a sad vicious cycle: trauma impacts their ability to earn or function optimally, and the lack of resources blocks access to healing.
Social Isolation: The Absence of Safe Support Networks
Trauma often isolates people, making them feel disconnected from their communities. For neurodivergent individuals, this isolation can be amplified by difficulties in building and maintaining social relationships. Without a supportive network, the healing journey becomes lonelier and harder to navigate.
Cultural Stigma: Silence Around Mental Health and Trauma
In many cultures, mental health and trauma remain taboo subjects. Seeking therapy or even acknowledging the impact of trauma can be seen as weakness. This stigma creates a barrier to accessing resources, particularly for men, older generations, and those in communities where stoicism is culturally valued.
Overwhelmed Systems: Lack of Trauma-Informed Care
Healthcare systems are often ill-equipped to handle trauma effectively. Many therapists and practitioners are not trained in trauma-informed care, leading to a mismatch in treatment approaches. For neurodivergent individuals, who may require tailored, sensory-sensitive care, these gaps can make therapy feel more harmful than helpful.
Trauma’s Sneaky Nature: The Freeze Response and Dissociation
Trauma doesn’t always show up as fight or flight—it can manifest as freeze or dissociation. When stuck in these states, individuals may feel detached from their emotions, memories, or even physical sensations, making it harder to engage with healing processes. This is especially common in those with PTSD or complex trauma (C-PTSD), where the nervous system becomes locked in protective shutdown.
The Compounding Effect: Barriers Feeding Barriers
These barriers don’t exist in isolation; they interact and amplify each other. A lack of access to nutritious food can worsen emotional dysregulation, while economic influences and stigmas limit access or openness to therapy. Similarly, systemic oppression magnifies personal trauma, creating a kaleidoscope clouded not by one issue but by layers of interconnected challenges.
Understanding these barriers is crucial—not to create a sense of hopelessness, but to show why healing requires more than individual effort. It’s about shifting the systems, relationships, and structures that shape the kaleidoscope’s patterns, allowing individuals to realign their lenses in environments that support and celebrate them.
Conclusion: The Journey Toward Clarity and Healing
Healing from trauma, especially for neurodivergent individuals, is no small topic. It’s a complex, deeply personal journey that requires addressing barriers, challenging systemic inequities, and rediscovering connections to ourselves, others, and the world around us. Trauma may scatter the patterns of our kaleidoscope, but with curiosity, compassion, and the right tools, it’s possible to realign those fragments into something even more beautiful and authentic.
Every person’s path is unique—whether it’s through the science of Western therapy, the rituals of Indigenous practices, the mindfulness of Eastern traditions, or the grounding power of nature. The key is not in choosing one approach but in integrating what resonates most deeply with your own needs and experiences. Healing is about rewiring, reshaping, and rediscovering a sense of wholeness and purpose.
So take it step by step, allowing space for both the highs and the inevitable setbacks. Surround yourself with supportive communities, seek out compassionate inquiry, and remember that healing is not a destination—it’s an ongoing process of growth and realignment. Your journey matters, and every small shift in your kaleidoscope creates ripples of hope, connection, and resilience.
Resources to Support Your Healing Journey
My Offerings
Trauma-Informed Coaching: Personalized support for neurodivergent individuals and trauma survivors, integrating compassionate inquiry, somatic practices, and practical tools.
Workshops and Group Programs: Safe spaces to explore trauma, build resilience, and connect with others navigating similar paths.
Whole-istic Healing Model Framework: A multidimensional approach to healing that integrates physical, mental-emotional, relational, and spiritual dimensions.
Books to Deepen Your Understanding
"The Body Keeps the Score" by Bessel van der Kolk A cornerstone in trauma research, explaining how trauma impacts the brain and body and offering insights into effective healing practices.
"Waking the Tiger" by Peter Levine An accessible guide to somatic experiencing and how to release trauma stored in the body.
"When the Body Says No" by Gabor Maté Explores the link between trauma, stress, and physical illness, encouraging a compassionate inquiry into the root causes of suffering.
"Neurodivergent Mind" by Jenara Nerenberg A deep dive into the unique challenges and strengths of neurodivergent individuals, with practical advice on thriving in a neurotypical world.
"It Didn't Start with You" by Mark Wolynn Examines intergenerational trauma and how patterns from the past influence our present, offering tools to break free and heal.
"Radical Acceptance" by Tara Brach A beautiful exploration of self-compassion and mindfulness as tools for healing emotional wounds.
Additional Practices to Explore
Somatic therapies such as TRE (Tension and Trauma Release Exercises).
Expressive arts like journaling, painting, or music for emotional release.
Connection with nature through ecotherapy or forest bathing.
Joining supportive communities, whether online or in-person, where you can share, learn, and grow with others.
Remember, healing isn’t a one-size-fits-all process, and there’s no right or wrong way to begin. Whether you’re exploring trauma’s roots, seeking tools to manage its effects, or simply learning to hold yourself with compassion, you are already taking courageous steps forward. Your kaleidoscope is yours to realign—and it holds the potential for incredible beauty and transformation!
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