Adoptee Reclaimed

Hey friends, today I wanted to talk about two of the more common nervous system trauma responses adoptees may experience: FREEZE or FAINT.

Nervous system integration is essentially your brain-body connection. A healthy nervous system is steady and ready to respond to good and bad experiences. An activated nervous system may be locked in stress mode, causing burnout and anxiety. Trauma responses occur when your mental health impacts your physical and emotional functioning and throws your nervous system into an activated state.

In the face of a percieved threat, the body and brain may 'disconnect' from each other, or it may feel like a traffic jam in your mind and body.

Adoptees are particularly susceptible to getting locked into a trauma response like Freeze or Faint because our early childhood adversity, maternal seperation, and adoption trauma, may have trained us to identify and hyper-focus on 'threats' during critical brain development.

Good news! The nervous system can be trained! However, if an activated nervous system is paired with poor living conditions, persistent exisential threats, or lack of trauma-awareness, adoptees may live in an activated nervous system for years.

Understanding the difference between the two activated states can help you understand how to soothe and restore brain-body connection.

Drop any questions below and I will do my best to answer them!

As we enter 2025 I have lots in store - so be sure to stay tuned! In the meantime, here are a few New Year's reminders for you.

Cheers to a great new year!



#2025

This one is going to be one you won't want to miss!