From Stomach Knots to Headaches: How Trauma Therapy in Seattle Can Help Your Body Heal
Photo courtesy of Hitomi Okushima @ Upsplash
When Trauma Shows Up In The Body
You might not think of headaches, stomach pain, or chronic tension as signs of trauma. But the truth is, the body often speaks when words can’t.
Even years after painful experiences, your nervous system can stay on high alert — leaving your body to carry the story your mind has tried to forget.
A lot of people come to trauma therapy in Seattle wondering why they’re still anxious, exhausted, or in pain when life looks “fine” on the outside. The connection between trauma and physical health is one of the most profound — and hopeful — areas of healing. Once you start understanding how your body and brain respond to trauma, you can finally begin to work with those responses instead of against them.
Hi, I’m Diane Dempcy, a trauma therapist in Seattle, and a certified EMDR therapist. Along with trauma, I also specialize in anxiety and support for parents of children experiencing a mental health crisis.
Why Do I React So Strongly?
Even if those early experiences are years in the past, the mind and body remember. Trauma doesn’t always leave visible scars, but it has a way of shaping how we think, feel, and interact with the world. Sometimes it shows up in how easily we get stressed, in the difficulty of calming down after an argument, or in the way we withdraw from relationships. Other times, trauma hides behind perfectionism, overworking, or always feeling “on alert.”
Trauma doesn’t just live in your memories — it lives in your body too.
If you’ve ever wondered why you react so strongly in certain situations—or why calm feels so hard to come by—you’re not alone. Understanding trauma and emotional regulation is the first step toward creating a more peaceful, balanced life. And the good news is: your nervous system can learn to find calm again.
How Trauma Affects the Body
When you experience something overwhelming, your nervous system reacts instinctively — with fight, flight, freeze, or fawn responses. This reaction is meant to protect you in the moment, but when trauma is ongoing or unresolved, your body can get stuck in survival mode.
That means your heart rate may stay elevated, muscles stay tense, digestion slows, and your brain keeps scanning for danger — even when you’re safe at home, with trusted loved ones, or taking a hike in nature.
Over time, this chronic activation of the stress response can contribute to real, measurable health issues, including:
Headaches and migraines
Digestive problems such as IBS, constipation, or nausea
Chronic pain and fatigue
Sleep difficulties
Autoimmune issues
These symptoms aren’t “all in your head”. They’re signs that your body is trying to complete a survival response that never got the chance to finish.
The ACE Study: Why Early Experiences Matter
One of the most influential studies linking trauma and health is the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study, a collaboration between the CDC and Kaiser Permanente. Researchers surveyed over 17,000 adults about ten types of difficult childhood experiences — including emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction (like addiction or divorce).
When the body finally feels safe, pain often begins to ease.
The findings were groundbreaking:
The higher a person’s ACE score (the more types of adversity they experienced), the higher their risk for chronic health issues such as heart disease, diabetes, autoimmune disorders, depression, and even early death.
But here’s the good news: the ACE Study also sparked a whole new understanding of resilience. Our brains and bodies can heal when we have the right support, tools, and safety. This is what drives much of the trauma work I do— helping people rebuild a sense of safety in their bodies so they can start to feel better physically and emotionally.
Headaches and Migraines: When Tension Becomes a Habit
For many trauma survivors, the first signs of distress show up in the body long before emotions ever surface. Headaches and migraines are common.
When your body lives in a constant state of alert, muscles around your neck, jaw, and shoulders tighten up. Your blood vessels constrict, stress hormones surge, and your nervous system stays on edge. Over time, these patterns can turn into chronic headaches that seem to appear “out of nowhere.”
Rachel’s Story: Chronic Migraines
Photo Courtesy of Camila Seves @ Upsplash
Rachel, a 38-year-old marketing professional, came to therapy after years of debilitating migraines. She’d seen neurologists, tried medications, and adjusted her diet, but the pain kept returning.
During our work together, Rachel shared that her migraines often appeared after stressful interactions with her boss. As she began exploring her past, we discovered a familiar pattern — growing up with a critical parent who often raised their voice. Her body had learned early on to brace for criticism by tightening her shoulders and jaw.
Through EMDR therapy in Seattle, Rachel began reprocessing those early memories. She learned to recognize when her body was bracing and used grounding and breathing skills to signal safety to her nervous system. Over time, the intensity and frequency of her migraines decreased.
Migraines in this sense, aren’t just physical—they’re a sign that your system is trying to protect you from overwhelm. Trauma therapy helps your brain and body learn a new way to respond to stressful situations.
Digestive Issues: The Gut-Brain Connection
If you’ve ever had “butterflies” before a big event or felt your stomach drop when you received bad news, you’ve already experienced the gut-brain connection. Your digestive system is deeply tied to your nervous system through the vagus nerve, which helps regulate both emotional and physical responses to stress.
For people with trauma histories, this connection can get disrupted. Chronic stress can:
Slow digestion, causing constipation or bloating
Speed up digestion, leading to nausea or diarrhea
Alter the balance of gut bacteria
Increase inflammation
In other words, your gut can become another way your body expresses the impact of unresolved trauma.
Lena’s Story: Chronic Stomach Issues
Lena, a 32-year-old teacher, came to therapy feeling constantly exhausted and plagued by stomach pain and nausea. Medical tests showed no clear cause, but she noticed her symptoms worsened during family conflicts or high-stress periods at work.
As Lena explored her history, she realized that as a child, she had often tried to soothe angry parents by “keeping the peace.” She learned to silence her own needs to avoid conflict — a classic fawn response. Her stomach pain reflected that suppression; her body had been holding stress for decades.
Using somatic (body) awareness techniques, Lena began tuning in to her body’s signals instead of ignoring them. Through trauma therapy in Seattle, she learned to set boundaries and communicate needs safely. As her emotional safety grew, her digestive system began to calm.
Now, Lena describes her gut as her “compass” — the part of her that speaks truth when her mind wants to push through.
Photo Courtesy of Emily Karakis @ Upsplash
Trauma and the Body: Why Understanding This Connection Matters
We often think of trauma as something that happened in the past. But the body doesn’t keep time the way the mind does. If your nervous system still feels unsafe, it will respond as though the danger is still happening — even decades later.
This is why physical symptoms often persist despite medical treatment. Healing requires helping the body recognize that it is now safe.
Why Doctors Don’t Always Get It
Most doctors are trained to look for what can be measured — a lab result, a scan, a number that explains your symptoms. But trauma doesn’t always leave visible marks. When your nervous system is dysregulated, everything can look “normal” on paper, even when you feel far from it.
It’s not that your pain isn’t real — it’s that the medical model often misses how deeply trauma affects the body. That’s where trauma therapy fills in the gap: helping your body process the emotional pain that medicine alone can’t reach.
How Trauma Therapy in Seattle Can Help the Body Heal
Therapies that address both the mind and body can be especially powerful for this kind of healing.
1. EMDR Therapy
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) helps the brain reprocess traumatic memories so they no longer trigger a fight-or-flight response. As those old memories lose their emotional charge, the nervous system relaxes, often easing physical tension, pain, or digestive distress.
Clients who engage in EMDR therapy in Seattle often notice that their physical symptoms — headaches, fatigue, or stomach pain — start to soften as their body learns that the danger is over.
2. Somatic and Brain-Based Approaches
Somatic therapies help you notice sensations, breathing patterns, and muscle tension with gentle curiosity. Over time, this awareness helps re-regulate the nervous system and complete survival responses that were once stuck.
3. DBT Skills and Mindfulness
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) teaches emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and mindfulness — all essential tools for people whose bodies react strongly to stress. Learning to slow down, breathe, and observe sensations without judgment helps calm the body’s alarm system.
4. Building Safety and Connection
Healing trauma isn’t just about revisiting the past. It’s about creating new experiences of safety in the present. Through supportive relationships, self-compassion, and therapy, your body begins to trust that it no longer has to be on guard.
Three Coping Skills You Can Try on Your Own
While therapy provides deeper healing, there are small, powerful ways to begin calming your nervous system right now:
1. 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Exercise
When you feel overwhelmed, look around and name:
5 things you see
4 things you can touch
3 things you hear
2 things you smell
1 thing you taste
This simple mindfulness exercise helps bring your awareness back to the present moment — reminding your brain that you are safe now.
2. Butterfly Tapping
Cross your arms over your chest and gently tap your shoulders one at a time, left-right-left-right. This bilateral stimulation (similar to EMDR) can calm the nervous system and regulate emotions when you feel anxious or tense.
3. The Deep Exhale
When the body is in survival mode, we often hold our breath or breathe shallowly. Try a slow inhale through your nose for a count of four, hold for one beat, then exhale through your mouth for six. The longer exhale activates your parasympathetic (“rest and digest”) system — helping your body reset.
These practices don’t erase trauma, but they remind your body that it can begin to relax. Over time, this creates space for deeper healing.
Wrapping It Up
Healing trauma isn’t about erasing your story; it’s about helping your body and mind finally agree that the danger is over.
If you’ve noticed that emotional pain shows up as physical symptoms, it might be time to explore that connection in a safe, supportive space.
Trauma therapy in Seattle can help you reconnect with your body, calm your nervous system, and move toward a life that feels grounded, peaceful, and free. Whether you’re drawn to EMDR therapy Seattle, somatic work, or other brain-based approaches, there is a path forward.
FAQs About Trauma Therapy in Seattle
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Trauma keeps the nervous system in survival mode, leading to muscle tension, sleep problems, and inflammation.
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While therapy isn’t a replacement for medical care, many clients see physical symptoms ease as trauma is processed.
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Yes. By calming the nervous system, therapy often improves sleep.
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Even when tests are normal, your body may still hold trauma. Therapy helps release it.
She provides compassionate and evidence based trauma therapy in Seattle. Through approaches like EMDR, DBT, and mindfulness based psychotherapy, she helps clients break free from shame, reclaim their self worth, and create meaningful connections. Diane’s clients experience her as direct, empowering, warm, and accepting.
Explore her specialties, Trauma Therapy, EMDR Therapy, Anxiety Therapy. Learn more on her About page.
