Trauma and Recovery

Trauma is one of the most significant and least understood factors in human health. It affects the nervous system, the immune system, the endocrine system, and the brain — and it shapes the way we relate to ourselves, to others, and to our own bodies. On Pair-A-Docs, we bring the leading voices in trauma research and therapy to help listeners understand what trauma is, how it works, and what healing actually looks like.

Questions We Answer

• How does trauma live in the body? Trauma is not primarily a cognitive experience — it is a somatic one. Dr. Frank Anderson and Dr. Gabor Maté both discuss the ways unresolved trauma is stored in the body and how this affects physical health.
• What is Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy? IFS is a therapeutic model that views the mind as made up of different parts. It offers a compassionate framework for working with the parts that carry pain — and has strong evidence for trauma treatment.
• Can trauma cause physical illness? Yes. Dr. Gabor Maté's work on the mind-body connection shows how chronic stress and emotional suppression contribute to autoimmune conditions, cancer, and other serious diseases.
• What is the difference between acute and chronic trauma? Acute trauma results from a single overwhelming event; chronic trauma results from repeated or prolonged exposure to threatening conditions. Both affect the nervous system, but in different ways.
• How does trauma affect relationships and intimacy? Unresolved trauma can create barriers to physical and emotional closeness, trigger conflict, and make it difficult to feel safe with a partner. Dr. Tammy Nelson discusses what couples can do to navigate this.
• What approaches to trauma treatment have the strongest evidence? We discuss IFS, EMDR, somatic therapies, and other evidence-based approaches — and why talk therapy alone is often insufficient for trauma recovery.