This Is Your Brain on Trauma

How to regulate automatic survival responses, stop getting hijacked by your nervous system, and build more safety and flexibility from the inside out, from a clinician who’s been there herself.

Human nervous systems are brilliant and adaptive. But in an always-on, overstimulating, chronically demanding world, those same protective responses can start firing at the wrong times, or too often, leaving us shut down, hypervigilant, emotionally flooded, or unable to respond in ways that actually fit the moment.

Trauma-related patterns can make us freeze, fawn, numb out, or spiral. When Jamie McCoy found herself unable to access the kind of steady, right-sized responses she knew were possible, she began piecing together a different path, one that did not rely on forcing, bypassing, or blaming herself. What she discovered is that it is possible to work with the nervous system instead of fighting it. Readers will learn:

● Why their nervous systems respond the way they do—and why it’s not their fault

● Why popular wellness strategies (like breathwork, affirmations, and even talk therapy) often backfire—and the evidence-based approaches that actually work instead

● Practical somatic techniques that create meaningful change (without overwhelm)

● Permission to heal on their own terms—imperfectly, messily, and effectively without shame or guilt

From extremely specific and calming strategies to turn to no matter how a reader feels to a smart yet accessible exploration of the science behind why some readers react the way they do, THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON TRAUMA is itself a comforting tool that can be turned to again and again–on the page or in the headphones.