• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Welcome
  • Work With Me >
    • Signs of Trauma
    • Benefits
    • Fees and Policies
    • Frequent Questions
    • Online Sessions
    • Types of Bodywork >
      • Bodywork sessions
      • Reiki
      • Massage
      • CranioSacral Therapy
      • Somatic Experiencing
      • Other Bodywork
  • People Say
  • Articles >
    • Articles by Topic
    • Articles by Date
  • Books >
    • Wellspring of Compassion
    • Presence After Trauma
    • Embodying Hope
    • View Cart
  • About >
    • About Sonia Connolly, LMT
    • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Nav Widget Area

Sundown Healing Arts

Intuitive, compassionate bodywork for trauma

Trauma Effects, PTSD

Topic: Trauma Effects, PTSD

When Help Means Danger

For survivors of childhood abuse, there are both internal and external barriers to getting help (therapy, bodywork, medical care, etc.) with their healing process. Neglect and abuse cause invisible losses, skills and experiences that simply did not happen. For example, a bodily sense of safety from being tended and held with gentle hands. A deep… Read More

October 1, 2018 sonia

Topic: Trauma Effects, PTSD

Depression: Natural Response to Trauma

A heavy reluctance to get up in the morning. A weight presses down all day, makes it hard to move, squeezes the joy out of everything. Voices inside say, “Worthless. Shameful. Failure.” Tears, sadness, grief, despair. Emptiness. Hopelessness. A common narrative says that depression is caused by a malfunction of the body and brain, leading… Read More

March 1, 2018 sonia

Topic: Trauma Effects, PTSD

Untangle Anniversaries

Some anniversaries are neutral. “Oh, that happened five years ago.” Some feel like an accomplishment. “Wow, I’ve had this job for three years already.” And then there are the ones that feel terrible. Trauma anniversaries might bring more abundant flashbacks and other PTSD symptoms. Anniversaries of loss might bring a resurgence of grief. We might… Read More

December 1, 2017 sonia

Topic: Trauma Effects, PTSD

Not Alone with Your ACEs

The ACE Study looks at the correlation between ACEs, or Adverse Childhood Experiences, and health. Between 1995 and 1997, 17,000 middle-income, college-educated adults with access to good health care in the US joined the study. They had a standardized physical exam and filled out a confidential survey with questions about childhood maltreatment and family dysfunction,… Read More

March 1, 2016 sonia

Topic: Trauma Effects, PTSD

Name Memories Without Words

Infants are born with survival drives to learn about the world, and to bond with their carers. They absorb information with their whole bodies, gathering sensory impressions and learning basic skills of responsiveness and movement. Physical and relational lessons learned in infancy inform every moment of our lives. Infant nervous systems are not yet fully… Read More

August 1, 2015 sonia

Topic: Trauma Effects, PTSD

Triggered! Now What?

A scent wafts by, or someone speaks certain words in a certain tone, or that time of year comes around again. Suddenly we are defiantly thirteen, or playfully four, or speechlessly afraid in situations where we would prefer to be competent adults. With awareness, we might be able to take back adult control, or we… Read More

October 1, 2014 sonia

Topic: Trauma Effects, PTSD

Rest at Sleep’s Threshold

Disturbed sleep is a major symptom of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Traumatized people struggle with the transitions into and out of sleep, as well as nightmares that can be traumatic in themselves. Lack of sleep further destabilizes the nervous system, making it harder to cope with and heal from other effects of trauma. Trying to… Read More

July 1, 2014 sonia

Topic: Trauma Effects, PTSD

Exit Emergency Mode

Emergencies are loud, intense, exciting, chaotic. They demand our full, focused attention. When survival is at stake, there is no time for rest, repair, or pause for thought. The body goes into debt for energy, sleep, and nutrients, planning to make it up after the emergency is over. Ongoing emergency The essence of Post-Traumatic Stress… Read More

February 1, 2014 sonia

Topic: Trauma Effects, PTSD

Relax For Your Life

Content Note: brief child rape example. Have you held a small child recently? Supported by trusted arms, small children rest with their whole weight, warmly present and relaxed. Over time, many of us lose the ability to relax into support, some gradually, some violently. During assault When a rapist commands, “Relax!” the assaulted child understands… Read More

November 1, 2013 sonia

Topic: Trauma Effects, PTSD

Effects of Sexual Assault

Reading about sexual assault can be painful for survivors. If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed or dissociated, give yourself kind permission to take a break and do something you enjoy. This article describes effects of sexual assault, not assaults themselves. Responses to sexual assault range from severe trauma to shrugging it off. If you have… Read More

July 1, 2013 sonia

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Cart

Cart is empty
Visit The Shop

Work with me

Online sessions available.
Contact Sonia Connolly to schedule your appointment or free phone consultation in Portland, Oregon.
sonia@TraumaHealed.com
503-334-6434
My office is fragrance-free.

Quick Links

  • Signs of Trauma
  • Testimonials
  • Bodywork Services
  • Frequent Questions
  • Healing Resources
  • Subscribe!

Latest Articles

  • Elements of Refuge
  • When Help Means Rescue
  • When Help Means Danger

Buy the books

Wellspring of Compassion book coverPresence After Trauma book cover

Popular Articles

  • Name Memories Without Words
  • Elements of Refuge

Trauma Healing Topics

  • Acceptance
  • Body
  • Boundaries
  • Find Support
  • Hard Times
  • Healing Tools
  • Relating
  • Self-Trust
  • Survival Tools
  • Trauma Effects, PTSD

Archives

  • Articles by Topic

What I’m reading

Curious, Healing

Free Monthly Healing Articles

Please wait

Footer

People Say

Ellie H.

Something about your writing and delivery is like 100% daily requirement of every soul nutrient I need. It seeps right into every exact hungry malnourished part of me... Continue Reading (click twice)

Read More Testimonials

You are welcome

Sundown Healing Arts is size-friendly, diversity-friendly, queer-friendly, and trans-friendly. Persons of any body size, color, sexual orientation, and gender are welcome.
  • Sundown Healing Arts
  • Bodywork
  • Articles
  • Resources
  • About
  • Contact

Sonia Connolly, LMT #12475    503-334-6434    2833 NE 8th Ave, Portland, Oregon 97212

Copyright © 2005-2021 Sonia Connolly