The Biology of Trauma with Dr. Aimie Apigian

Therapy in a Nutshell

Therapy in a Nutshell -Emma McAdam

Mental Health, Education, Health & Fitness:mental Health, Self-improvement, Health & Fitness

4.8 • 658 Ratings

🗓️ 5 June 2026

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Trauma is stored in our body and our nervous system more than just in our minds. In this interview we discuss the biology of trauma and PTSD. Learn the skills to Regulate your Emotions, join the membership:https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/membership In this conversation, Dr. Aimie discusses the biology of trauma, emphasizing the physiological responses that occur in the body during traumatic experiences. She explains the differences between stress and trauma, the role of the nervous system, and how chronic trauma can lead to various health issues. The discussion also covers practical steps for healing and regulating the nervous system, including the importance of safety, nutrition, and somatic practices. Looking for affordable online counseling? My sponsor, BetterHelp, connects you to a licensed professional from the comfort of your own home. Try it now for 10% off your first month: https://betterhelp.com/therapyinanutshell Learn more in one of my in-depth mental health courses: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com Support my mission on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/therapyinanutshell Sign up for my newsletter: https://www.therapyinanutshell.com Check out my favorite self-help books: https://kit.co/TherapyinaNutshell/best-self-help-books Therapy in a Nutshell and the information provided by Emma McAdam are solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and are not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Although Emma McAdam is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the views expressed on this site or any related content should not be taken for medical or psychiatric advice. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health. In therapy I use a combination of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Systems Theory, positive psychology, and a bio-psycho-social approach to treating mental illness and other challenges we all face in life. The ideas from my videos are frequently adapted from multiple sources. Many of them come from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, especially the work of Steven Hayes, Jason Luoma, and Russ Harris. The sections on stress and the mind-body connection derive from the work of Stephen Porges (the Polyvagal theory), Peter Levine (Somatic Experiencing) Francine Shapiro (EMDR), and Bessel Van Der Kolk. I also rely heavily on the work of the Arbinger Institute for my overall understanding of our ability to choose our life's direction. And deeper than all of that, the Gospel of Jesus Christ orients my personal worldview and sense of security, peace, hope, and love https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist/believe If you are in crisis, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org or 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or your local emergency services. Copyright Therapy in a Nutshell, LLC

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome back to another episode of the Therapy in a Nutshell podcast. I'm Emma McAdam and I'm a licensed marriage and family therapist.
0:07.0	And this podcast is all about taking the life-changing, but usually kind of complicated topics of therapy and boiling them down into simple, easy to understand concepts that you can use in your daily life.
0:19.0	If you find today's episode as helpful to you, please pass it on to someone else who could benefit from it as well.
0:23.6	Each podcast episode comes from a corresponding video you can find
0:26.6	on the Therapy in a Nutshell YouTube channel.
0:28.6	Also, these podcasts are educational and don't replace the advice
0:32.6	or direction you may be receiving from a therapist or other health professionals.
0:36.6	Now please, enjoy the episode.
0:38.8	Stress is a very different biology than trauma. And when the body crosses that line,
0:45.4	there is a very distinct physiological change that happens. When the body goes from a stress
0:51.6	response, something that's active, something that's driven by
0:54.3	adrenaline, to a trauma response. And when that happens, the body needs certain things in order
1:01.5	to resolve that, in order to process that, in order to come back to a full sense of safety.
1:07.6	Yeah. Most people are not doing that. And so then the body gets stuck in this ongoing
1:12.8	sense of, well, I think that the danger is still there. And this is what creates the trauma
1:19.4	biology over time. Well, Amy, thank you again so much for being here. I'm so excited to talk with you again.
1:32.3	It's really fun to go into the science with you, Emma, so it's really a pleasure to be back.
1:36.6	Yeah, and we are. We're going to jump right into the biology of trauma. You just wrote a book on the
1:41.8	biology of trauma, right? A whole book on the biology of trauma. And I've
1:46.5	been really excited to see some trends in the field around more focus being on the body and less on
1:52.7	just the mind. I think we're going to go into that today. And so being able to explain this in a way
1:58.4	that people understand their inner experience. Because for me,
	...

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