EP 002:
How Does Trauma Impact Our Brains?
With Terence Smith
In this episode, Mickenzie and Christopher chat with therapist Terence Smith to explore how traumatic experiences rewire and impact our brains. Terence explains the automatic response our bodies and brains go through when we encounter adverse events and outlines a few treatment methods that help the brain heal from trauma.
Notes and resources to expand on the topic of this episode:
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
“How Childhood Trauma Impacts Health Across a Lifetime” – Dr. Nadine Burke Harris TED talk
Books
“The Body Keeps the Score” – Bessel van der Kolk
The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy – Deb Dana
Additional Learning
“You’re not flawed; you’re not broken. Something real happened to you that changed the very way your brain was developed. You can not only heal from it; you can actually flourish.”
– Terence Smith, LPC
Shownotes
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
“How Childhood Trauma Impacts Health Across a Lifetime” – Dr. Nadine Burke Harris TED talk
Meet this episode’s expert
Terence Smith, LPC, serves as a Primary Therapist for the clients of Milestones, Onsite’s Residential Trauma Program. He joins our team after working in the trauma and addiction fields for almost a decade. He counts it one of his greatest professional achievements to pour back into other therapists and mentor recent graduates in the psychology field.
Prior to coming to Onsite, Terrance worked as a Sex and Addiction Therapist at Integrative Life Center, where he assisted in the development and implementation of the Sex and Love Addiction Program. He also served as a Primary Therapist at the Center for Relational and Sexual Recovery Men’s Program at The Ranch in Middle Tennessee.
