We all know the feeling of being "stuck." It’s that invisible barrier that holds us back, a pattern we can’t seem to break no matter how hard we try. But what if the root of that "stuckness" lies deeper than we think, in wounds we never even recognized as trauma? I recently had a powerful conversation with my friend Stacey Uhrig, a Trauma Care Practitioner, about the subtle, often overlooked ways our past shapes our present. Her work dives beneath the surface to help people find freedom from patterns that have held them captive for decades. Redefining Trauma: It's Not What You Think When we hear the word "trauma," our minds often jump to overt, catastrophic events. But Stacey offers a broader, more inclusive definition. The dictionary defines trauma as an "unhealed physical or emotional wound" or "injury." This means that many of us are walking around with unhealed injuries we’ve been told to ignore. Stacey points out that while some people grow up without emotional or mental injury, many others were hurt and didn't know how to express it. This is especially true for psychological and emotional pain, which often gets bypassed. Have you ever been told: * "You're making too big of a deal out of that." * "Why can't you just let it go?" Many of us internalize these messages, gaslighting ourselves into believing we shouldn't be upset. We might tell ourselves, "I have a roof over my head. I never go hungry. What do I have to be upset about?" Even those who grew up in wealthy households with yearly vacations can carry deep wounds from having an emotionally immature or narcissistic parent. These experiences can leave us feeling unseen, unheard, and unsafe, even without overt abuse. The key takeaway is that trauma isn't a competition. Your nervous system doesn't rank traumatic events; it simply assesses what feels safe and what doesn’t. As Stacey puts it, the trauma isn't just the event itself, but "living life through the lens of how you interpreted that moment." A Journey Guided by Lived Experience Stacey’s path to becoming a trauma specialist was born from her own experiences. "I am my own client," she shared, recalling a past filled with anxiety, two nervous breakdowns, and years of feeling disconnected from her body despite knowing intellectually what was wrong. Her healing journey began to shift dramatically when she discovered modalities that connected her mind and body. Now, she brings a robust toolbox to her clients as a trauma-trained practitioner—a distinction she notes is very different from being simply "trauma-informed." Her methods include: * Parts Work (Internal Family Systems): Identifying the adaptive parts of ourselves we developed for survival that may now be keeping us stuck. * Polyvagal Theory: Understanding the link between these internal "parts" and our nervous system's responses. * Rapid Transformational Therapy: A form of hypnotherapy used to get to the subconscious root of a persistent behavior or obstacle. Healing Through Reading: Introducing Soulful Chapters For Stacey, a major turning point came not from a therapy session, but from a book. During her second nervous breakdown in her early 40s, someone gave her Brené Brown's Daring Greatly . The impact was profound. "I just learned more from that book than I did from 20 years of therapy," she recalls. This ignited a passion for healing through literature, proving that deep wisdom could be accessible and transformative. This is why I am so incredibly honored to announce that Stacey will be bringing this passion to Align , my new initiative designed to be a "gym for your mind and your soul." Stacey will be facilitating Soulful Chapters , a unique, trauma-informed book club for our members. This isn't your average book club. Instead of rushing through a book a month, Soulful Chapters will dive deep into just a few chapters at a time, allowing for true processing and integration. The sessions will function like group coaching, creating a safe space to discuss the emotions and patterns the books bring to the surface. Stacey gave a perfect example of how this works. When moderating discussions on Mel Robbins' The Let Them Theory , she noticed that the simple advice to "let go of control" made many people feel physically sick or ashamed when they couldn't do it. Stacey was able to reframe this, explaining that for many, the need to control isn't a mindset flaw—it's a nervous system response learned in a chaotic past where control equaled safety. The theory isn't something you fail at; it's something you work toward as you heal. That is the power of discussing these concepts in a space held by a trauma-trained specialist. It's an opportunity to gain introspection, see your belief systems more clearly, and do the deep inner work required to heal. Get Aligned As we start to declutter our minds from these unhealed wounds, we create space to become truly aligned with ourselves and the universe. It’s about building a connection so strong that you can
