What Is Post-Traumatic Stress Injury—and Can You Heal from It?

Trauma doesn’t always look how we expect it to. Sometimes it’s loud and dramatic—an accident, an assault, a single moment that changes everything. Other times, it’s quiet, insidious, and repeated—like growing up in a home where your needs weren’t met, or being in a relationship where you were slowly made to feel worthless.

However it shows up, trauma can leave deep marks. If you’ve experienced something overwhelming—whether recently or long ago—and you’re still living with the effects, you might be experiencing Post-Traumatic Stress Injury (PTSI).

Let’s explore what that really means—and how healing is possible.

Why “Injury”—Not “Disorder”?

You will have heard the term PTSD—Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. But more and more therapists, clinicians, and survivors are using the term Post-Traumatic Stress Injury instead.

Why?

Because this isn’t about a “disorder” in who you are. It’s an injury—a wound to your nervous system, brain, and body after something too much, too soon, or too long.

That shift in language matters. It helps move away from shame and toward compassion—and as a shame-informed therapist, that distinction is foundational in how I work.

Trauma symptoms are not evidence of something wrong with you. They are evidence of what happened to you—and how powerfully your system tried to protect you.

How Do I Know If I Have PTSI?

PTSI doesn’t always show up as flashbacks or nightmares (though it can). You might also experience:

• Constant anxiety or feeling “on edge”

• Trouble sleeping or concentrating

• Avoiding reminders of what happened

• Feeling emotionally numb or disconnected

• Irritability or outbursts you don’t quite understand

• Shame, guilt, or a harsh inner critic

• Feeling like you’re never really safe—even when you are

Some people also dissociate (feel foggy, not real, or “outside” themselves), or experience physical symptoms with no clear cause. If any of this sounds familiar, it’s not because you’re weak—it’s because your nervous system is doing its best to survive.

What Trauma Does to the Brain and Body

When something traumatic happens, your brain goes into survival mode. It doesn’t process events the same way it usually does. Areas of the brain like the amygdala (fear centre) become hyperactive, while the rational brain goes offline. Your body stores the memory as if the danger is still happening.

So even long after the event, you might feel as if you’re back there—physically or emotionally.

Trauma can also push your nervous system into patterns of fight, flight, freeze, or shutdown. Over time, this chronic state of dysregulation can affect every part of your life—relationships, work, physical health, and your sense of self.

You Can Heal—And You Don’t Have to Do It Alone

Recovery from trauma doesn’t mean forgetting what happened. It means untangling your identity from the event, so that your story no longer owns you.

As an integrative and shame-informed therapist, I create a non-judgemental space where all parts of you are welcome. You don’t have to perform wellness, suppress pain, or prove your trauma was “bad enough” to deserve care.

Every step is paced with you—no pushing, no retraumatising, and no rushing past what needs care.

How Therapy for PTSI Can Help

Together, we can work through the effects of trauma using a combination of evidence-based and body-aware approaches:

1. Building Safety and Regulation

We begin with creating a solid foundation of emotional and nervous system safety. You’ll learn strategies to ground, self-soothe, and come back into your body. We also explore how shame operates internally and relationally, and how to gently meet it with compassion.

2. Reconnecting with Your Body

Trauma often leads to disconnection from the body. You may feel numb, anxious, or even unsafe in your physical self. Using body-based therapies such as Somatic Experiencing, polyvagal-informed practices, and mindful movement, we work toward restoring that relationship. Safety in the body becomes possible again.

3. Processing the Trauma (At Your Pace)

When you feel ready, we can begin trauma processing using approaches that honour your story and nervous system:

• Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) – especially helpful for those with complex or multiple traumas, NET allows us to place traumatic events within the broader context of your life story, supporting integration and meaning-making.

• Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) – this structured, evidence-based approach helps identify and challenge the beliefs that keep trauma symptoms in place—such as guilt, blame, or shame—and replace them with more balanced and compassionate perspectives.

• Internal Family Systems (IFS) – we explore the protective parts of you that may carry anger, fear, or shame, and offer space for healing the wounded parts they protect.

• Brainspotting – a somatic and neurobiological approach that helps release trauma held deep in the brain and body, without needing to verbally relive every detail.

• Trauma-Focused CBT and Narrative Therapy – helping you name, externalise, and reshape the meaning of what happened.

All processing is titrated and collaborative. You lead the pace. Your system decides what it’s ready for.

4. Rebuilding Identity and Meaning

In the aftermath of trauma, you may lose touch with who you are, what you value, and how to trust again. Together, we explore:

• What safety, joy, and connection mean to you

• Your values and boundaries in relationships

• Your sense of self beyond the trauma

• Meaning-making, creativity, and post-traumatic growth

You Are Not Broken—You Were Hurt. And You Can Heal.

If you’re living with the weight of past trauma, please know that healing really is possible.

You don’t have to go through this alone. Whether your trauma was a single event, a relationship, or a lifetime of surviving—there’s a path forward, and support is available.

If you'd like to take the next step, you're warmly invited to reach out for a consultation. You deserve care that honours your story and empowers your healing.