22. Can You Heal Trauma You Don’t Remember?

Written By Brittany Broderick

If you’ve ever found yourself reacting strongly to something and thought, “Why am I like this?” or “Where did that come from?”—this week’s podcast episode is for you.

One of the most common things I hear from clients in the Body-First Healing Program is doubt. Doubt in their own experience. Doubt in their symptoms. Doubt because they can’t point to a clear memory that explains the anxiety, shutdown, urgency, or overwhelm they feel in their body. What I want you to know is this: that doesn’t mean nothing happened. It means your nervous system did exactly what it was designed to do.

In the episode, I walk through the science of memory and trauma: why, during overwhelming experiences, the parts of the brain responsible for language and narrative can go offline, while the body stores the experience as sensation, reflex, and survival response. We talk about what this looks like in real life: reacting in conflict, feeling unsafe without knowing why, or carrying patterns that don’t seem to “make sense” on the surface.

I also share how somatic work supports healing even when you don’t remember the original event. Not by forcing recall or digging for answers, but by building safety and capacity in the nervous system so your body can respond differently over time. I weave in examples from my own healing and from years of client work to show how this actually plays out, practically and gently.

Plus, stay tuned at the end for a gentle somatic practice for working with trauma without recalling a story.

If you’ve been questioning yourself, minimizing your experience, or wondering if healing is possible without memory, this conversation offers clarity, relief, and a different way forward.

🎧 Listen to the full episode here and learn how healing can begin by listening to your body, not interrogating your past.

You’re not imagining it. Your reactions make sense. And healing is still available to you.

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Brittany Broderick
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21. Q&A: Somatic Support for Depression, Nighttime Anxiety, Urgency & Parenting Triggers