Invasive medical procedures are often necessary—and at times life-saving. But for some, they can stir something deeper: a sense of fear, helplessness, or emotional shutdown that seems to come out of nowhere.
For people who’ve experienced a difficult or traumatic natural birth, medical settings can unconsciously trigger old survival responses. It’s not “just nerves”—it’s the body remembering.
As Babette Rothschild writes in The Body Remembers, overwhelming experiences can become embedded in the body’s memory. Physical pain, medical interventions, and a loss of control can leave deep imprints. Later in life, even a routine procedure can stir those same feelings—without our full understanding of why.
Bessel van der Kolk’s The Body Keeps the Score takes this further. He describes how trauma can shape the nervous system, making certain environments or cues feel threatening, even if they’re safe. When the body is flooded with old emotions—fear, tension, dissociation—it’s not being irrational. It’s doing its best to protect us based on our past experience.
This mind-body connection shows up in many kinds of trauma, not just birth-related. Clients may come to therapy feeling confused about strong reactions during or after events like a physical assault, sexually inappropriate behavior at work, or past experiences of abuse. Often, these incidents are not just remembered intellectually—they are carried somatically. The body may respond with anxiety, tightness, numbness, or flashbacks before the mind has fully processed what happened. Therapy can help unpack and integrate these layers of experience.
How Therapy Can Help
Therapy offers a space to reconnect with our bodies and understand these responses, rather than avoiding them. Whether you're preparing for a procedure or reflecting on one that brought up unexpected emotions, therapy can help you:
Learn grounding strategies to stay present
Understand and manage physical responses
Revisit and process earlier experiences like birth trauma or assault
Build confidence in asking for what you need during care
It’s not about “getting over it.” It’s about moving through it—with compassion, tools, and support.
A Gentle Invitation
If you've experienced difficult medical, physical, or relational events that seem to live on in your body, therapy can help bring understanding, relief, and repair. Reach out to a therapist who understands how deeply our experiences live in us. You deserve support.