Never underestimate the healing power of your own brain

They say time heals all wounds, but that is only half part true. In order for a wound to heal, the conditions for healing must be right. If you break your leg, but you need to continue walking on it, the wound will re-open again and again. Wounds need care, rest, shelter, time, space and a healthy environment to heal.⁣

Traumas are unhealed wounds. Just like the body, the brain is designed to heal. When the conditions are right, the body’s own healing power will kick into gear, and your own mind can change the structure of your brain. That can happen quite quickly, or over a longer period, but the neurobiology is always the same. Re-wiring of neural connections that formed at the time of trauma.⁣

As a psychologist, I never cease to be amazed at the brain’s capacity to heal itself. Just like with physical wounds, your brain knows what to do and where to go, if the conditions for healing are right.⁣