Episode 137: Does Somatic Healing Work: How Mind-Body Healing Can Change 30 Years of Chronic Illness In 6 Weeks with Kecia

Many people struggle with chronic fatigue, autoimmune conditions, and exhaustion that no amount of sleep seems to cure. They've tried medications, supplements, therapy, and self-care practices, yet still find themselves needing daily naps just to function. They can't understand why their body seems to be working against them instead of healing, or why they feel so disconnected from the energy they once had.

In this episode, you'll meet Kecia, whose story reveals what's possible when we finally address trauma in the nervous system. After 30 years on medical disability and needing daily three-hour naps just to survive, Kecia was sleeping 16-18 hours daily and housebound for years. By age 25, autoimmune illness had taken her career as a respiratory therapist, her ability to hike, even basic tasks.

After completing the Foundational Journey, something happened that might sound impossible - she went seven weeks without needing a single nap for the first time in decades. Her husband kept using the word “miracle.”

This isn't about willpower or positive thinking. It's about understanding how unresolved attachment wounds show up as physical symptoms decades later, and why trauma healing requires addressing the nervous system directly.

You'll hear more on:

• [3:30] Why Kecia never expected to live past 18 and how autoimmune disease changed everything for her by age 25

• [8:00] The struggle to get medical validation and how one doctor's compassion literally changed her physiology

• [14:00] The shift that seemed impossible - seven weeks without daily naps after 30 years of needing them

• [16:00] What's actually happening in your body during chronic freeze and why extreme sleep needs make biological sense

• [19:00] How coming out of freeze brought back joy, energy, and the ability to experience life fully again

• [25:00] Why being praised for "resilience" can actually create stored trauma patterns in your body

• [29:00] Dr. Aimie's guidance on capacity management and energy investment for sustainable healing

Whether you're personally dealing with chronic fatigue and autoimmune conditions that doctors can't fully explain, or you're a practitioner supporting clients with unexplained physical symptoms, this episode shows how addressing trauma at the nervous system level can create changes that seem impossible when we've been stuck for so long.

Helpful Links Related To This Episode

Resources/Guides:

• Biology of Trauma book - how the body experiences and holds fear, pain and overwhelm, and how to heal. Pre-order now and, at the time of this recording, you’ll get over $400 in bonuses included! Those bonuses are only for the pre-order window which goes until Sept 22, 2025.

• Go Deeper With The Biology of Trauma Book - Bundles (available only until September 22nd):

• Guided Seeker: Get the Workbook + Mastercourse to go with the book - walking you through each chapter's key concepts

• Accelerated Implementer: Everything above + live half-day online group intensive with Dr. Aimie for implementation support

• Fast Track Professional: Everything above + one full day in-person with Dr. Aimie at her home to identify your biggest personal block to your next level of healing and regulation as a professional and guide for others 

• Foundational Journey - If you want to be guided through The Essential Sequence laid out in the Roadmap and the book, join me and my team for this 6 week journey into your inner world with practical somatic and parts self-practices to lay your foundation to do the deeper work safely. These are the daily practices I have found that change one’s biology and health symptoms the fastest.

Related Podcast Episodes:

• Episode 71: Understanding the Trauma Connection Between Attachment, Autoimmunity, and Fatigue

• Episode 133: Autoimmunity and Childhood Trauma: How Your Immune System Reflects Your Past

Related Youtube Videos:

• Childhood Freeze & Autoimmunity: Insights with Keesha Ewers | Dr. Aimie Apigian

• Prevent Autoimmunity: Trauma, Toxins & Diet Steps | Dr. Aimie Apigian

How Somatic Practices Ended 30 Years of Chronic Fatigue and Daily Naps

Many people struggle with chronic fatigue, autoimmune conditions, and exhaustion that no amount of sleep seems to cure. They've tried medications, supplements, therapy, and self-care practices, yet still find themselves needing daily naps just to function. They can't understand why their body seems to be working against them instead of healing, or why they feel so disconnected from the energy they once had.

In episode 137 of The Biology of Trauma^®  Podcast, I had the honor of speaking with Kecia, whose story reveals what's possible when we finally address trauma where it lives - in the nervous system. After 30 years on medical disability and needing daily three-hour naps just to survive, Kecia was sleeping 16-18 hours daily and housebound for years. By age 25, autoimmune illness had taken her career as a respiratory therapist, her ability to hike, even basic tasks.

After completing the Foundational Journey, something happened that might sound impossible - she went seven weeks without needing a single nap for the first time in decades. Her husband said she became "like the person I knew 30 years ago."

This isn't about willpower or positive thinking. It's about understanding how unresolved attachment wounds show up as physical symptoms decades later, and why trauma healing requires addressing the nervous system directly.

The Split That Signals Trauma

Kecia's story began with a contradiction that reveals the hidden impact of early trauma. As a child, she had two competing dreams: one part of her wanted to go to medical school, while another part never expected to live past 18. "Every year I was always surprised that I'd had another birthday," she shared.

This internal split between hope and despair often signals what happens when a child's nervous system adapts to survive overwhelming circumstances. When survival feels uncertain, the body develops patterns that prioritize staying alive over thriving. These patterns can persist for decades, creating the very health problems that seem to confirm our worst fears about ourselves.

The autoimmune symptoms started showing up in her teens:

• Depression and mood changes

• Dramatic weight loss she couldn't control

• Swollen lymph nodes

• Crushing fatigue that didn't improve with rest

But getting anyone to believe what her body was telling her became one of her greatest challenges.

The Long Fight to Be Believed

Starting at age 16, Kecia drove herself to doctor after doctor, saying "there's something wrong with me." Year after year, despite clear physical symptoms, she was told she was "just too active" or possibly depressed. The medical dismissal she experienced is unfortunately common for people whose symptoms stem from trauma patterns.

Here's what I see repeatedly: when trauma lives in the body, it creates real physical symptoms that don't fit neat diagnostic categories. The result is often years of being dismissed by healthcare providers who haven't been trained to recognize trauma's biological fingerprint.

Common dismissive responses she heard:

• "You're just too active"

• "This looks like depression"

• "Your tests are normal"

• "Try stress management"

It wasn't until a female ER doctor saw her with a fever of 102 and swollen lymph nodes that someone finally took her seriously. Even then, when blood work came back "fine," the doctor suggested depression. Finally, when Kecia woke up unable to get out of bed because all her joints were swollen, she knew she had autoimmune disease.

The Medicine of Being Seen

What happened next demonstrates something crucial about the Biology of Trauma®  and healing. The rheumatologist looked at Kecia and said something no one had ever said: "You are very sick." After years of not being believed, someone finally saw her reality.

But this doctor did something even more powerful. Month after month, he would sit with her and say, "I'm so sorry you're sick. I wish there was something I could do to help you. There are no medications. There's nothing I can do. Let's just sit together." He would tell her, "You aren't lazy, you're sick."

What made this healing:

• Consistent validation of her reality

• Regular, punctual appointments (late only once in 30 years)

• Sitting with her in the difficulty rather than rushing to fix

• Separating her worth from her symptoms

• Providing co-regulation through his calm presence

When someone finally sees you, believes you, and validates your experience, your nervous system registers this as a signal of safety. This isn't just emotional support - this literally changes your physiology. The vagus nerve responds to this co-regulation by allowing the parasympathetic system to come back online, beginning the shift from survival mode toward healing.

Why Traditional Treatments Weren't Enough

Over three decades, Kecia tried everything conventional medicine offered:

Medications:

• Multiple rounds of prednisone

• Plaquenil (until eye complications)

• Methotrexate (ineffective)

• Rituxan treatments (experimental at the time)

Alternative Approaches:

• Extensive vitamin and supplement regimens

• Mercury removal from dental fillings

• Yoga and meditation practices

• 25 years of psychotherapy

She slowly got somewhat better, but the core exhaustion remained. The missing piece was understanding that trauma doesn't just live in our thoughts and emotions - it becomes our biology. It literally changes how our cells produce energy, how our immune system functions, how our digestive system operates, and how our brain manages daily tasks.

The Biology Behind Decades of Exhaustion

What was actually happening in Kecia's biology during those 30 years helps explain why traditional approaches fell short. When our nervous system gets stuck in the shutdown state - what I call chronic functional freeze - our body operates in extreme energy conservation mode.

Signs her body was in chronic trauma state:

• Sleeping 16-18 hours daily

• Needing 2-3 hour naps every day

• Feeling disconnected from her body

• Difficulty with basic tasks

• Complete dissociation as a coping mechanism

Our internal systems essentially say: we can't afford to be fully alive right now. We're not going to expend energy on optimal digestion. We're not going to use energy for proper lymphatic flow. We need to conserve everything for basic survival.

This creates the constant exhaustion, the need for excessive sleep, and often the sugar cravings that come with trauma biology. For Kecia, sleeping 16-18 hours a day wasn't depression or laziness - it was her body's sophisticated survival strategy.

When Science Meets Recognition

When Kecia found my work, she wasn't looking for trauma healing. She didn't think she had experienced trauma. But when she watched a video where I discussed attachment patterns - "Hold me, see me, hear me" - something shifted.

"I cried that entire masterclass because I had issues in every single one of them and I thought, okay, I don't know what this person is teaching or doing, but I've got to do whatever it is."

This moment of recognition is often the first step in healing. When we can finally see the patterns that have been running our lives, we gain access to changing them. It led her to enroll in the 21-day journey.

Seven Weeks Without a Nap: What Actually Changed

After completing the program, the results seemed impossible. Seven weeks straight without needing a nap. She hadn't gone seven days without a two or three-hour nap in decades.

The dramatic changes included:

• Sleep patterns: From 16-18 hours daily to normal sleep

• Energy levels: Sustainable energy throughout the day

• Sugar cravings: Lifelong dessert addiction went away

• Mood stability: Return of joy and emotional presence

• Physical capacity: Able to do activities like getting pedicures

• Relationship quality: Husband said she became "like the person I knew 30 years ago"

When she did feel tired, she would do a somatic practice instead of napping. "That's all the rest I need." These changes happened because the somatic practices work directly with the nervous system to complete interrupted trauma responses and reset dysregulated patterns.

From Half-Alive to Fully Present

The most profound change was what Kecia described simply: "I'm alive." After decades of existing in what she called being "half-alive," she was experiencing joy and presence again. For the first time in 30 years, she got a pedicure - something she'd been too exhausted to do before.

This return to aliveness happens when we complete the interrupted responses that got stuck during overwhelming experiences. The nervous system finally gets the message that the danger is over, allowing the body to shift from conservation mode back to growth and vitality.

The Hidden Cost of Being "Resilient"

During our conversation, Kecia shared something important about how praise for resilience can actually reinforce trauma patterns. When children are consistently told how strong they are for handling difficult situations, they can learn that their worth depends on their ability to endure hardship without complaint.

Problems with "resilience" praise:

• Creates pressure to handle everything alone

• Makes asking for help feel like weakness

• Reinforces survival mode as the norm

• Prevents the nervous system from learning safety

True resilience isn't about endless endurance. It's about having a nervous system that can activate when needed for genuine challenges, then return to calm presence when the challenge passes.

The Three Levels That Need Repair

Based on my clinical experience, lasting healing from trauma-related chronic illness requires addressing three levels:

1. Beliefs (Mind Level)

• Repair fragmented parts stuck in fear and shame

• Address limiting beliefs about safety and worth

• Process traumatic memories appropriately

2. Somatic Movement (Body Level)

• Complete interrupted fight/flight responses

• Release physical tension and trauma patterns

• Restore natural nervous system regulation

3. Cellular Repair (Biology Level)

• Address oxidative stress and inflammation

• Repair immune system dysfunction

• Restore digestive system integrity

• Support mitochondrial function

When we only work at one level - like traditional talk therapy that focuses mainly on thoughts and beliefs - we often miss the biological patterns that keep the trauma cycle active.

Breaking Generational Patterns

One of the most hopeful aspects of this science is understanding that we can actually break generational trauma patterns. The oxidative stress that trauma creates gets passed down through our epigenetics, but when we repair our own biology, we stop passing these patterns to the next generation.

Benefits of addressing trauma biology:

• Stops generational transmission of trauma

• Improves family relationship dynamics

• Creates healthier parenting patterns

• Models healing for others

This isn't just about healing ourselves - it's about healing our family lines. When Kecia shifted from survival mode to thriving, she broke patterns that may have been running in her family for generations.

A Message Grounded in Science, Not Just Hope

The title of my book, The Biology of Trauma, represents a message of hope based on understanding rather than wishful thinking. I didn't have hope for myself until I learned this science. The science gave me insights into what my body actually needed and the sequence for repair.

Kecia's story shows what's possible when we understand that our body has an innate capacity for healing - it just needs the right conditions and tools to shift from decades of survival programming back to its natural state of health and vitality.

For anyone wondering if this approach could help them, Kecia offers this encouragement: "21 days out of a whole lifetime is not a lot of a commitment. What do you have to lose at this point? The part of you that can still hold on to a little bit of hope or know that you have a reason to be here - give it a chance."

Your body's capacity for healing remains intact even after decades of chronic illness. Sometimes we just need to work with our biology in the way it's designed to heal - by addressing trauma where it actually lives, in the nervous system itself.

Helpful Research

The ACE Study (Adverse Childhood Experiences) Felitti, V.J., et al. (1998). "Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults." American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14(4), 245-258.

This study changed everything for me as a physician. When I first read about Dr. Felitti's work with over 17,000 adults, I finally understood why so many of my patients had chronic health conditions that seemed to come out of nowhere. The research shows that people with four or more adverse childhood experiences have dramatically higher rates of autoimmune diseases, chronic fatigue, and the exact conditions Kecia struggled with for decades.

Polyvagal Theory Research Porges, S.W. (2007). "The polyvagal perspective." Biological Psychology, 74(2), 116-143.

Dr. Stephen Porges gave us the roadmap for understanding how trauma lives in the body. His research on the autonomic nervous system explains exactly what was happening when Kecia needed 16-18 hours of sleep daily. Her nervous system wasn't lazy - it was stuck in what Porges calls the dorsal vagal state, the shutdown response that prioritizes survival over thriving.

This research is why somatic approaches work where other treatments often don't. When we understand that trauma creates specific nervous system states, we can use targeted interventions to help the body shift out of chronic shutdown. The Foundational Journey works because it addresses trauma where it actually lives - in the nervous system patterns that Porges mapped out for us.

Inflammation and Trauma Study Danese, A., & Lewis, S.J. (2017). "Psychoneuroimmunology of Early-Life Stress: The Hidden Wounds of Childhood Trauma?" Neuropsychopharmacology, 42(1), 99-114.

This research explains the biological mechanisms behind why Kecia's autoimmune symptoms persisted for decades. Childhood trauma doesn't just create psychological wounds - it creates persistent inflammation that shows up as physical illness years later. The study demonstrates how early stress literally rewires our immune system to stay in attack mode.

This is why I always tell people: if it's making you sick 20 years later, that wasn't just stress. That was trauma for your body. The inflammation patterns this research describes are exactly what we need to address at the cellular level for lasting healing. It's not enough to just talk through traumatic memories - we have to repair the biological damage that trauma creates.

These studies provide the scientific foundation for everything we see in clinical practice. When people like Kecia experience dramatic healing, it's not magic - it's biology working the way it's designed to when we give it the right tools and conditions.

This Episode Is For: 

✓ People with chronic fatigue despite treatments

✓ Anyone needing daily naps to function

✓ Those with autoimmune conditions and exhaustion

✓ People sleeping 16+ hours daily

✓ Anyone who's lost their career to illness

✓ Those housebound from chronic conditions

✓ Practitioners supporting chronically fatigued clients

✓ Anyone who's tried everything without lasting results

✓ People ready for nervous system approach

What You'll Learn

Listen to Kecia's story of transformation from 30 years on disability. From needing daily three-hour naps and sleeping 16-18 hours daily. To seven weeks without a single nap after the Foundational Journey. Understanding why she never expected to live past 18 years old. How autoimmune disease took everything by age 25 suddenly and completely. The struggle for medical validation and how one doctor's compassion literally changed her physiology signaling safety to her system. What happens in chronic freeze and why extreme sleep needs make sense. How coming out of freeze brought back joy, energy, and full engagement. Why resilience praise can create stored trauma patterns inadvertently harming you. And how addressing trauma at the nervous system level created impossible changes.

Chronic freeze depletes you—nervous system work can restore what seemed lost.

Listen to Episode 137 with Kecia →

Disclaimer

This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The information shared reflects my clinical expertise and research, but every person's biology and healing journey is unique. Always consult with qualified healthcare providers before making changes to your treatment plan or starting new interventions. If you're experiencing a mental health crisis, please contact emergency services or a crisis helpline immediately.

Join the Conversation

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode. What resonated with you? What questions came up?

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