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

Listen to Episode 137 with Kecia →

When Nothing Seems to Help

Many people struggle with chronic fatigue and autoimmune conditions that persist. Exhaustion that no amount of sleep seems to cure completely. They've tried medications, supplements, therapy, and self-care practices consistently. Following all the recommendations but still suffering without relief or improvement.

Still finding themselves needing daily naps just to function minimally. This becomes their normal, but it's exhausting and limiting life. They can't understand why their body works against them instead of healing like it should naturally over time.

Or why they feel so disconnected from the energy they once had. Remembering a time when life didn't feel this impossible and hard.

In this episode, you'll meet Kecia whose story reveals what's possible. What's possible when we finally address trauma where it lives. In the nervous system, not just in our thoughts or understanding.

After 30 years on medical disability needing daily three-hour naps just to survive each day, Kecia was sleeping 16-18 hours daily. And housebound for years unable to leave her home safely. By age 25, autoimmune illness had taken her career as a respiratory therapist, her ability to hike outdoors. Even basic tasks became impossible to complete without extreme fatigue.

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 of chronic exhaustion.

Her husband said she became "like the person I knew 30 years ago." He got his wife back after three decades of illness.

This isn't about willpower or positive thinking changing your mindset. It's about understanding how unresolved attachment wounds show up physically. Show up as physical symptoms decades later in your body. And why trauma healing requires addressing the nervous system directly.

Whether you're personally dealing with chronic fatigue and autoimmune conditions that doctors can't fully explain with tests 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.

Kecia's Journey

Kecia never expected to live past 18 years old growing up. This reveals deep early trauma and hopelessness she carried silently. At age 25, autoimmune disease hit hard taking everything from her. Took her career, her physical abilities, her life as she knew it.

From functioning respiratory therapist to medical disability happened quickly and devastatingly. The transformation was complete and seemingly permanent for three decades.

The Struggle for Medical Validation

The struggle to get medical validation is common with chronic illness. Trying to get doctors to believe and validate her symptoms exhausted her. One doctor finally showed genuine compassion and belief in her experience.

That validation literally changed her physiology, not just her emotions. When doctors validate your experience, it signals safety to your system. This enables healing to begin at the nervous system level.

Understanding Chronic Freeze

What's actually happening in your body during chronic freeze state matters. Chronic freeze is a specific nervous system state operating beneath awareness. Not laziness or depression, but biological shutdown for protection and survival.

Your body needs massive amounts of sleep because it's in survival mode. This depletes energy constantly requiring rest to conserve any resources. In freeze, your body conserves all possible energy it has available. Sleep is how it does this and the exhaustion is protective.

Living in freeze is metabolically expensive on your entire system daily. Your body is working hard to stay safe, depleting all resources.

The Impossible Shift

The shift that seemed impossible actually happened to Kecia after decades. Three decades of needing daily three-hour naps to function at all. Seven consecutive weeks without a single nap for the first time since age 25.

After 30 years, this pattern seemed permanent and unchangeable completely. Doctors had no solutions that worked for her. Yet it shifted when she addressed trauma at the nervous system level. Through the Foundational Journey working with the body, not just mind.

Coming Out of Freeze

Coming out of freeze brought back joy that had been absent for decades. Actual sustained energy, not just temporary bursts that crashed her later. Her body could finally produce and maintain energy naturally throughout the day.

The ability to be present and engaged with life fully returned. Not just surviving but actually living and experiencing joy again daily. Joy, energy, and full engagement all require a regulated nervous system. In freeze, none of these are possible no matter how hard you try.

Why Resilience Praise Can Harm

Being praised for "resilience" can actually create stored trauma patterns. Being told you're so strong and so resilient seems positive. But these compliments reward pushing through pain and ignoring body needs.

Your body learns that rest means weakness you should avoid. That needing help is failure and something to hide from others. These beliefs create trauma patterns that get stored in your system. They maintain the freeze and depletion cycle continuing indefinitely.

Capacity Management for Healing

My guidance on capacity management and energy investment matters for sustainability. Your capacity is limited, especially when healing from chronic conditions. You must manage it wisely or you'll crash and undo progress.

Every activity is an energy investment you make from limited reserves. You must choose what's worth the cost to your system. Sustainable healing means not pushing beyond your capacity. Gradual building, not forcing results before your body is ready.

Quick fixes don't work for nervous system healing that lasts long-term. Sustainable practices create lasting change that persists over time successfully.

The Timeline and Transformation

Six weeks after 30 years of illness created this profound shift. Six weeks of proper nervous system work created this biological change. When you address the actual root cause of dysregulation in your system, the body can heal rapidly once obstacles are removed.

Kecia's story is exceptional and not everyone will have this dramatic response. But it shows what's possible when we address trauma correctly. From 16-18 hours of sleep daily to functioning without naps. This is profound biological change at the cellular and nervous system level.

Where Trauma Actually Lives

Trauma lives in the nervous system, not just the mind or memory. This is why talk therapy alone often isn't enough for healing. Trauma creates biological changes throughout your entire body's systems. These must be addressed at the biological level for true healing.

Unresolved attachment wounds from childhood create nervous system patterns persisting. These show up as physical symptoms in adulthood decades later. The connection isn't always obvious but it's real and measurable.

The Foundational Journey

Six weeks of structured nervous system work with daily practices. The Essential Sequence implemented with guidance: Safety first, then support. Then expansion only after the first two are established firmly. Specific somatic and parts work practices change biology and symptoms fastest when done consistently over time.

This story offers hope for those with chronic fatigue persisting. Even 30 years of chronic fatigue can shift when addressed properly. Shows the trauma-autoimmunity connection and that addressing trauma helps improve autoimmune symptoms when nervous system work is done.

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?

Please keep comments respectful and supportive. This is a community of people committed to healing. We welcome diverse perspectives and honest questions, but we don't tolerate personal attacks, spam, or content that could harm others on their healing journey.