How To Deal With Grief and Trauma

Send us Fan Mail When you support someone through trauma—professionally or personally—your nervous system is not a neutral observer. Secondary traumatic stress can create trauma-like symptoms through exposure to others’ distress, while vicarious trauma can gradually shift your beliefs about safety, trust, and meaning. In this episode, we define both terms in plain language, explore why “empathic c...

Send us Fan Mail Community shock happens when a public tragedy or disaster disrupts a community’s sense of safety and predictability, creating a ripple of nervous-system activation far beyond those directly involved. This episode is the Trauma Types companion to S16E161 , where we explored collective grief and trauma after sudden tragedy. Here, we zoom in on community shock as a trauma pathway: wh...

Send us Fan Mail Migration and displacement can be traumatic not only because of what prompted the move, but because the nervous system loses multiple safety cues at once—home, language, social rules, community, and familiar identity. In this episode, we explore migration and displacement trauma as both a trauma pathway (chronic stress, uncertainty, vigilance) and a grief pathway (loss of belongin...

Send us Fan Mail Chronic scarcity and instability can shape the nervous system in ways that look like anxiety, irritability, shutdown, or “burnout,” even when a person is working incredibly hard to survive. In this episode, we explore poverty, insecurity, and social exclusion as a society-shaped trauma pathway—where the threat is often not a single event, but ongoing conditions with limited contro...

Send us Fan Mail Discrimination and minority stress can create a chronic nervous-system load: not only dealing with the moment, but also anticipating bias, managing risk, and constantly scanning for safety and belonging. In this episode, we explore minority stress as an accumulation of experiences—overt discrimination, microaggressions, stereotyping, exclusion, and the invisible effort of code-swi...

Send us Fan Mail Not all trauma comes from a single event. Sometimes the trauma pathway is the environment itself—ongoing pressure, instability, or threat with little realistic ability to escape or recover. In this episode, we explore “chronic stress without an exit” as a nervous system pattern that can keep the body stuck in mobilised protection (wired, urgent, hypervigilant) and, over time, slid...

Send us Fan Mail Medical and birth trauma can happen when care meant to help also involves fear, helplessness, loss of control, or violations of consent and dignity. In this episode, we explore why “routine” experiences can still leave lasting nervous system imprints, especially when a person feels rushed, unheard, exposed, or powerless. Using simple polyvagal-informed language, we look at fight/f...

Send us Fan Mail Single-incident trauma can create a sharp “before and after” in the nervous system—where an overwhelming event leaves the body stuck in protection long after it’s over. In this episode, we explore how trauma memories can be stored as sensory fragments and threat predictions, why triggers can feel like the event is happening again, and how avoidance develops as a protective strateg...

Send us Fan Mail Betrayal trauma can be uniquely disorienting because it not only breaks trust—it can disrupt your sense of reality and self-trust. In this episode, we explore betrayal trauma as a nervous system injury that often leads to hypervigilance, rumination, shutdown, and relationship fear. Using simple polyvagal-informed language, we look at why the body moves from connection to surveilla...

Send us Fan Mail Intergenerational trauma is what happens when the impact of trauma is passed down through families and communities—through nervous system patterns, emotional rules, family roles, and the stories we inherit about safety, trust, and worth. In this episode, we explore how people can carry burdens that didn’t start with them, why this isn’t about blaming previous generations, and how...

Send us Fan Mail Developmental trauma often forms through chronic, repeated stress during childhood—especially when safety, support, and repair are inconsistent. In this episode, you’ll get a clear, non-overwhelming map of what developmental trauma is, why it affects so many areas (regulation, identity, relationships), and how it can show up later as survival patterns like scanning, pleasing, prot...

Send us Fan Mail Attachment and relational trauma can be hard to name because it often doesn’t come from one dramatic event—it forms through patterns over time: inconsistency, emotional absence, unpredictable caregiving, chronic criticism, or rupture without repair. In this episode, we explore attachment as nervous-system education through relationship, and why closeness can become a trigger for p...

Send us Fan Mail Preverbal trauma can be hard to name because it often isn’t stored as a clear story. In this episode, we explore how early experiences, which occur before language development, can shape the nervous system through implicit memory and felt sense. You’ll learn why people can say “nothing happened” and still carry intense body reactions, relationship patterns, or shame responses that...

Send us Fan Mail “Small t” and “big T” are common trauma terms meant to validate, but they can also trigger comparison, minimisation, or shame. In this episode, you’ll learn what these labels usually mean, why they sometimes backfire, and how to replace ranking with a more compassionate, nervous-system-based framework. You’ll also get a simple reframe list (cumulative, relational, chronic vs singl...

Send us Fan Mail Trauma isn’t only about what happened—it’s about what happened inside your nervous system when an experience was too much, too fast, too soon, or too long, without enough support, choice, or protection . In this episode, we clarify what trauma is (and isn’t), using simple, polyvagal-informed language—so you can replace shame and confusion with understanding. You’ll also be guided...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to the first episode of my new series “The Many Faces of Trauma.” In this opening episode, I share why I’m creating this series and how I’ll guide you through different trauma types in a way that’s clear, gentle, and not overwhelming . I introduce the “trauma map” I’ll be using across two seasons, explain what I mean by “trauma types” (as pathways , not labels), and offer...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome again to the How to Deal With Grief and Trauma Podcast Season 16. HOW TO DEAL WITH GRIEF AND TRAUMA is completely self-funded, produced, and edited by me, Nathalie Himmelrich. Consider making a small donation to support the Podcast: bit.ly/SupportGTPodcast . Thank you!  For more information, please visit Nathalie’s website , join the podcast’s Instagram page, and subscribe...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Nathalie explores the emotional, psychological, and communal impact of the tragic event that took place on January 1st at Le Constellation in Crans-Montana. Together, we examine what happens in the immediate aftermath of sudden disasters, how individuals and communities—both local and global—are affected, and why events like these evoke such strong collective resp...

Send us Fan Mail HOW TO DEAL WITH GRIEF AND TRAUMA is completely self-funded, produced, and edited by me, Nathalie Himmelrich. Consider making a small donation to support the Podcast: bit.ly/SupportGTPodcast . Thank you!  For more information, please visit Nathalie’s website , join the podcast’s Instagram page, and subscribe to the newsletter to receive updates on future episodes here . About this...

Send us Fan Mail HOW TO DEAL WITH GRIEF AND TRAUMA is completely self-funded, produced, and edited by me, Nathalie Himmelrich. Consider making a small donation to support the Podcast: bit.ly/SupportGTPodcast . Thank you!  For more information, please visit Nathalie’s website , join the podcast’s Instagram page, and subscribe to the newsletter to receive updates on future episodes here . About this...

Send us Fan Mail HOW TO DEAL WITH GRIEF AND TRAUMA is completely self-funded, produced, and edited by me, Nathalie Himmelrich. Consider making a small donation to support the Podcast: bit.ly/SupportGTPodcast . Thank you!  For more information, please visit Nathalie’s website , join the podcast’s Instagram page, and subscribe to the newsletter to receive updates on future episodes here . About this...

Send us Fan Mail October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month , and with it comes a deeply meaningful PAIL Mini Series here on How to Deal With Grief and Trauma. In this seventh and last episode of the PAIL Mini Series, we explore two central themes: how hope and grief can coexist — how life can slowly expand again without erasing love, and compassionate insights on sustaining long-term su...

Send us Fan Mail HOW TO DEAL WITH GRIEF AND TRAUMA is completely self-funded, produced, and edited by me, Nathalie Himmelrich. Consider making a small donation to support the Podcast: bit.ly/SupportGTPodcast . Thank you!  For more information, please visit Nathalie’s website , join the podcast’s Instagram page, and subscribe to the newsletter to receive updates on future episodes here . About toda...

Send us Fan Mail October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month , and with it comes a deeply meaningful PAIL Mini Series here on How to Deal With Grief and Trauma. Grief is not one-size-fits-all. In this sixth episode, we explore two central themes:  how every person’s grief unfolds differently — and why permitting yourself to grieve in your own way is essential and compassionate guidance fo...

Send us Fan Mail HOW TO DEAL WITH GRIEF AND TRAUMA is completely self-funded, produced, and edited by me, Nathalie Himmelrich. Consider making a small donation to support the Podcast: bit.ly/SupportGTPodcast . Thank you!  For more information, please visit Nathalie’s website , join the podcast’s Instagram page, and subscribe to the newsletter to receive updates on future episodes here . About toda...