Embodied Healing

10/09/2026

Emotional abuse can often disorient someone’s sense of reality & lead to doubting one’s own natural instincts. It is often mislabeled as overprotectiveness, criticism, or “because I love you so much.”

It systematically undermines a sense of self, confidence & undermines what is meaningful, furthering isolation.

Emotional abuse causes wounds that are often less visible or hard to explain. Physical & sexual abuse always include an element of emotional abuse.

I have been told so so many times that the emotional wounds are the most painful. Because it’s easy to understand how being hit is not ok-emotional abuse is complicated. Many survivors care about what the person abusing them thinks because they love them & we all seek approval from those we love.

Emotional abuse deserves to be taken just as seriously as all forms of abuse. Healing is possible!

As these painful experiences get reprocessed & negative beliefs start to be challenged by other parts of you- the part you know is kind, lovable, capable, has choices, knew what it was seeing all along-the negative beliefs start to loosen.

The adaptive parts of you already exists. When traumatic experiences are stored, the activation blocks these networks & make them less accessible.

Healing is about rebuilding trust in your own sense of knowing.

Sending peace ✌🏻,
Annmarie Hardgrove, LCSW-R, CYT
Certified EMDR Therapist
Somatic Developmental Trauma Therapist
Trauma Focused Yoga & Meditation Teached
www.embodiedhealingli.com

10/07/2026

Raising awareness about domestic violence & its deep lasting impact is an issue very important to me- not just as a trauma therapist but as a wife, mother, friend, neighbor & part of a larger community.

This year I want to highlight the children who witness abuse.
Myth: Children are not impacted by DV unless they experience the abuse directly- it’s between the parents

Fact- The effects are the same!

The definition of PTSD itself includes exposure to trauma through witnessing it. I have witnessed myself how activated a client’s nervous system can get recounting abuse in their homes growing up- many, many years later. A part of them is still hearing the yelling, hiding in a closet or intervening to protect others in a way no child should (or can bc it’s not a child’s responsibility).

It shapes how a child’s nervous system is wired, what is safe or unsafe, the ability to trust & relationship roles.

As I have shared, I started my career at a DV & Sexual Assault Center 20+ years ago. Sadly the statistics are the same.

However, 2 observations as I reflect on the past couple years give me hope that cycles can be broken someday:

1) In my work doing somatic EMDR Intensives with trauma survivors, I have seen more people seek treatment due to the effects of witnessing domestic violence as a child in all its forms as a PRIMARY focus of treatment than ever before! This demonstrates a significant shift in awareness! Clients come in expressing that witnessing DV is interfering with how they approach emotions, parenting, relationships, etc. I am not hearing “my parents never hurt me so I’m fine” as often because not being safe at home IS being hurt.

2) I have seen an increasing number of men in my office seeking help for the violence they witnessed as children (as well as other forms of abuse). The men I have worked with are motivated to heal their wounds & be vulnerable to show up as better parents & partners.

We all have a part to play in stopping DV- it takes a community to prevent & heal abuse!

Sending peace ✌🏻,
Annmarie Hardgrove, LCSW-R, CYT
Certified EMDR Therapist
Somatic Developmental Trauma Therapist
Trauma Focused Yoga & Meditation Teacher
www.embodiedhealingli.com

09/15/2026

As I firmly believe & often say, it’s takes a community to prevent & heal trauma. Living through repeated traumatic experiences itself causes a deep seated sense of separateness & isolation. The anecdote is awareness & connection.

And so I want to share this resource a brave survivor shared with me as an opportunity for individuals interested in having their story heard while contributing to the larger knowledge base. CPTSD survivors hold a unique wisdom that only a survivor can. This wisdom belongs in the center of the conversation about interventions, research & social policies that serve trauma survivors. And it is so often true that contributing to the healing of others is part of one’s healing journey too.

Sending peace ✌🏻,
Annmarie Hardgrove, LCSW-R
EMDR Certified
Somatic Developmental Trauma Therapist
Trauma Focused Yoga & Meditation Teacher
www.embodiedhealingli.com

Take the CPTSD Census—a trauma-informed survey amplifying survivor voices to drive recognition, research, and systemic trauma reform.

09/11/2026

CPTSD vs PTSD- What’s the difference?

PTSD can develop after a single or even series of events. It is known to cause:
🧠 Intrusive memories, visual & bodily flashbacks
🧠 Hyperarousal
🧠 Avoiding reminders of the trauma

CPTSD is caused by prolonged or repeated traumatic events, typically interpersonal, that a person is either not able to escape or perceives being unable to escape that threatens their basic sense of safety. It results in chronic experiences of powerlessness & a felt sense of being unworthy. It often interrupts an individual’s developmental trajectory thruout the lifespan.

In my work as a somatic EMDR therapist, the vast majority of individuals seeking relief have CPTSD. Survivors of childhood abuse & neglect, domestic violence, sexual abuse & institutional abuse. Being bullied in school is also common.

What is common among individuals with CPTSD is that they experience the symptoms of PTSD as well as the following hallmark symptoms:
🧠 Difficulty regulating emotions
🧠 Deeply held negative beliefs about themself, others & the world
🧠 Feeling stuck in physical overwhelm, chronic anxiety and/or periods of feeling numb or disconnected
🧠 Problematic Relationship Behaviors & Patterns

These symptoms can occur from directly experiencing the trauma as well as witnessing people you love experience it. This year alone I have worked with many brave clients who suffer from CPTSD from witnessing domestic abuse as children.

Talking through what happened can break the silence but is never enough. This is why I lean on somatic EMDR - these research driven modalities help the nervous system reprocess experiences that couldn’t be digested due to extreme overwhelm over an extended period. We are designed to survive as well as heal….

Healing must always involve interventions that promote safety, regulation & choice! To all the survivors out there, we see you, hear you & honor the hard work of healing!

If this resonates with you, learn more or contact me on my website www.embodiedhealingli.com

Sending peace ☮️,
Annmarie Hardgrove, LCSW-R, CYT
EMDR Certified
Somatic Developmental Trauma Therapist
Trauma Focused Yoga & Meditation Teacher

08/20/2026

As the last weeks of summer are upon us, I wish that all beings can find a space where the To-Do list is put down. And you create space for yourself to 🪷 Just Be 🪷

Trauma survivors often struggle with stillness, silence or just being in the moment because unresolved trauma can sometimes arise in the quiet. It’s that ever present hypervigilance to fearing something bad will happen if you allow yourself to breathe.

For most survivors, “just being” needs to be learned, repatterned into the body & practiced in small manageable increments until it feels safe.

In the many things “to do” on the journey of healing, learning to just be is equally as important. We are meant to have moments of existing just because, or appreciating something within us or around us.

It is a practice to come home to. In this busy Do, Do, Do world it is not often prioritized enough. You are worth creating space for, deserve the peace & in this space is where we can find joy.

A life worth living is not just resolving the trauma but making room for the things that make you smile, feel connected & bring feelings of joy.

To feel embodied, alive & engaged is not just a bonus, it’s our right as beings!

Sending peace ☮️ & summer sunshine 🌞,
Annmarie Hardgrove, LCSW-R, CYT
Certified EMDR Therapist
Somatic Developmental Trauma Practitioner
Trauma Focused Yoga Teacher
www.embodiedhelingli.com

08/11/2026

During a recent somatic EMDR Intensive, after we had reprocessed a very distressing childhood memory (client rated the emotional disturbance a 10 out of 10), the client I was working with said to me “Is this possible? To no longer find this so disturbing? And to feel so different about it?! Will this last? “

The answer is Yes! Once EMDR digests unprocessed traumatic material, it can safely put these experiences in the proper filing cabinet…in the past, not the present.

Beliefs about the self stemming from undigested trauma often feel very true when activated in present situations, such as:

- I’m not safe (bc the body is also feeling unsafe)
- I’m powerless
- I have no control
- I am not good enough/unworthy/unlovable
- It’s my fault
- I am not seen/heard or My needs don’t matter

With effective body based reprocessing, the brain can reduce the disturbance enough so that the adaptive networks in the brain that already exist can come online so that more effective beliefs can now feel fully true. The disturbance is a stuck point that blocks important information from being accessed but once this disturbance is cleared, the adaptive networks are available to make a new meaning of these events & how a person sees themself in a more effective way.

This is the Adaptive Information Processing model that EMDR is based on! To integrate somatic techniques further deepens the healing process because trauma lives in the body & heart, not just in the mind.

And then the new beliefs can feel deeply true:
- I am safe now
- I have choices, I am resilient
- I am good enough/worthy/lovable
- It’s not my fault
- I am seen/heard or My needs are important/I matter

That’s my very favorite part of the work- when the shift starts to happen & the adaptive networks come online. And the painful experiences someone has had to carry can finally stay where they belong….in the past. From that point on, the possibilities for a meaningful, authentic life live on, not the trauma!

Sending peace ☮️,
Annmarie Hardgrove, LCSW-R, CYT
Certified EMDR Therapist
Somatic Developmental Trauma Therapist
Trauma Focused Yoga & Meditation Teacher
www.embodiedhealingli.com

07/17/2026

When doing the work of deep healing, it can help to find some meaning, some purpose in the pain. The version of yourself that can emerge through your own evolution is the best purpose of all!

So if you need something to keep on going or to honor the work you put in to get to where you are at now, this butterfly is for you! ♥️

Sending peace ☮️,
Annmarie Hardgrove, LCSW-R, CYT
Certified EMDR Therapist
Somatic Developmental Trauma Therapist
Trauma Focused Yoga & Meditation Teacher
www.embodiedhealingli.com

07/09/2026

Relationships are one of the most common places unresolved trauma shows up, second only to the relationship with yourself. It’s that persistent behavior pattern that keeps showing up….time & time again!

This makes so much sense when we consider the deepest traumas are usually rooted in our closest relationships, connections that we are biologically wired to have as people. And even when it’s not interpersonal trauma, such as a medical trauma, the way others respond to our experience can be very impactful. It can be a source of strength & support, or a traumatizing invalidation or denial of reality that can last longer than the experience itself.

The behaviors & sense of self born from trauma become intertwined with how an individual approaches their intimate relationships, parent child relationships, friendships & relationships with colleagues.

If you didn’t get your needs met as a child, the problematic relationship behaviors you struggle with as an adult were likely once the very coping strategies that helped you survive as a child. It just doesn’t serve you well now!

These are some examples of common relational trauma re-enactments but the impacts are far greater than this simple list can capture. Healing involves reprocessing the traumatic experiences that caused these behaviors to develop AND learning new strategies to change the habits that formed around the trauma. Talking about it alone is not enough!

We are our best selves when we can balance our needs with the needs of others, form healthy connections and communicate authentically.

Sending peace ☮️ ,
Annmarie Hardgrove, LCSW-R, CYT
Certified EMDR Therapist
Somatic Developmental Trauma Therapist
Trauma Focused Yoga & Meditation Teacher
www.embodiedhealingli.com

06/19/2026

Sharing this video as a reminder that simple actions can have a very calming effect. The key is to do it consistently, instead of “I’ll try this another time. I’m too upset”.

To add to the video, when we use breathing to calm the nervous system, try elongating the exhale by a couple extra seconds so that it takes more time to exhale then inhale. It activates a calming mechanism in the nervous system, especially when we also pretend to blow out a candle while we exhale.

I often use hand to heart personally as well as in my work with clients. It can be soothing, it can also be a way to prompt listening to that inner knowing, or to connect with presence.

Bringing up internal resources, such as a place that makes us feel calm/safe, or a person/animal/figure that loves, protects or guides as can be helpful to activate the calming system too. Nature is often that place.

I invite you to make the simple things a part of your regular routine & notice what these practices make you feel.

Sending peace,
Annmarie Hardgrove, LCSW-R, CYT
Certified EMDR Therapist
Somatic Developmental Trauma Therapist
Trauma Focused Yoga & Meditation Teacher
www.embodiedhealingli.com

Put your hand on your heart and breathe deeply. 🌿Feel the rise an...

06/12/2026

One of the hallmark symptoms of PTSD/CPTSD is hyperarousal. It’s when the biologically wired survival settings in our nervous system are stuck in overdrive, with the switch always “On”. For survivors of childhood abuse where there was a lack of safety in the household, it becomes a way of life to feel activated in one’s own body. And it’s exhausting!

These symptoms are also commonly experienced by our first responders, veterans, medical personnel, individuals who had an accident or medical trauma to name a few.

Our brains & body are designed to protect us but chronic hyperarousal is not meant to be a regular state of being. Fortunately, treatments like EMDR, somatic therapy & yoga can help rewire the nervous system response because talking about it cannot convince the brain you’re safe - even in situations where you logically know that’s true. Humans are resilient & these approaches facilitate accessing the innate ability to heal that is within all of us.

Finding spaces that naturally promote a resting state is an important part of self care in the here & now when possible. Arielle Schwartz also offers exercises on you tube and on her website to facilitate vagal toning for individuals interested in trying some strategies immediately.

I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to receive her mentorship to deepen my integration of yoga into my work with trauma survivors starting this August!

Sending peace,
Annmarie Hardgrove, LCSW-R
Certified EMDR Therapist
Somatic Developmental Trauma Therapist
Trauma Focused Yoga & Meditation Teacher
www.embodiedhelingli.com