The Biology of Trauma® With Dr. Aimie

Dr. Aimie Apigian
  • 4.7 (245)
  • Mental Health
  • Updated Weekly

People are done dancing around the topic of trauma. They're ready to face this square-on. None of the current systems are getting to the root of the issue in the current model. Their biology has been affected on a cellular level, and that is now what's preventing the important work that they're trying to do. The Biology of Trauma® podcast is the missing piece to that puzzle. It's a practical living manual for the human body in a modern, traumatizing world. Join your host, Dr. Aimie Apigian—a medical physician and expert in attachment, trauma, and addiction—as she challenges outdated trauma paradigms and introduces a new model for healing.

  1. 3d ago

    Grieving Is a Skill: HRV, Intention, and the Biology of Resilience with Dr. David Rabin (Part 2)

    Most of us were told to grieve, to rest, to be present. Nobody taught us the skill. In Part 2, Dr. Aimie and neuroscientist Dr. David Rabin get into heart rate variability and resilience, why anxiety masks itself as focus, and why grieving is a skill your body has to learn. Feeling safe enough to feel is where the work begins. ➡️ Full show notes: https://www.biologyoftrauma.com/post/why-grieving-is-a-skill-what-hrv-reveals-about-resilience-david-rabin  01:03 — Why is heart rate variability the key marker for resilience? 03:08 — What is intention, and what is it in the nervous system? 04:08 — Where does intention fit if you have lived in hypervigilance? 08:18 — What practices in therapy get in the way of healing? 11:28 — How do you apply these principles in a full, busy life? 16:33 — How do you grieve a loss, and why is grieving a skill? Listen to Part 1 here. Resources/Guides: Get the "Is It Stress or Trauma" Guide. Know whether what your body is carrying is stress or something deeper. ➡️ Full show notes with links and resources: https://www.biologyoftrauma.com/post/why-grieving-is-a-skill-what-hrv-reveals-about-resilience-david-rabin

  2. 5d ago

    Why Stress Was Never the Enemy, with Dr. David Rabin (Part 1)

    Stress was never the enemy. Your body was built to use it. What wears the body down is chronic stress with no recovery on the other side. Translational neuroscientist Dr. David Rabin splits stress into two forms. Eustress builds capacity. Distress, carried over time, moves the body toward disease. ➡️ Full show notes: https://www.biologyoftrauma.com/post/eustress-distress-difference-means-for-your-body-david-rabin In This Episode You'll Learn: 01:25 — What does the equation eustress × time = ease actually mean? 06:19 — How does the meaning you carry from the past shape your stress response? 07:37 — Can a person experience post-traumatic growth decades later? 09:19 — What creates safety so the body can reorganize? 11:00 — Why is a soothing touch such a powerful signal of safety? 13:55 — Why is rest the key to resilience, and where do you start if you cannot rest? Resources/Guides: If you want to know whether what you are carrying is stress or something deeper, this free guide walks you through the difference. Get the Stress or Trauma? Guide ➡️ Full show notes with links and resources: https://www.biologyoftrauma.com/post/eustress-distress-difference-means-for-your-body-david-rabin

  3. Jul 7

    EP 181: What Your Food Cravings Reveal About What You Survived | Dr. Tian Dayton

    Cravings point to a need underneath. This episode covers the three unmet needs behind food. It looks at the childhood roots of reaching for it. And it helps you tell stress from something deeper. ➡️ Full show notes: https://www.biologyoftrauma.com/post/what-your-food-cravings-mean-nervous-system In This Episode You'll Learn: 01:11 — The difference between hunger and an unmet need 05:27 — When a craving is really about connection or a memory 08:03 — What states does a parent go into when food becomes survival? 09:49 — Why children learn a parent's relationship with food so early 12:27 — How do our parents shape our earliest relationship with food? 16:18 — What happens to a parent in survival mode for food 19:00 — Why do we crave sweets when we feel low or shut down? 24:14— Why does the fear of connection drive us to food? 29:41 — How to draw your own craving map Resources/Guides: If you want to know whether what drives your reaching is stress or something your body is still carrying, this free guide walks you through the difference. Get Stress or Trauma? guide  ➡️ Full show notes with links and resources: https://www.biologyoftrauma.com/post/what-your-food-cravings-mean-nervous-system

  4. Jun 30

    EP 180: Is Your Acid Reflux a Nervous System Problem? | Molly Pelletier

    An early read on your nervous system explains why reflux holds on. This episode covers reflux hypersensitivity, lost hunger and fullness cues, and the somatic tools that calm the gut, including diaphragmatic breathing after meals. ➡️ Full show notes: https://www.biologyoftrauma.com/post/nervoussystemandacidreflux-thegut-brainconnection In This Episode You'll Learn: 01:10  — Why Molly Pelletier chose to focus on reflux and gut health 02:15 — How is acid reflux linked to the nervous system? 07:30 — Why is somatic work the missing link with reflux? 09:18 — What nutrition shifts actually help relieve reflux? 13:31 — What childhood patterns show up in stomach and reflux issues? 17:16 — Why can't some people feel when they are hungry or full? 22:12 — Which somatic tools help calm reflux? 26:52 — Which foods can trigger reflux during a healing phase? 30:32 — How do you know if reflux is affecting your sleep? 32:22 — What's the most important first step to calm reflux? Resources/Guides: Stress or Trauma? Read What Your Body Is Running (free): a Biology of Trauma® guide to tell whether your nervous system is running a stress response or a trauma response, and the sequence it needs next. ➡️ Full show notes with links and resources: https://www.biologyoftrauma.com/post/nervoussystemandacidreflux-thegut-brainconnection

  5. Jun 23

    EP 179: Why Do Adoptees Struggle With Addiction? | Lisa Coppola

    This is where adoption, attachment, and addiction meet. An early attachment rupture leaves the nervous system braced and hypervigilant. A substance can feel like the first relief from that noise. Drawing on her own recovery, Lisa Coppola names the four hidden losses adoptees carry. She shares why recovery asks for more than abstinence. It asks for safe connection. ➡️ Full show notes: https://www.biologyoftrauma.com/post/adoption-attachment-and-addiction-why-adoptees-struggle-and-what-recovery-really-ask In This Episode You'll Learn: 01:27 — What is the connection between attachment rupture and addiction? 07:28 — What do adoptees describe when a substance finally quiets the noise? 09:51 — The first loss: what is the loss of history? 11:34 — The second loss: why does the loss of trust live in the body? 14:07 — The third loss: how does early separation affect physical health? 16:24 — Is adoption at birth really a "safe window" for the baby? 20:20 — The fourth loss: what is the loss of self through disenfranchised grief? 22:37— Why does healing in recovery come from connection? 29:55 — What can happen when an adoptee reunites with biological family? 33:42 — What safeguards an adoptee from relapse in the hardest moments? 37:00 — What final message matters most for adoptees and attachment trauma? Resources/Guides: Stress or Trauma? Read What Your Body Is Running (free): a Biology of Trauma® guide to recognize whether your nervous system is running a stress response or a trauma response, and the sequence it needs next. ➡️ Full show notes with links and resources: https://www.biologyoftrauma.com/post/adoption-attachment-and-addiction-why-adoptees-struggle-and-what-recovery-really-ask

  6. Jun 16

    EP 178: What Your Eyes Reveal About Your Attachment & Stress | Dr. Bryce Appelbaum

    Vision is one of the primary signals your nervous system reads for safety or danger. Under stress, peripheral vision collapses and the body locks into central focus. Dr. Bryce Appelbaum walks through three eye exercises that begin retraining the eye-brain connection and the felt sense of safety. ➡️ Full show notes: https://www.biologyoftrauma.com/post/vagus-nerve-and-vision-how-your-eyes-signal-safety-to-your-nervous-system In This Episode You'll Learn: 01:21 — What is neuro-optometry, and how is it different from a regular eye exam 03:46 — How do your eyes shape how you move through the world? 14:05 — Can an old concussion still be affecting you years later? 23:09 — How does early caregiving shape vision development? 33:31 — Eye exercise 1: How do you do peripheral pointing? 41:24 — Eye exercise 2: How do you do eye push-ups? 46:26 — Eye exercise 3: How do you do eye stretches and the 20-20-20 rule? 50:06 — What foods support eye and brain health? Resources/Guides: The Biology of Trauma® Professional Certificate Training trains health and helping practitioners in the same framework Lacey works from. If this episode resonated with how you want to work with clients, this is the path. ➡️ Full show notes with links and resources: https://www.biologyoftrauma.com/post/vagus-nerve-and-vision-how-your-eyes-signal-safety-to-your-nervous-system

  7. Jun 9

    EP 177: Beyond Anxious and Avoidant: 6 Attachment Wounds Your Body Learned Before You Had Words

    Attachment is a survival imprint that lives in the body, encoded before you had language. In this episode, Dr. Aimie Apigian walks through the 6 hidden attachment pains, the adult symptoms each one creates, and why inner work alone cannot reach where the pattern lives. ➡️ Full show notes: https://www.biologyoftrauma.com/post/episode-177-6-attachment-wounds-chronic-symptoms In This Episode You'll Learn:  02:54 — How did Dr. Aimie's adopted son become her wake-up call to attachment biology? 10:12 — How does attachment loss connect to chronic fatigue and autoimmunity? 12:27 — Why doesn't awareness or inner work change attachment patterns? 15:24 — What is autoimmunity at the level of attachment biology? 25:06 — What is Hold Me attachment pain and how does it form? 31:36 — How does Hold Me pain become IBS, autoimmunity, and fibromyalgia? 40:11 — What is Support Me attachment pain and how does it shape the brainstem? 46:58 — What is See Me attachment pain and how does it shape self-worth? 47:47 — What is Understand Me attachment pain and which chronic conditions does it create? 50:20 — What is Love Me attachment pain and how does it shape adult relationships? Resources/Guides: Attachment Pain Guide — A complete map of all 6 attachment pains, the adult symptoms linked to each, and entry points for repair.  ➡️ Full show notes with links and resources: https://www.biologyoftrauma.com/post/episode-177-6-attachment-wounds-chronic-symptoms

  8. Jun 2

    EP 176: Smart, Strong, and Still Crashing? Why Regulation Matters — 3 Women's Stories

    Information alone does not resolve nervous system dysregulation. The body comes out of stored trauma in a precise three-step sequence: Safety, Support, Expansion. Skipping the order keeps the system stuck. Three Biology of Trauma® professionals describe the same shifts emerging in the same order, across three different conditions. ➡️ Full show notes: https://www.biologyoftrauma.com/post/nervous-system-regulation-stories-why-the-sequence-matters In This Episode You'll Learn: 02:14 — Who are the three women in this episode? 03:08 — How does a teenage body brace lead to three years in bed? Tricia's story 08:10 — What did POTS and thyroid cancer reveal as the missing piece in healing? Alexia's story 10:52 — Why does the cycle of feeling well then crashing keep repeating? Sherry's story 17:05 — What happens when parts work, somatic, and biology come together? 20:50 — What changes when you can name what your nervous system is doing? 25:00 — What three shifts do they each describe in healing? Resources/Guides: The Essential Sequence Guide — the same three steps Tricia, Sherry, and Alexia describe, laid out in writing ➡️ Full show notes with links and resources: https://www.biologyoftrauma.com/post/nervous-system-regulation-stories-why-the-sequence-matters

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4.7
out of 5
245 Ratings

About

People are done dancing around the topic of trauma. They're ready to face this square-on. None of the current systems are getting to the root of the issue in the current model. Their biology has been affected on a cellular level, and that is now what's preventing the important work that they're trying to do. The Biology of Trauma® podcast is the missing piece to that puzzle. It's a practical living manual for the human body in a modern, traumatizing world. Join your host, Dr. Aimie Apigian—a medical physician and expert in attachment, trauma, and addiction—as she challenges outdated trauma paradigms and introduces a new model for healing.

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