You’re Not Too Sensitive: How Trauma Shapes Emotional Reactions
Many trauma survivors have heard the words, “You’re too sensitive”, “you’re so dramatic”, or “Why do you overreact to everything?” These statements can be invalidating, making individuals feel like their emotional responses are a problem that needs to be fixed. Because of this, you learn to dismiss, suppress, and ignore your own thoughts and feelings. The truth is, your emotions aren’t the issue—trauma rewires how your brain and body react to the world around you.
If you’ve ever felt like your emotions are overwhelming, unpredictable, or disproportionate to a situation, it’s not because you’re broken or something is wrong with you. It’s because trauma shapes the nervous system in ways that make emotional regulation more challenging. The good news? You can learn to understand and work with your emotions instead of feeling controlled by them.
In this post, we’ll explore how trauma affects emotional reactions, why traditional coping strategies may not work, and how you can start building a sense of emotional safety. Plus, I’ll introduce you to my free masterclass and Safety Within, two resources designed to help you navigate your emotions with confidence in a trauma informed way.
Why Trauma Makes Emotions Feel More Intense
When someone experiences trauma—whether from childhood neglect, abuse, or repeated invalidation or more recent overwhelming experiences—the brain and nervous system adapt to keep them safe. Unfortunately, these adaptations don’t always serve us in adulthood.
Here’s how trauma impacts emotional reactions:
1. The Nervous System Becomes Stuck in Survival Mode
Trauma activates the fight, flight, freeze, or fawn response, which is the body’s way of protecting itself from danger. If the trauma was chronic or unresolved, the nervous system may stay stuck in this hyper-alert state, making even small stressors feel like big threats.
2. The Amygdala Becomes Overactive
The amygdala, the brain’s alarm system, becomes more sensitive after trauma. This means that everyday situations—like a raised voice or a sudden change in plans—can feel just as threatening as past traumatic experiences, leading to emotional overwhelm.
3. The Prefrontal Cortex Struggles to Regulate Emotions
The prefrontal cortex, which helps regulate emotions and rationalize situations, often becomes less active when the brain is conditioned by trauma. As a result, emotional reactions can feel intense and hard to control.
4. Triggers Reinforce Emotional Sensitivity
Triggers—sounds, smells, words, or experiences that remind your brain of past trauma—can cause emotional flooding. These responses are not overreactions; they are your nervous system trying to keep you safe.
Why Traditional Coping Strategies Don’t Always Work for Trauma Survivors
You’ve probably heard advice like:
“Just take deep breaths.”
“Think logically about the situation.”
“Let it go.”
While these techniques can be helpful for some, they don’t address the deeper issue for trauma survivors: your emotional reactions aren’t just mental—they’re physical, biological.
If your nervous system is conditioned to perceive the world as unsafe, no amount of positive thinking will override a triggered fight-or-flight response. This is why many people struggle to apply traditional coping skills.
Instead, trauma-informed emotional regulation strategies focus on working with the body and nervous system, rather than trying to suppress emotions or put a band-aid over a large wound.
How to Build Emotional Safety After Trauma
Healing the emotional experience after trauma isn’t about numbing your feelings—it’s about learning how to feel safe with them. Here’s where to start:
1. Validate Your Emotions
Instead of asking, “Why am I reacting this way?” try asking, “What is my body (or emotion) trying to tell me?” Trauma teaches us to dismiss our emotions. If we can get curious around the emotions or cues, this can reduce shame and self-judgment.
2. Learn About Your Nervous System
When you understand how trauma impacts your nervous system, you can start working with your body instead of feeling at war with it. This is exactly what I cover in my free masterclass, where I explain:
Why trauma makes emotional regulation so hard
How to identify whether you’re in a fight, flight, freeze, or fawn response
Simple shifts to help bring your nervous system back into balance
🔗 Sign up for the free masterclass here!
3. Develop Trauma-Informed Coping Skills
To regulate your emotions, you need strategies that address both your thoughts and your body’s stress response. This is where my Safety Within course comes in—it’s designed specifically for trauma survivors who want practical, trauma based tools to:
Recognize and name emotions without feeling overwhelmed
Build a sense of internal safety
Develop grounding techniques that actually work
You don’t have to figure this out alone. Safety Within provides a framework to help you feel more in control of your emotions, without invalidating your experiences.
🔗 Learn more about Safety Within here!
4. Create a Self-Compassion Practice
Many trauma survivors are harder on themselves than anyone else. Practicing self-compassion—talking to yourself with kindness, validating your emotions, and allowing space for imperfection—is an important part of emotional healing.
** note: these steps are not easy. It takes time and space to learn how to validate your emotions, how your nervous system works, coping skills that actually make a difference, and to build self-compassion. This is hard work.
You Are Not “Too Much”—You Are Healing
If you’ve ever felt like your emotions are too intense, too sensitive, or too overwhelming, please know this:
Your feelings make sense. Your reactions are not flaws. You are not broken.
Healing from trauma isn’t about shutting down your emotions—it’s about learning how to hold them with safety, curiosity, and care.
If you’re ready to understand your emotions on a deeper level and take the next step toward feeling more regulated, I invite you to explore my free masterclass and Safety Within:
✔ Start with the free masterclass to learn more about your emotional reactions and regulation and how your trauma has specifically impacted you.
✔ Go deeper with Safety Within, where I guide you through practical tools to feel more in control of your emotions every day.
🔗 Click here to sign up for the free masterclass.
🔗 Learn more about Safety Within here.
You don’t have to navigate this journey alone—healing is possible, and you deserve support every step of the way.
And if you are ready to go deeper…
How Trauma Therapy with Brea Giancaterino in Denver, Colorado can Help
As a trauma therapist with years of experience supporting individuals impacted by childhood trauma and trauma, I understand the complexities of this journey.
At my private practice in Denver, I offer a safe, compassionate, nonjudgmental space where you can explore your past, reconnect with yourself, and create lasting change. I’m here to help you find clarity and peace. Together, we’ll work to unburden the weight of the past and move toward the life you deserve. I am dedicated to building a safe, trusting therapeutic relationship and going at the pace you need to process your trauma.
If you’re ready to take the next step, I’d love to hear from you. Schedule a free 15 minute consultation!
Learn more about EMDR therapy (an impactful and effective trauma therapy) here.
