Josh TrentIdentity Transformation Architect and award winning Host of the Wellness + Wisdom Podcast—a decade-strong show with over 750 episodes and 15M downloads.

Trauma doesn't just disappear... This is what actually happens. #traumahealing #trauma

9 Jun 2026 · 0 min

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In this interview segment, host Josh Trent speaks with Dr. Amy Apigian, a double‑board‑certified physician and author of The Biology of Trauma. They discuss how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are statistically linked to virtually every major chronic illness—heart disease, diabetes, and more—by becoming "stored trauma" in the body. Dr. Apigian explains that when a person cannot reset to a sense of safety, their cells enter a "cell danger response," a protective mode that reduces energy expenditure and limits full physiological functioning. This response can persist for decades, manifesting as chronic disease long after the original psychological threat has passed. The conversation emphasizes the need to recognize and reset this hidden physiological state to promote true healing.

Heart disease, diabetes, all of the big killers. We have found the one thing that drives all of it. Every single chronic health condition has been associated with adverse childhood experiences. Every single one. Many in the trauma world, they miss this part. How does that get encoded in the body somehow where you won't even know that it's still there, but it's gonna show up decades later in your physical health?
Dr. Amy Apigian is a double board certified physician and author of the number one international bestseller, The Biology of Trauma.
Stored trauma becomes stored because we were never able to reset back to, I'm safe, the story is over, I can breathe again. What triggers the trauma response is the perception of an inescapable life threat. Your body, your cells enter what's called the cell danger response. It literally is dimming the lights to say, we are going to make less energy because we are just going to survive but not be fully alive. It's not safe to be fully alive. Is the fastest way to shift your state when you have nothing else. We're actually terrified to feel what's in our body.
Why are we so afraid?