EP298: Why You Cannot Self-Affirmation Your Way Through Trauma with Erica Bonham

In this episode of Health Coach Conversations, Cathy Sykora speaks with Erica Bonham, a certified EMDR clinician, consultant, and trainer. Erica discusses the misconceptions around self-affirmations in trauma healing and the importance of nervous system regulation, somatic therapy, and EMDR for deep, lasting recovery.

• How Trauma Gets Stored in the Body: Why trauma doesn’t respond to logic and reasoning and how it manifests in different ways.
• The Role of Nervous System Regulation in Healing: Why regulating the vagus nerve is essential for trauma recovery.
• Why Self-Affirmations Alone Don’t Work: The science behind why trauma isn’t stored in the logical part of the brain.
• The Power of Somatic Therapy & EMDR: How eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) and parts work help release stored trauma.
• Practical Tools for Trauma Healing: Simple body-based exercises for regulating the nervous system and creating a sense of safety.

• “Trauma happens and is stored in the body. If we don’t bring in nervous system regulation, we’re just stewing in our thinking.”
• “You can’t self-affirmation yourself out of trauma. It’s a top-down process. Trauma needs a bottom-up approach, engaging the nervous system and body.”
• “If you actually give yourself just a few seconds, even that literal pause, you can calm yourself down, be emotionally centered, and stop choosing quick solutions or reacting.”

Erica Bonham is a certified EMDR clinician, consultant, and trainer, as well as a licensed professional counselor in Colorado. She specializes in working with the LGBTQ community, abuse recovery, and trauma related to social and racial injustice and spiritual abuse. She incorporates yoga, mindfulness, somatic therapy, attachment-based EMDR, ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, and ego state work to deepen healing. Erica is a published author and speaker, and she is the creator of the courses Cultivate Your Inner Badass and Healthy Hope: EMDR Best Practices for Healing Spiritual Trauma. She co-created Healing Racial Trauma with Somatic Therapy with Dr. Chinwe Williams.

• Erica Bonham’s Website: Avos Counseling

• Cultivate a Badass Nervous System (Webinar): Sign up here

• Free Polyvagal Resources & Audio Meditations: Get them here

• Health Coach Group Website: thehealthcoachgroup.com

• Special Offer: Use code HCC50 to save $50 on the Health Coach Group website.

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