Trauma Is an Injury That Can Heal #2511
Trauma Is an Injury That Can Heal #2511
My journey from trauma to triumph to helping others heal.
Trauma Is Not the Event. It’s the Reaction to the Event.
When I came home from the Middle East in 1990, I knew something was wrong. My doctor diagnosed me with depression and prescribed Prozac. But what I was experiencing wasn’t just depression—it was trauma.
I was waking up five, six, sometimes seven nights a week in a panic, grabbing my wife by the wrist, sprinting down the hallway as if my life was on the line. I was aggressive, easily triggered, and stuck in survival mode.
That year, I found NLP—Neuro-Linguistic Programming—and learned a tool called Visual-Kinesthetic Dissociation (the Trauma Model). For the first time, I began to calm my nervous system, reduce the nightmares, and experience real healing. Not soon enough to save my marriage, but soon enough to save my life.
A Heartbreaking Loss That Shaped My Work
In 1992, during my first wife’s pregnancy, we learned that our son’s heart was severely underdeveloped—less than 10% of his left ventricle had formed. Infant heart transplants were new, rare, risky, required a lifetime of medication and a donor!
We made the impossible choice to let nature take its course and celebrate his life while we had him. The hospital gave us a private room away from maternity. We invited friends and family to join us and celebrate his life. My sister flew across Canada to be there.
Our son’s life was short, but it was perfect. He breastfed. He had a bath. He had a bowel movement. He was loved unconditionally, and he loved unconditionally.
I tell this story not with trauma, but with love. This is what healing looks like—being able to honor a devastating moment in your life without being re-traumatized by it.
From Survivor to Trauma Coach
In 2015, I dedicated my life to trauma recovery. I became a trauma coach, trained extensively in NLP, hypnosis, and neuroscience, and spent 18 months devouring research on trauma healing.
Since then, I’ve:
Worked with over 500 individuals one-on-one
Trained 200+ clinicians
Helped develop and teach a trauma modality backed by peer-reviewed research showing 92%+ efficacy in healing trauma in 3–5 sessions of 90 minutes each—with no recurrence
What Trauma Really Is
Trauma isn’t just what happened to you. It’s the way your nervous system responded when it was overwhelmed. The trauma response is like a computer virus deep in some dark crevasse of you mind running autonomically, rewiring and refiring your neurological pathways altering your hormones, immune system, and your sense of safety.
Unresolved trauma leaves clues; the inability to sleep, nightmares, mental torment and physical torture.
But trauma is not a life sentence. It is an injury—and injuries can heal.
A Message of Hope
If you’re struggling with trauma symptom - inability to sleep, nightmares when you do sleep, hyper vigilance, anxiety, or emotional numbness - know that you are not broken. Your nervous system is doing its best to protect you. But healing is possible, and it doesn’t have to take years.
I’ve seen people heal in weeks. I’ve lived it myself. And I’ve made it my mission to teach others that trauma is an injury that can heal.
Allen Kanerva, MA
Trauma Healing Advocate, International NLP Trainer, Time Line Therapy Trainer
