CYCLICAL Podcast · Dr. Cassandra Wilder ND

Trauma’s Impacts in the Body and Healing with Ali Kates

·58 min·3 clips

At 22, Allie and her husband lost three people in 9.5 months, and her body "felt like my skin didn't fit anymore."

1. CYCLICAL Podcast episode "Trauma’s Impacts in the Body and Healing with Ali Kates" centers trauma recovery, nervous system regulation, and hormone health. 2. Cassandra Wilder is the host and a naturopathic doctor, and Allie Cates is the guest as a trauma-trained coach and somatic experience practitioner. 3. The episode asks what happens when trauma is stored in the body instead of processed and why that matters for health. 4. Allie Cates describes losing three people within 9.5 months at age 22 and says those deaths brought up suppressed childhood trauma. 5. She says she reached suicidal ideation, felt like her skin did not fit, and called a trauma recovery contact after seeing a local sign. 6. The guest explains that a veteran-focused practitioner told her she was experiencing trauma and developmental trauma after their phone call. 7. She says she spent about 3.5 years in intense trauma recovery using somatic work, myofascial release, and other body-based approaches. 8. Allie says she had tried CBT, talk therapy, EMDR, neuroplasticity, hypnotherapy, and ketamine before she felt her body finally relax. 9. She later says she was diagnosed with late-stage chronic Lyme and five other autoimmune conditions three weeks before her wedding. 10. She describes spending nine and a half months in an IV room three to four times a week for six to eight hours a day and then building her coaching practice there. 11. One major insight is her definition of trauma as a nervous system staying in fight or flight longer than a "metaphorical tiger" threat. 12. She gives a circle model with trigger, fight or flight, discharge, and rest and digest to explain why stress cycles need completion. 13. Allie says emotional charge can sit in fascia tissue, which is why people may cry during yoga or after a run. 14. She uses a bunny rabbit and coyote example to show how animals discharge fear and then return to safety. 15. She says two people can watch the same car accident and leave with different reactions because their nervous systems have different capacity. 16. She links childhood development to a parent’s nervous system state and says children can mirror parental regulation patterns. 17. The interview style is conversational and personal, with Cassandra reflecting back and asking direct follow-up questions. 18. The energy is candid and explanatory, with concrete examples like scanning a room, pushing on a wall, and releasing breath, sound, and movement. 19. People dealing with trauma, chronic stress, hormone issues, or autoimmune symptoms may get the most from this conversation. 20. Listeners looking for light entertainment or a purely medical treatment discussion may skip it.

As heard by us

A steady look at how trauma can show up in the body and nervous system.

This episode treats trauma as something that can stay active in the body and nervous system, not just a story from the past. It keeps returning to a plain question: why do old experiences still show up as sleep trouble, night terrors, or a body locked in fight or flight?

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Why you'd press play

If trauma feels stored in your body, this is a calm place to start.

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