Dysregulated and Disillusioned? Why Triggers Still Happen



You’ve been doing the work.
You’ve gone to therapy.
You’ve read the books.
You’ve made real progress.

So why are you still getting triggered?

It’s disheartening—maybe even disillusioning—to feel like you’ve come so far in your healing journey, only to find yourself dysregulated by something that seems small or out of nowhere. If this sounds familiar, know this:

You’re not broken. You’re rewiring.
And healing isn’t linear—it’s layered.

Why Triggers Still Happen

Even after significant healing, your nervous system may still be carrying the impacts of trauma—especially if the trauma was repeated or prolonged. This includes childhood abuse, emotional neglect, or relational trauma that disrupted your sense of safety and belonging.

When life is calm, it’s easy to believe you’re “past it.”
But a subtle reminder—an expression, tone of voice, a life experience, or external or internal sensation—can throw your body back into a state of defense.

That’s because your brain and body learned to survive, not necessarily to feel safe. And when the underlying dysregulation hasn’t been addressed at the root, old patterns resurface—even if your mind knows better.

This isn’t a failure. It’s a signal.
And it tells us that healing needs to go deeper—beyond cognition alone.

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