This blog post features a few key takeaways from Dr. Megan’s Wellness Your Way podcast interview with Dr. Aimie Apigian, MD about how stress gets stored in the body and how to heal. Find the full episode here and be sure to subscribe to Wellness Your Way so you don’t miss future episodes!

Guest Bio: Dr. Aimie Apigian, MD

Dr. Aimie Apigian, MD, MS, MPH, is a double Board-Certified Physician, boarded in both Preventive and Addiction Medicine with a Masters in Biochemistry and a Masters in Public Health. She is a leader, speaker and founder of Trauma Healing Accelerated, LLC where she not only continues to lead individuals in their own healing journey but trains professionals around the world to do the same.

After a few years in a general surgery residency in Portland, OR, Dr. Aimie decided to forge her career path as a Trauma, Attachment and Addiction Medicine Physician.  She believes the healing journey can be accelerated by bringing in the biology piece to trauma and applying strategic tools to address the chronic effects of trauma in one’s body.  Having both parented children with effects from attachment and trauma issues and then having her own health challenges from chronic stress and traumas, she is intensely invested on finding what actually works practically and how to restore the body to its highest potential for health optimizing the biology.

Top Insights from Dr. Aimie Apigian’s Interview

1. Trauma and stress aren’t the same thing. While stress is your body’s high-energy attempt to overcome challenges, trauma occurs when your system perceives the danger as too overwhelming — leaving lasting biological imprints.
2. Your nervous system goes through five distinct steps before trauma sets in. From the startle response to full shutdown, these stages explain why trauma can feel terrifying and hard to escape.
3. Unresolved trauma doesn’t just stay in your head. It often surfaces as gut issues, hormone imbalances, thyroid problems, chronic fatigue, or even stubborn weight and metabolism struggles.
4. Talking about trauma can sometimes make things worse. Traditional therapy may re-trigger painful memories without repairing the underlying biology, leaving you exhausted or stuck in old patterns.
5. Your biology itself can block healing. If your cells, mitochondria, and nervous system are still carrying the burden of trauma, even the best mindset work and intentions may fall flat.
6. Many “adrenaline junkies” are unknowingly running from trauma. Constant busyness, drama, and the thrill of deadlines may mask an underlying shutdown state that feels too heavy to face.
7. Coping mechanisms are powerful signals, not random habits. Emotional eating, binge-watching, or overworking often show up as ways the body numbs feelings it believes are unbearable.
8. High achievers can live in a hidden state called “functional freeze.” They may look productive and unstoppable on the outside, but internally their nervous system is locked in survival mode.
9. Healing can begin with something as simple as holding a sweater. A live somatic exercise in this episode shows how physical support can calm the vagus nerve and reduce body tension in minutes.
10. The first step to healing trauma is nervous system stabilization. Without learning to stay within your body’s window of tolerance, other therapies and practices often backfire or stall progress.

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Want to hear the full episode, including how trauma is stored in the body, the difference between stress and trauma, and practical somatic tools to start healing, and so much more?

Check out the podcast episode here!