Do THIS Every Day to Rewire Your Brain From Stress and Anxiety

Dr. Nadine Burke Harris and Mel Robbins discuss how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) deeply mark a person’s biology and neurology, influencing health and behavior far into adulthood.

Trauma: A Biological Stress Response, Not the Event

Dr. Nadine Burke Harris teaches that trauma is not the stressful event itself, but the resulting biological response to overwhelming stress. This stress response activates systems across the body—the nervous system, hormones, immune function, and even how DNA is transcribed. People may not remember early stressors, but their bodies do, resulting in patterns such as emotional flooding, persistent triggering, and difficulty regulating emotions in adulthood. This is because the stress response, once activated in childhood, can become the body’s default, trapping adults in survival mode even when the original threat is long gone.

Stress Impact Creates Lasting Nervous System Imprint

Harris shares the story of a young patient whose severe trauma at age four led to growth arrest, learning difficulties, and worsened asthma—clear evidence that traumatic stress alters physical development and the body’s chemical balance. She points out that without enough buffering caregiving, a child's stress response system stays on high alert, resulting in long-term mental and physical health risks.

Infancy Experiences Shape Stress Response Wiring

Adverse or supportive experiences in infancy, even if not consciously remembered, are critical. Early life stress can shape how a person’s nervous system becomes wired to respond to threat. Much like learning language through immersion, a child’s body “learns” survival responses from their earliest environment. Harris emphasizes that the younger the child at the time of adversity, the greater the potential for lasting neurological imprint and the greater the need for later supportive interventions.

Impact of ACEs on Adult Health and Wellbeing

The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study, conducted by the CDC and Kaiser Permanente, identified 10 core ACEs: physical, emotional, or sexual abuse; physical or emotional neglect; household challenges such as parental mental illness, substance abuse, incarceration, separation or divorce, and intimate partner violence. Two-thirds of study respondents had experienced at least one ACE, while one in six had four or more, and the risk is cumulative.

ACEs Dose-Response Linked To Health Risks: Depression, Substance Dependence, Heart Disease, Autoimmune, Chronic Lung Disease

Harris explains that ACEs create a dose-response effect: the more ACEs someone has, the greater their risk. Individuals with four or more ACEs are 4.5 times as likely to suffer depression, 7 times as likely to develop alcohol dependence, and 10 times as likely to become opiate-dependent. Risks for heart disease, chronic lung disease, and autoimmune conditions also increase steeply. Even when events are consciously forgotten, the body's imprinted response can persist, manifesting as anxiety, headaches, or metabolic and immune disorders in adulthood.

Childhood Trauma Timing Affects Stress Response, Needs More Support

The age when adversity occurs dramatically affects how the nervous system is wired. Early childhood, a phase of high biological plasticity, is particularly vulnerable. If major stressors or trauma happen in infancy or early childhood, without adequate buffering from supportive caregivers, the child’s stress response system may be fundamentall ...

Many adults experience sudden emotional floods—overreacting to an email, a comment, or a conflict, or sometimes shutting down completely. This can lead to confusion about why certain situations or people, such as romantic partners or children, trigger such strong reactions. Dr. Nadine Burke Harris explains that these patterns are not simply personality quirks or failings, but are rooted in the body’s learned responses to childhood trauma.

Childhood Trauma in Adult Relationships as Automatic, Reactive Responses

Romantic partnerships, parenting, and even work frequently test an adult’s stress response. Burke Harris notes that these relationships are where adults most often see their stress responses activated over and over again. If someone has an overactive stress response, the smallest trigger—like a comment from a partner or a child’s behavior—can make their stress hormones spike instantly. This leads to reactions such as snapping at a spouse or overreacting to a child. Sometimes, it results in internalization: headaches, tension, or simply shutting down.

People may find themselves questioning why they or a loved one behave this way, struggle with perfectionism, or become strict and clingy. Mel Robbins shares her own experience of being overwhelmed by stress at home, lashing out at her family, and seeing her husband withdraw. Such cycles are often automatic: neurological and biological patterns established in childhood and replayed in adulthood, regardless of current life success or stability.

Adult Physical Symptoms: Manifestations of Overactive Stress Response

The effects of unprocessed trauma aren't just emotional—they frequently manifest in physical symptoms. Chronic stress responses can lead to headaches, neck tension, gastrointestinal issues, autoimmune diseases, and worsening conditions like asthma. Burke Harris recounts cases where childhood stress directly increased the risk and severity of asthma and other illnesses.

When the stress response is repeatedly activated, it causes ongoing inflammation and immune system dysregulation. Without enough positive buffering and support, this can heighten the risk of developing long-term health problems such as heart disease, cancer, and additional autoimmune disorders. Chronic activation doesn’t only result in anxiety or depression; it has concrete, lasting impacts throughout the body.

Prefrontal Cortex Inaccessibility Causes Procrastination and Goal Difficulty

Stress profoundly impacts the brain’s ability to function. In perceived danger, the amygdala—the brain’s alarm system—takes over, flooding the body with stress hormones and redirecting focus toward survival. This immediate threat response turns down the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for judgment, impulse control, and executive functioning.

Burke Harris uses the example of facing a bear in the forest: in such moments, survival instincts override careful planning or reflection. In modern life, the “bear” may be a stressful email or family conflict, but the brain reacts the same way. For those struggling with procrastinatio ...

Buffering is a set of interventions that help individuals re-regulate their bodies, restore calm, and regain a sense of control over stress and trauma. Nadine Burke Harris and Mel Robbins discuss practical ways to create environments and practices that activate the body’s natural capacity to recover from adversity, and how both daily habits and professional therapy can facilitate healing.

Buffering Includes Interventions to Re-regulate the Body and Restore Calm

Buffering refers to any action or relationship that helps down-regulate the biological stress response and restore calm. When something scary or stressful occurs, especially with children, a regulated adult who offers comfort—like a hug and reassuring words—immediately provides buffering. This act not only signals safety but also releases [restricted term], a hormone that directly inhibits the activation of the stress response. Such interventions help shift the body out of fight-or-flight mode into a parasympathetic, calm state.

Buffering extends beyond acute situations; therapy, self-regulation, and sometimes medication address overactive stress responses that may have roots in childhood. Even if someone lacked effective buffering in youth, these skills and supports can be cultivated later to help the nervous system return to balance.

Foundational Practice "I Am Here" Creates a Corrective Experience for the Wounded Child Self

A foundational buffering practice is the "I am here" method—a regulated adult presence, whether external or one’s own adult self, comforts and reassures the distressed child self. This creates a corrective experience, showing the nervous system that safety, comfort, and support are possible even if they were absent in the past.

Regulating the nervous system daily with meditation, journaling, exercise, and time in nature reinforces this foundation. Consistently showing up for oneself with these practices helps maintain calm and attunement, providing a point of reference for self-awareness when stress arises. Over time, these daily habits teach the body and brain what regulation feels like so that signs of stress are more easily recognized and addressed.

Interventions to Regulate Stress Response: Sleep, Exercise, Nutrition, Mindfulness, Mental Health Support, Relationships, Nature

There are seven core evidence-based interventions identified to buffer stress and facilitate recovery: sleep, exercise, nutrition, mindfulness, mental health support, healthy relationships, and time in nature. These interventions reduce stress, enhance parasympathetic activity for recovery, and improve clinical outcomes for a range of issues.

Engaging regularly in these practices—not just during crises—builds resilience, ensuring a person is better prepared to manage future stress. This proactive approach reduces the likelihood and intensity of stress-related symptoms and helps regulate emotional and physical responses more quickly and effectively.

Therapy Approaches: EMDR, Trauma-Focused CBT, and Internal Family Systems Aid Nervous System Processing of Traumatic Memories

Some stress and trauma require structured therapeutic interventions for effective healing. Therapies such as EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and internal family systems (IFS) are specialized methods that help the nervous system process and integrate traumatic memories.

EMDR, for example, uses bilateral stimulation—such as tapping or devices—to help the brain process past memories in a new, supported context. While recalling a difficult memory, the therapist guides the individual to imagine the presence of a regulated, supportive adult self, creating a powerful corrective experience. Through this process, the nervous system learns that the trauma is in the past and alternatives to previous threat responses are now possible.

These therapy models show the body and brain that safety can be re-established and that previous patterns of fear or avoidance can be updated with new, healthier responses.

Self-Regulation Enables Support and Readiness in Relationships

Self-regulation practices, such as starting each day with a walk, meditation, journaling, or mindfulness, create a calm foundation for coping with daily challenges. With regular practice, individuals become more aware of their stress signals a ...

Adverse Childhood Experiences Study: CDC, Kaiser Permanente Link Adversity to Lifelong Health Problems

Nadine Burke Harris explains that the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study, conducted by the CDC and Kaiser Permanente, is foundational in understanding how early adversity affects lifelong health. The study found that two-thirds of people have experienced at least one ACE, such as abuse, neglect, or household dysfunction. Notably, the CDC’s updated research now reports that one in six individuals in the U.S. have faced four or more ACEs, indicating a high prevalence of significant adversity in the population.

The study demonstrates a clear dose-response relationship between ACEs and health outcomes. Individuals with four or more ACEs are four and a half times as likely to experience depression, seven times as likely to develop alcohol dependence, and ten times as likely to become dependent on opiates. They are also two and a half times more likely to develop heart disease and nearly three times more likely to have chronic lung disease.

Half of Increased Health Risks From ACEs due to Behaviors; Other Half From Stress Response Impact

Initially, the health risks tied to ACEs were attributed to behavioral factors, such as increased rates of smoking, drinking, and other health-damaging habits common among trauma survivors. However, Harris highlights that further research showed these behaviors account for only about 50% of the increased health risk linked to ACEs. The remaining risk stems directly from the trauma itself, specifically the overactive biological stress response triggered by enduring adversity in childhood. This constant high-alert state activates the immune system, promoting inflammation and increasing susceptibility to chronic diseases like heart disease and autoimmune conditions.

This understanding clarifies why following standard health advice—exercising, eating well, and avoiding unhealthy behaviors—can only reduce half the risk for trauma survivors. The persistent health threat from unaddressed trauma remains, even for those with excellent lifestyle habits.

Buffering Interventions From Surgeon General's Report on Trauma Aid Nervous System He ...