What is ‘The Core Trauma Statement’
If you’ve ever found yourself asking…
Why me?
Why do I keep feeling this way?
Why do the same patterns keep repeating in my relationships, my work, or my body?
…then you are already on the path of self-inquiry, one of the most courageous journeys a human being can take.
In the work of trauma healing, we often begin with the obvious pain — anxiety, illness, disconnection, heartbreak, fatigue, conflict — but underneath it all, there is usually one central thread.
Something simple. Quiet. And very, very deep.
This is what we call the Core Trauma Statement.
What Is a Core Trauma Statement?
A Core Trauma Statement is a sentence — often just a few words — that speaks to or of the real wound beneath your struggles.
It is not something you invent.
It is something you discover, often after exploring your life story, your family patterns, your body’s signals, and your emotional landscape with care and compassion.
It’s the moment when all the “Why” questions become a single truth that your body, heart, and nervous system have known all along.
Something like:
“I am not safe.”
“My needs are a burden.”
“I don’t matter.”
“I will always be left.”
“I am alone in this.”
“I’m not allowed to be me.”
These may sound simple — but they carry the burden of a lifetime.
How Does This Help?
Finding your Core Trauma Statement is about finding that door to open and start your healing journey.
It’s about finally naming what’s been true for you for so long — often since childhood, or even earlier, through generational or ancestral experience.
It’s about gently recognizing:
The moment your system went into survival mode
The belief you had to adopt to stay safe, accepted, or loved
The emotional truth you’ve carried quietly for years
The way your relationships, work, or body have been trying to speak this truth on your behalf
A Few Real-Life Examples of arriving at the statement:
Clients often begin with these kinds of questions:
“Why am I always anxious?”
→ With deep inquiry: “Because deep down, I believe I am not safe.”
“Why do I attract unavailable partners?”
→ With deep inquiry: “Because love, for me, has always meant abandonment.”
“Why do I feel a wall between me and my son?”
→ With compassionate inquiry: “Because I carry a belief that I will be left, just like my father was.”
“Why do I keep making poor financial decisions?”
→ With inquiry: “Because I believe I’m not worthy of abundance.”
“Why can’t I speak up to my parents, even in my 40s?”
→ With inquiry: “Because I learned that my voice is dangerous or wrong or unwelcome.”
When a client reaches this point in the process — when we find the words that match the feeling — something tender opens up.
The body softens. The breath deepens. The nervous system begins to say, “Yes. This is it.” And we stand together in a moment of deep understanding, deep reverence of your life, your journey, your pain and your liberation at hand.
What Happens After Naming It?
Once the Core Trauma Statement is clear, it becomes a compass in your healing journey.
From here, we can work to:
Understand where this belief came from
Validate the ways it helped you survive
Connect with the inner child who still holds this truth as reality
Gently reparent yourself with compassion, presence, and new patterns
Rewrite the story — not with force, but with truth, over time
And slowly, the old statement transforms:
“I’m not safe” becomes → “I can create safety within myself.”
“I don’t matter” becomes → “I am worthy of being seen and heard.”
“I’m too much” becomes → “My sensitivity is my gift.”
A Gentle Reminder
Your Core Trauma Statement is not who you are.
It is simply where your system adapted to survive.
And now, it is where you are being invited to come home to yourself.
You are brave.
And this process — however slow, however tender — is a return to the parts of you that were never meant to be forgotten.
You do not need to walk this path alone.
With the right support, your story can unfold into something softer, more empowered, and truly your own.
Some presenting issues that on deeper and compassionate inquiry takes us to the core trauma statement:
Why me?
Why am I suffering this anxiety/depression/sleeplessness?
Why am I unable to stand up for myself?
Why do I hold such deep pain in my body/mind?
Why did I attract such a fate?
Why such a husband/wife/partner?
What is this weird dynamic going on between me and my wife, though she is the sweetest person to the rest of the world?
Why such inflammation/constrictions for me and my family members?
Why do I or my child have ADD/ADHD/obesity?
Why do I feel this sudden disconnect with my son, when he turned 20? I felt the same with my dad when I turned 20 and have been unable to reconnect completely since then. Will that be repeated thirty years later between my son and me? Will I lose him, the way my father lost me?
Why am I locked in this cycle of addiction, suffering, negation, physical illness, fatigue, bad financial decisions?
Where are these sudden and unexplained diseases like food allergy, sun-allergy, anorexia, eczema, eye-sight issues, digestive disorders etc coming from for me or my family members?
Why am I perpetually worried or scared?
Why do we have so many cancer deaths or heart attacks in our family?
Why has my son suddenly started acting up against me or his mother?
Why do I have a love-hate relationship with my mother/father/husband/children?
What is this constriction between me and my father/mother, though I do not need parenting right now in my 40’s? Why can’t I speak up?
Why does my mother still parent my 40 years old brother and largely ignore me, even though I look after her financially?
Why does money not stay? Why does it drain away or get stuck?
Why do we have repetitive patterns of lack/suffering and money issues in our family?
Why does my business bring money woes and people woes though I have brilliant ideas and a brilliant team?
Why do my business partners and senior leadership always squabble though individually they are gems of people?
Why is my business unable to hold on to talents?
Why am I anxious when a large amount of money is coming my way?