Over the past few months our community and our country has been devastated by mass shootings and violent killings. It is impossible to understand why these events have occurred, and it is impossible to understand why people we love have had to be involved. It has left us wondering how we can help the survivors, the people who have lost loved ones, and all those affected by these events. For survivors of traumatic events, the healing process can be long and difficult. Humans have a natural reaction of self-preservation and protection and this can often lead to rejection of the traumatic event which can prevent recovery. To the survivor, this means that although the traumatic event has past, the mind and body have not been able to move on from it. It is hard to understand our part in the healing process, especially for the victim whose lives have been affected by events that were out of their control. We realize the impact has effected people from around the world with the feelings of grief, disgust, fear, confusion, and sadness. These are all powerful negative emotions that the entire world is experiencing together. How can we heal ourselves, each other, and our children from this trauma? Sometimes when something unspeakable happens we lose our voice and internalize many of our emotions. Although we support traditional talk therapy, we believe it’s important to make people aware of the power of touch for trauma.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) onset occurs when an individual is physically, mentally and emotionally unable to move on from a traumatic experience. After a traumatic event occurs, we all want to do everything possible to return our lives to normal and prevent it from occurring again. For sufferers of PTSD, this can be a complicated process because re-living the event through hallucinations, nightmares, or flashbacks is common. When traumatic events of memories are reintroduced to the mind, the body goes into full protection mode and this result is the entire body tensing or freezing up. This can be a vulnerable and helpless state for sufferers of PTSD, and it is important to understand what can be done to help bring them back to a state of balance and comfort.

The person who is suffering with PTSD is having trouble distinguishing their traumatic memory with reality. It’s important to remain calm and practice patience. Appealing to the senses can be an effective way to help bring them back to reality, this can be done by repeating their name, by asking them to identify items in their immediate surroundings or by instructing them with deep breathing. While touch is a powerful element of the healing process, it is advised not to touch someone who is experiencing acute symptoms of PTSD, as touch could be interpreted as a perpetrator in a flashback. Before administering touch, ask the sufferer if they are ready to be touched. Once touch can be safely administered it can help restore feelings of security and safety in the sufferer.


People who are dealing with PTSD typically experience acute symptoms due to specific triggers that are associated with the original traumatic event. It is helpful to know what triggers are for every individual and helping to avoid them during recovery. Some symptoms of PTSD such as fear, anxiety and depression are ongoing. Healing touch and therapeutic massage can be helpful integration to the recovery process, because they help the body re balance itself naturally. Massage can be effective in helping PTSD sufferers to regain a sense of empowerment and safety through releasing the muscles that are primarily affected and restoring healthy function of the nervous system. Bodywork, healing touch, and therapeutic massage work to help the body through trauma and pain by naturally retraining the bodies stress response.

Trauma affects the body on a subconscious level and by working with massage therapists and psychotherapist or alternative communicative therapy, the healing can continue from the outside in. Some massage techniques that can be helpful for working through traumatic events and PTSD are Craniosacral therapy, Myofascial Release, energy work, and Swedish massage. Every sufferer can find massage modalities and healing touch techniques that they find helpful, and it is important to communicate which methods are most helpful so that they can be expanded on. Always remember that healing can take time, and everyone has their own path to recovery from trauma.

Touch therapy or massage therapy is so important because it is non violent, non sexual touch. We all wonder why someone would do something as appalling as mass murder of young children. In many mass murders the killer or killers commit suicide after taking the lives of their victims so we can never even hear their reasoning. The profile seems to always be a loner type that no one knew too well in the community with a possible personality disorder. They have lost touch with themselves and others so therefore they no longer have respect for human life. Could safe touch therapy from a young age help a loner type become comfortable with human connection? Could this prevent them from becoming a psychopath? As massage therapists, and citizens of this world we want to do everything we can to help people heal, filling this world with people who appreciate and respect life.

We have experienced the release of emotions through touch therapy. The ability to release negative emotions without speaking about the incident can be a powerful and enlightening experience. Sometimes people do not realize how much they have stored inside their body. The body wants to heal itself, so if you can learn to let go and allow the body to release you can experience a new level of clarity and peace within your body and mind. Touch Therapy hones in on those areas holding pain and tension and works to gently release it. We believe counseling and talking with a therapist is beneficial but touch therapy is something we think now more than ever needs to be brought to the forefront as a way to treat and prevent trauma. Our hope is by writing this someone finds an answer that might work for them when searching for help in coping with the sometimes violent world we live in. If you or someone you know is suffering from PTSD look for a therapist with experience in working with trauma victims and find peace in safe touch therapy today. And even if you aren’t sure you are suffering from PTSD, all can benefit from therapeutic touch.

Written by Nicole Davis & Amber Delay
Peace of Mind Massage, INC.
1249 S. Pearl Street
Denver, CO, 80210
www.DenverPeaceOfMindMassage.com