Trauma is not just a painful memory. It is the past insisting on living in the present — in the body’s alarm signals, the mind’s replays, and reactions that seem to hijack us out of nowhere. Left unaddressed, trauma feeds anxiety, anger, nightmares, and relationship conflict, and it is one of the most common hidden causes of sleep problems.

In more than 42 years of practice, I have found that trauma responds remarkably well to treatment — without drugs. I combine traditional therapies with EEG neurofeedback, a brain-training method that calms the nervous system’s stored reactions so the past stops intruding on the present. Healing trauma is not about endlessly retelling the story; it is about retraining the brain to stop reliving it. Below you will find a free self-test and my essays on trauma, its effects, and its treatment.

Take the Trauma Test

Wondering whether trauma is affecting your life? My free online Trauma Test takes only a few minutes and gives you immediate results. It is a practical first step toward recognizing how past experiences may be driving present symptoms.

Essays on Trauma

• Terrors of Trauma — We are told to learn from the past so as not to repeat it; the body and mind, however, demand that we unlearn a past that lives on in the recapitulating effects of trauma.
• Stop the Nightmares of Trauma — The same impressionable mind that remembers experience to help us survive can also retain and magnify what is harmful or threatening — and replay it at night.
• Time Traveling Traumas — We are always navigating mentally and emotionally between past and future, and trauma keeps dragging that journey back to old injuries.
• Savage Emotions, Traumas, and Grievances — Living a better life requires addressing the nitty-gritty of what stumps people and derails them from happiness, functionality, and productivity.
• Trauma, Drama, It’s More Than Yo Mama — On growing past childhood influences: conventional psychological theories about early experience tell only part of the story.
• Traumas and Grievances in Relationships — We are biologically wired to connect with other humans, which is precisely why traumas and grievances can do such damage in our closest relationships.

About Dr. Steinberg

Mark Steinberg, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist specializing in clinical, educational, and neuropsychology, with over 42 years of experience and offices in Redwood City and Walnut Creek, California. He is a pioneer in EEG neurofeedback — a drug-free, evidence-based brain-training approach — which he applies to trauma recovery, sleep disorders, anxiety, and related conditions. To ask a question or schedule an appointment, contact the office.