Healing from Medical Trauma: What It Is and How to Move Forward

If you’ve had difficult experiences in the healthcare system, maybe you’ve felt dismissed, misunderstood, or even harmed, you’re not alone. Medical trauma is something many people live with, but few talk about openly.

In my work as a psychologist supporting people with endometriosis and chronic pain, I’ve seen just how deeply these experiences can shape how we feel in our bodies, how we engage with healthcare, and how safe (or unsafe) we feel in medical settings.

This blog explores what medical trauma is, how it might show up, and what gentle steps you can take to begin healing.

What Is Medical Trauma?

Medical trauma refers to distressing or harmful experiences that occur in a healthcare setting. This can include (but isn’t limited to):

• Being dismissed, disbelieved, or gaslit

• Having physical symptoms minimised or misattributed

• Undergoing invasive tests or surgeries without clear communication

• Experiencing complications or a lack of informed consent

• Power imbalances with clinicians

• Feeling unsafe or unsupported during medical care

Some people go on to develop medical PTSD, where the trauma meets formal diagnostic criteria. Others experience ongoing symptoms that don’t meet that threshold but still significantly affect their mental and physical wellbeing.

How Medical Trauma Can Show Up

Medical trauma can affect people emotionally, psychologically, and physically. Some common signs include:

Psychological:

• Hypervigilance (feeling constantly on edge, especially around appointments)

• Intrusive thoughts or memories about medical events

• Avoiding doctors, clinics, or follow-up care

• Feeling disconnected or "shut down" in clinical settings

Emotional:

• Distrust in healthcare providers

• Fear of not being believed

• Feeling helpless, ashamed, or broken

Physical:

• Panic attacks, nausea, or a racing heart at the thought of a medical setting

• Trouble sleeping before appointments

• Heightened sensitivity to pain or bodily sensations

Over time, these experiences can contribute to anxiety, depression, or increased pain sensitivity.

Why It’s Hard to Talk About

Medical trauma is often what we call “disenfranchised trauma”, meaning it's not widely recognised or validated. Because it’s not always talked about in medical settings, people may doubt their own experiences or feel isolated in their pain.

But the truth is: this is real. And it’s more common than many people realise.

What Can Help: Tools for Healing

Healing from medical trauma is possible and it doesn’t mean forgetting what happened. It means finding ways to feel safer in your body and more empowered in your care. Here are a few starting points:

✨ 1. Validation and Support

You deserve to feel seen and supported. That might look like:

• Speaking with a trauma-informed psychologist

• Joining peer support groups

• Sharing your experience with someone you trust

🧘 2. Grounding Techniques

Grounding helps bring you back to the present moment when your body is reacting to past trauma. This is especially useful before or during medical appointments.

Try:

• 5-4-3-2-1 sensory grounding
  (e.g., 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch…)

• Breathing techniques, like box breathing (inhale for 4, hold for 4, exhale for 4, hold for 4)

• Grounding objects, like a stone or bracelet you can touch

• Movement-based grounding, like pressing your feet into the floor or doing a gentle stretch

Practising these techniques when you feel calm can make them more effective when you feel triggered.

💬 3. Use Self-Advocacy Language

If trauma has made it hard to speak up in appointments, you’re not alone. It can help to have phrases ready ahead of time.

Some examples:

• “I’d like to bring someone with me for support.”

• “Can you explain that in a different way?”

• “I’ve had negative medical experiences before and need to go at a slower pace.”

• “I need a moment to process before moving forward.”

• “I want to feel heard. Please take my concerns seriously.”

It’s okay to write these down and practice them beforehand.

Closing Thoughts: You Are Not What Happened to You

“I am not what has happened to me. I am what I choose to become.”

Medical trauma can shape your story, but it doesn’t define you.
You are allowed to seek better care, ask for support, and set boundaries in medical settings.

— Sophie x
Registered Psychologist, Matilda Clinical Team