Expanding Your Vocabulary — Learning the Language of Healing

Words shape how we see ourselves.

For survivors, language can be both a wound and a doorway.

Maybe you’ve struggled to describe what you’ve felt—dissociation, triggers, boundaries, grounding.

The words can sound clinical, foreign, or even frightening.

But as we learn their meanings, they begin to give shape to the things we’ve always known but couldn’t say.

Expanding your language of healing isn’t about memorizing terms—it’s about finding words that bring clarity and compassion to your experience.

Why Language Matters in Healing

When something painful happens and we don’t have words for it, the body holds the story instead.

Finding language gives form to what’s been silent—it helps the mind and body begin to work together.

“Language is the bridge between our internal world and the people who can help us hold it.”— Deb Dana

Understanding the language of healing helps survivors connect with therapists, peer supporters, and one another.

Words like trigger or dissociation stop being abstract—they become tools for awareness and self-understanding.

When you can name what’s happening, you can meet it with care rather than confusion.

The words we use internally matter just as much.

Instead of “What’s wrong with me?” try “What happened to me?”

Instead of “I should be over this,” try “My body is still remembering.”

Each shift in language is a moment of healing—a reminder that you are not a problem to fix, but a person finding new ways to feel safe.

offer gentle explanations and practices that make these terms real and usable in daily life.

“Words are how we translate the body’s language of sensation into shared understanding.”— Peter Levine