EP 131 – Rewriting Traumatic Memories with Tholáge® Neuropsychotherapy with Deanna ChronesEP 131 – Rewriting Traumatic Memories with Tholáge® Neuropsychotherapy with Deanna Chrones
Kaleidoscope of Possibilities
Dr Adriana Popescu talks with counsellor and researcher Deanna Chrones about Tholáge® Neuropsychotherapy, a somatic method for reshaping traumatic memories. The discussion explains how trauma affects the nervous system, why emotion suppression can fuel symptoms, and how body-based techniques may offer relief where talking alone has fallen short.
45:50•15 Apr 2026
Rewriting Traumatic Memories in the Body with Tholáge Neuropsychotherapy
Episode Overview
- Traumatic experiences can lock memories, body sensations and emotions together through chemicals like norepinephrine, making them hard to change with talk alone.
- Suppressing emotions, especially anger toward caregivers, may feel necessary in childhood but often leads to symptoms such as PTSD, anxiety, depression, OCD and eating issues later in life.
- Tholáge Neuropsychotherapy combines calming ASMR-type body movements and imagery with a specific held eye position to first soften and then reshape traumatic memories.
- Body-based and somatic tools can be more effective than pure cognitive strategies when someone is highly activated and unable to think clearly.
- Simple habits like regularly moving the body and allowing emotions to be felt organically (without always acting on them) can support healthier nervous system regulation.
“Emotion suppression leads to symptoms of so many mental disorders and causes so many problems.”
What insights can experts and survivors share about addiction? This conversation brings a fresh angle, looking at how trauma sits in the body and brain – and why that matters so much for anyone turning to alcohol or other behaviours to cope. Dr Adriana Popescu talks with Licensed Clinical Professional Counsellor and PhD student Deanna Chrones, creator of Tholáge® Neuropsychotherapy, a body‑based method studied for PTSD, depression, anxiety and emotion regulation.
Deanna shares how a family suicide and years of watching who did and didn’t become symptomatic sparked her curiosity about emotions that felt “too dangerous to feel” and how burying them can show up later as anxiety, compulsions or addictive patterns. You’ll hear a clear, down‑to‑earth breakdown of what happens in the nervous system during trauma, why some memories feel “stuck”, and how chemicals like norepinephrine can lock traumatic experiences in place.
Deanna explains how Tholáge uses two main phases: inducing calming, tingling ASMR sensations through small body movements and imagery, then a specific held eye position to safely switch on the emotional memory centre and shift frozen responses like fear or numbness into healthier emotions such as grounded anger and confidence. There’s plenty here for people in recovery who suspect that “just talking about it” hasn’t been enough.
The episode looks at why talk therapy and CBT can fall short when your nervous system is in overdrive, and how somatic approaches can help you feel safer in your body while working with painful memories. Deanna leaves listeners with simple, practical reminders: move your body when you can, let yourself feel emotions organically (especially towards caregivers) without always acting on them, and recognise that pushing feelings down tends to grow symptoms, not shrink them.
If trauma and old memories still seem to run the show in your life or recovery, could a body‑based approach like this be the missing piece?
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