Preview Mode Links will not work in preview mode

Warriors Unmasked

  1. All Episodes
  2. 238: When Talk Therapy Isn't Enough, Healing Trauma Through the Body with Erika Shershun

238: When Talk Therapy Isn't Enough, Healing Trauma Through the Body with Erika Shershun

Jun 30, 2026

Sometimes healing doesn't start in your head. It starts in your body.

For 17 years, Erika Shershun did everything she was told she was supposed to do. She went to therapy. She named her depression. She worked on her thoughts. But the symptoms kept coming, and underneath them was a survival story her body had never been given the space to release.

This conversation dives into what somatic psychotherapy actually is, why the body remembers trauma in ways the mind cannot, and the pivotal moment in a hands-on training when Erika's body finally interrupted years of silence. Erika opens up about surviving an attempted assault while running at dusk, the voice that told her she was not going to die, and the years of shame that came before and after.

She also walks through what unhealed trauma looks like in everyday life, why so many survivors blame themselves for what their body did during an assault, and the simple daily practice she gives every client to begin feeling safe in their body again.

Through fear, shame, fight responses, and decades of seeking answers, Erika's story is a powerful reminder that healing is possible at any age, that intuition is something to trust, and that the body always knows how to find its way home if you give it the right tools.

Guest Bio

Erika Shershun, MA, LMFT, is a somatic psychotherapist who specializes in helping trauma survivors reclaim the life they were meant to live. She's the author of the Healing Sexual Trauma Guided Journal: Writing and Somatic Practices to Help You Process, Heal, and Feel Safe, the Healing Sexual Trauma Workbook: Somatic Skills to Help You Feel Safe in Your Body, Create Boundaries & Live with Resilience, and the PESI Sexual Trauma Clinical Training. The workbook is available in Spanish (Tengo Un Trauma Corporal?), Polish, Russian, and Romanian, and the journal is available in Turkish.

Her approach is trauma informed, rooted in somatic principles, drawing on neuroscience and integrative modalities such as EMDR, Brainspotting, energy psychology, mindfulness, self-compassion, and parts work. Erika values diversity, offers individual online therapy sessions in California, and provides coaching to clients outside of the state.

You’ll hear About

  • What somatic psychotherapy is and why the body has to be part of healing

  • How trauma is stored differently than ordinary memory

  • Why 17 years of traditional therapy did not heal Erika's deepest symptoms

  • The moment in a body work training that finally unlocked her healing

  • Surviving an attempted assault and trusting the voice that came through

  • Why so many sexual trauma survivors carry shame for what their body did

  • How unhealed trauma shows up as digestive, autoimmune, and emotional symptoms

  • The daily grounding and orienting practice Erika gives every client

  • Why it is never too late to begin your healing journey

Chapters

00:00 Welcome and Episode Introduction
01:15 Meet Erika Shershu
02:00 What Somatic Psychotherapy Really Is
05:00 Why the Body Holds Trauma Differently Than Memory
08:00 17 Years of Therapy and Still Searching
09:30 The Trigger Point Therapy Session That Changed Everything
12:00 Surviving the Assault While Running at Dusk
17:00 The Voice That Told Her She Was Going to Live
21:00 The Shame Most Survivors Carry in Silence
22:30 Finding Somatic Therapy and Beginning to Heal
24:30 How Unhealed Trauma Shows Up in the Body
30:00 Why Self-Medicating Quiets What the Body Is Trying to Say
33:30 Erika's Daily Practices for Safety and Healing
36:30 Where to Find the Workbook and Guided Journal
42:30 Erika's Message for Anyone Still Searching for Hope
45:00 Final Reflections and Key Takeaways

Chuck’s Challenge

This week, take one small step toward listening to your body.

Maybe that means pausing before you push through another long day. Maybe it means asking what the tight chest, the gut ache, or the restlessness has actually been trying to tell you. Maybe it means downloading the first chapter of Erika's book and sitting with one grounding practice instead of scrolling away from yourself.

You don't have to name everything you're carrying. You don't have to fix it all this week. You just have to start by listening.

Because as Erika shared, healing doesn't begin when life feels safe again. It begins the moment you give your body permission to be heard.

Connect with Erika

Connect with Chuck

Join the Warriors Unmasked community by subscribing to the show. Together, we’re breaking stigmas and shining a light on mental health, one story at a time.