Hurricane Helene: One Year Later – Healing at the Root with the B.R.A.I.N.S. Technique™
- Whitney Natiello
One year ago, Western North Carolina faced the devastation of Hurricane Helene—a once-in-a-thousand-year flood that changed our communities forever.
In the wake of that storm, we were left with more than physical damage. We were left with the unseen impact of trauma.
Why is it that some people can walk away from disaster seemingly unscathed, while others are left paralyzed by triggers that affect daily life?
The answer lies in how the brain responds in moments of overwhelming stress.
How Trauma Takes Hold
When our conscious and subconscious mind encounter an event that is:
Sudden and unexpected
Deeply distressing
Experienced in isolation (feeling alone or helpless)
…the brain captures a 360-degree snapshot of the moment—using all five senses.
This is an ancient survival mechanism. The brain wants to make sure that if anything similar happens again, it can immediately launch us into fight, flight, or freeze to protect us. It’s a brilliant system that has kept humanity alive for hundreds of thousands of years.
But sometimes, those triggers are no longer useful.
Take rain, for example. If your brain recorded the torrential downpour during Hurricane Helene as part of its “snapshot,” then every rainfall today might send your nervous system into panic—reacting as though the hurricane is happening all over again.
The reality? Storms with that intensity come only once every 1,000 years. Yet your body still braces for danger.
Rewiring the Brain’s Response
This is where the B.R.A.I.N.S. Technique™ offers hope. In just one session, we can help rewire the brain’s stress response—bringing it back into the present moment instead of replaying the past.
If the stressful event occurred in the last 4 months, we can address acute stress disorder before it takes root.
If the event is older, but you’re still being triggered, it may fall into the realm of post-traumatic stress. The B.R.A.I.N.S. Technique™ can help release those old triggers so the brain can respond appropriately—calm, alert, and present. The B.R.A.I.N.S. Technique™does not treat PTSD at it's root, we recommend EMDR (www.emdria.org) to find a therapist who specializes in EMDR.
During the months after Hurricane Helene, I had the honor of working with hundreds of people—first responders, volunteers, and those directly impacted by the storm. Because we rewired their brains quickly, they were able to step out of panic, reclaim clarity, and make the countless decisions demanded in a crisis. Today, they do not live with lingering triggers from the hurricane.
It’s Not Too Late
If, one year later, you still find yourself:
Feeling like the hurricane is happening again when it rains (or you hear the wind)
Obsessively watching the weather
Or struggling with stressors from the past four months that carry the same elements of trauma (sudden, distressing, isolating)…
…know that healing is possible.
The B.R.A.I.N.S. Technique™ can help you and your loved ones realign with the resilience that is your human birthright.
Together, we can honor the memory of Hurricane Helene—not as a wound that continues to reopen, but as a moment we survived, grew from, and transcended.
Because life isn’t meant to be lived in the shadow of past storms.
🌟 Take Your Next Step
Take the B.R.A.I.N.S. Technique™ Foundations course and in just 4 hours you’ll have this tool for life, for whenever a stressful event happens or you get triggered from something in your past.
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Or schedule a 1:1 appointment for immediate relief from triggers that are holding you back.