The Office: Brain Edition
Why You Suddenly Feel Triggered (And What Your Brain Has to Do With It)
In therapy I talk about Amy the Amygdala—the brain’s overworked, underpaid alarm system. Amy’s job is to scan for danger and sound the alarm.
But here’s the catch: Amy doesn’t differentiate between real danger and perceived danger. A fight with your partner, a text that “sounds off,” a familiar smell can all trigger Amy if they remind your nervous system of something unsafe, even if that danger is long gone.
This is especially true for folks with trauma histories, especially complex or developmental trauma. That’s why in EMDR, one of our goals is to help Amy release those stored sensations and pass the memory over to the Hippocampus—the brain’s librarian. The Hippocampus is responsible for putting things in order:
“That happened. It was then. It’s not now.”
When the system works well, you can remember something painful without reliving it. But under trauma, the system breaks down, and it starts to look a lot like a dysfunctional office.
With popular culture buzzing about HR disasters and office politics, I thought: “Wow. This is exactly how trauma works in the brain.” Because when you’ve lived through trauma—especially complex trauma—your brain’s departments don’t communicate well anymore.
Let me introduce you to the staff:
Amygdala (Amy): The Panicked Security Guard
Amy stands at the door with one job: detect threat. But trauma taught her the world is not safe, so now she pulls the alarm for anything—a tone of voice, a look, a memory fragment.
“CODE RED! WE KNOW THIS PLACE! GET DOWN!”
She doesn’t care about logic. She cares about survival.
Hippocampus (Hippo): The Overwhelmed Filing Clerk
Hippo timestamps events, organizes memory, and files things away. But if Amy is screaming, Hippo can’t focus. Files get dropped, mislabeled, or lost entirely.
“Was that yesterday? Last year? A nightmare? No idea. AMY, STOP YELLING!”
Default Mode Network (DMN): The Head of HR
DMN is your narrator—she keeps track of your story over time.
“This is me. That was then. This is now.”
But if she doesn’t have the right files, she can’t do her job. And when Hippo can’t sort out what’s current and what’s archived, DMN gets confused—and everything feels like it’s happening now. This is where identity fragmentation, self-doubt, and dissociation start to creep in.
Insula: The Building Manager
Insula monitors your internal environment. She’s constantly scanning:
“What’s the body saying right now?”
She notices gut churn, racing heart, tight chest, shallow breath, nausea, or goosebumps. She helps you interpret hunger, pain, disgust, intuition, and even social cues. When regulated, she keeps you grounded and attuned:
“There’s tension in the chest, but we’re safe. Let’s slow our breathing.”
But in trauma? She over-reports (everything feels like a threat) or goes dark (you feel disconnected from your body altogether).
Prefrontal Cortex (PFC): The New Executive Assistant
Prefrontal Cortex (PFC): The New Executive Assistant
She’s smart, capable, and wants to help—she’s the one drafting your emails, weighing pros and cons, reminding you to breathe. But she’s still kind of new to the job, and she panics under pressure. When Amy pulls the alarm, PFC gets shoved into the supply closet with no WiFi.
“I’m offline and stuck in some musty closet. I have no voice here.”
When The Department is Running Smoothly
Amy relaxes
Hippo files clearly
DMN keeps the story coherent
Insula reads the body with accuracy
PFC makes good calls
You feel present. Connected. Oriented in time.
In Trauma:
Amy is hypervigilant
Hippo misfiles or freezes
DMN stalls the narrative
Insula over- or under-reports
PFC loses Microsoft Teams access
The whole office loses track of reality. No one knows what’s real, what’s past, or who’s even in charge.
Why Therapy Can Help
Trauma therapy isn’t about “fixing you.” It’s about getting the office staff talking again.
EMDR and other trauma-informed approaches help:
Calm Amy
Regulate Insula
Let Hippo catch up on files
Give DMN the info she needs
Let the Executive Assistant do her job
Every time you pause, notice, or stay curious about your reaction? You’re helping your brain come back online.
Healing doesn’t mean every department runs smoothly. It means you keep showing up and the staff starts working together again.
You don’t have to fix everything at once. Just keep showing up to the meeting.
