Healing triggers

How to heal your triggers. So there is nothing left for them to hit.

Detriggering gets you out of the moment. Healing works on the system underneath, so the things that used to trigger you stop landing. When there's nothing inside you to add to it, it hits empty space.

Judith Shekoni, The Shift · Updated 20 September 2026
01

A three-year-old, or a Kung Fu expert.

If a three-year-old tries to punch you, you're not worried. You don't call the police, because they don't have the capability to hurt you. You can see they're upset, and you talk to them about why.

But if a 55-year-old Kung Fu expert tries to punch you, you run, you scream, you call the police, you do everything you possibly can, because the damage they can do is unlimited.

A simple word can be either one, depending on how much trapped trauma there is in you behind it. When there's that much behind it, one word lights up everything, and you feel so much pain that you have to defend yourself, scream for help and point out the attack.

When there's nothing inside you to add to it, it hits empty space. It misses you.

You don't need to scream attack. You don't need to defend yourself. You don't need to attack them back, because nothing happened. There was nothing for them to hit.

The root work

Five parts of healing.

This is the root work in Second Act, done one stage at a time: first we Detrigger, then we calm the system, then we find the dream.

  1. 1

    Soothe the inner child

    Inner child work, so you can calm and soothe your inner child, so she trusts you and feels safe. If you don't use inner child, that's your subconscious: you're soothing it and letting it know you are listening.

  2. 2

    Release what's trapped

    Finding where the charged, trapped energy is in your body and, through breathing, meditation and other techniques, letting it come up and out and release. You may find you heat up when it's coming out.

  3. 3

    Anchor "there is no meaning"

    Anchoring in on there is no meaning, wherever you can, so the emptiness is pushed down into the space. That gives you space, and pushes the meaning-making machinery out.

  4. 4

    Unpick the causes

    Taking time to look at the causation points of your triggering, unpicking them and seeing clearly.

  5. 5

    Digest the truth

    Trapped trauma and unfelt emotions are there sometimes because you didn't want to feel the truth. You didn't want to know what was really happening, so you created a bubble so you didn't have to fully digest what was real. Healing is having the courage to go back, witness what happened, see it clearly and hold the truth. That dissolves what gets triggered.

02

The Shift and therapy.

The Shift is personal development and education, not therapy. It works with everyday triggers and your own history. If you are living with serious trauma or struggling with your mental health, work alongside a qualified professional and speak to your GP.

Therapy and The Shift work well together. Like anything, therapy goes faster when you know exactly what you want to heal.

That’s what this work gives you.

Where this fits

We come after the trigger from both sides.

In the moment

Detrigger

If it still has a charge, you’ll get triggered. So we teach you how to get out, fast, before you're stuck in Survival Mode. What is Detriggering?

At the root

Heal the system

On the deeper level, we work on the system so you don't get triggered by the things you used to. Then there is nothing to fight. What is Sovereign State?

Free live · Tuesday 6 October · 7pm UK

Learn to Detrigger, live with Judith.

The Detriggering Workshop is a free live hour online with Judith Shekoni.

The Shift is personal development and education, not therapy or medical treatment.