High Vibes Can Hurt
A trauma-informed guide to spiritual bypassing for practitioners, coaches and healers
A free mini-book for therapists, coaches, facilitators and spiritual practitioners who want their work to be not only powerful, but safe.
Get the practitioner mini-bookFree PDF. Practical, clinical and compassionate.
Dear practitioner…
You probably did not mean to cause harm.
You became a healer, guide, space-holder because something in you wanted to help. To bring light. To ease suffering.
But most of us were never taught how trauma really lives in the body. Or how easily spiritual language can become spiritual pressure.
This short book is an invitation to look at your blind spots with compassion, not shame, so that your work can be as safe as it is beautiful.
Who this is for
This resource is for you if:
You are a therapist, coach, bodyworker, breathworker, energy healer or group facilitator who works with people in pain.
You sense that some clients “go quiet” or “float away” in your sessions, but you are not always sure what is happening.
You want to understand dissociation, fawning and freeze so you can stop mistaking them for compliance or breakthrough.
You have used phrases like “you created this,” “it is just your story,” or “stay present” and are now wondering how that lands in a trauma-wired nervous system.
What’s inside
In this practitioner edition, you will learn:
When spirituality silences the nervous system
Why asking someone to “drop in, let go and open up” can trigger dissociation rather than healing if their body does not yet feel safe.
The hidden harm of
“you created this"
How Law of Attraction style language easily becomes spiritualised blame, and what to say instead to honour both agency and trauma.
Beyond “it is just a story”
Why framing trauma as ego or narrative too soon can erase lived experience and reinforce gaslighting patterns.
The present moment trap
How “there is only now” and “stay with the breath” can become subtle bypasses when the nervous system is still living in then and there.
Transcendence or trauma response
How to distinguish genuine spacious awareness from freeze, numbness and dissociation that get celebrated as enlightenment.
When forgiveness is forced and boundaries are called resistance
A trauma-aware reframe of forgiveness, “victimhood,” and the sacred role of anger and limits in healing.
Each chapter includes short reflections to help you translate insight into practice, session by session.
How this will support your work
After reading, you will be able to:
- Recognise signs of dissociation and freeze rather than mistaking them for deep calm or compliance.
- Stop using spiritual concepts in ways that unintentionally shame or rush traumatised clients.
- Ask better questions about protection, parts and pacing, so your clients can feel genuinely safe with you, not just impressed by you.
- Build your sessions on the core principle of safety before intensity so you can facilitate transformation without retraumatisation.
This booklet is a powerful entry point into truly trauma-aware, nervous system informed practice.
About Lou Lebentz
Lou is the founder of The Voyage® and has trained hundreds of clinicians, coaches and spiritual practitioners in trauma-informed, parts-aware and nervous-system-based approaches. She brings three decades of lived and clinical experience from addiction treatment, trauma recovery and spiritual communities, and is passionate about helping practitioners create spaces that heal rather than hurry or harm.
You do not have to become a trauma therapist to help trauma survivors healing.
You need a better map.
Download High Vibes Can Hurt, Practitioner Edition below and start shifting the way you hold space from today.
You will also receive occasional resources and trainings on trauma-aware practice and The Voyage®. You can unsubscribe any time.