Reiki After Trauma: How Healing Arts Center Is Supporting the Virginia Beach and ODU Community
At Healing Arts Center in Virginia Beach, we offer trauma-informed Reiki sessions to anyone in our community who is struggling in the aftermath of tragedy. We are currently offering free Reiki sessions to ODU students, faculty, and staff. To schedule your session, contact us at info@healingartsvb.com or call (757) 251-9301.
There are moments that change a community forever. In the wake of the recent tragedy at Old Dominion University, many students, faculty, and staff are navigating something that is difficult to put into words. The anxiety, the sleepless nights, the feeling of constantly being on edge are not just emotional effects. They are physical ones. The body holds on to what the mind is continuing to process.
At Healing Arts Center, we felt called to show up for our community as we have before. Your session will be with Victoria, a trauma-informed Reiki practitioner with years of hands-on experience supporting clients through stress, anxiety, and life transitions. She has worked with community members in the aftermath of tragedy, including offering free Reiki sessions following the 2019 Virginia Beach mass shooting. Victoria creates a safe, grounded space for every client, works entirely at your pace, and honors your comfort every step of the way.
Reiki is not a replacement for professional mental health care, but it is a meaningful complement to it.
We Have Done This Before
In the aftermath of the Virginia Beach mass shooting in 2019, Victoria was working as a contractor at the oceanfront and had a strong pull to do something for her community. She opened her doors and offered free Reiki sessions to anyone who needed support.
What she witnessed during that time has never left her.
People came in scared to return to work. They were experiencing flashbacks, avoiding certain buildings, and feeling as though their minds simply could not stop racing. Some were considering leaving their jobs entirely. The weight they carried was visible from the moment they walked through the door.
Those conversations remain private and sacred. What Victoria can share is what clients told her on their way out. Several said they could finally take a deep breath without their chest hurting. Others shared that they slept through the night for the first time since the shooting. Giving someone an hour of genuine calm during one of the hardest periods of their life is something she does not take lightly.
How Reiki After Trauma Supports the Nervous System
Reiki does not remove what happened or the grief. What it does is give the nervous system the conditions it needs to begin resting and recovering. Clients often notice warmth, a release of physical tension, or a sense of calmness that had felt completely out of reach. Research published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Holistic Nursing, and studies supported by the US Department of Veterans Affairs indicate that Reiki plays a meaningful role in reducing stress, anxiety, depression, and pain, all of which are directly tied to how trauma affects the nervous system.
Co-Regulation and Why It Matters
When we experience trauma, our nervous systems can become stuck in survival mode, cycling through states of fight, flight, or freeze. Co-regulation is the biological and emotional calming that happens when we are in the presence of someone who is grounded and genuinely present. Victoria brings that steady, regulated presence into every session. When the nervous system registers safety, it begins to soften and release.
The Role of Breathwork
Gentle breathwork is integrated into each session as well. Slow, intentional breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for rest, digestion, and repair. When the breath slows, the body receives a clear signal that it no longer needs to stay on high alert. Breathwork does not force relaxation. It creates the conditions for relaxation to arrive naturally.
This blog post explores a practical approach to stress by showing how intentional breathing can shift the body out of constant activation and into a more regulated state. It introduces simple breathwork techniques that help calm the nervous system, improve focus, and create space between stress and reaction in everyday life. https://www.healingartsvb.com/blog/a-different-approach-to-stress
How Victoria Works With You
Every session is paced entirely around the client. Victoria follows your lead, respects your limits regarding touch, and creates a space where nothing is required of you except that you show up. As a trauma-informed practitioner, she is sensitive to your natural responses and works with care and without force at every step.
The experience of 2019 shaped the practitioner Victoria is today and reinforced that healing does not always involve talking through what happened. Sometimes it starts with a single quiet hour and the ability to breathe freely again.
If you are an ODU student, faculty member, or staff member, please reach out by emailing our office or calling us directly.
4652 Haygood Rd, Suite A, Virginia Beach, VA 23455 757-251-9301 info at healingartsvb.com
Reiki is not a replacement for professional mental health care or medical treatment. Please consult your healthcare provider about what is right for you.
If you’re curious how this looks in practice, we wrote more about it in our article on trauma-informed Reiki, which explains how sessions are structured around choice, clear communication, and respect for each person’s nervous system. You can read more here: https://www.healingartsvb.com/blog/trauma-informed-reiki-in-virginia-beach-supporting-survivors-with-choice
About Victoria
With years of hands-on experience supporting clients through stress, anxiety, and life transitions, she has worked with community members in the aftermath of tragedy, including offering free Reiki sessions following the 2019 Virginia Beach mass shooting. Victoria approaches every session with care, sensitivity, and deep respect for each client's individual needs and pace.
