Dec 10, 20248 min read

Mitochondria and Emotions

"Unfortunately, you aren't going to heal your mitochondria by taking a supplement ..."

— Trauma Mind Body Super Conference

If healing your mitochondria with a supplement or with diet were that simple, we'd all have happy, healthy mitochondrial function, and none of the people I see in clinic with restrictive diets and the world's-longest supplement list would be presenting with lingering symptoms.

These patients are already supporting their body's electromagnetic field and intrinsic healing mechanisms by limiting blue light exposure, spending daily time outdoors in the sunshine, grounding, and getting intracellular water ... they've already detoxed (or have tried to, but unsuccessfully due to mitochondrial dysfunction) and are doing everything right!

While giving the body the raw materials it needs is absolutely helpful (and essential!), for many of my patients with chronic fatigue, autoimmunity, chronic inflammation, hypermobility, vagus nerve dysregulation, and other complex, chronic issues, there is nearly always an essential missing factor to their mitochondrial healing that is keeping them from getting better:

That factor is unresolved emotional trauma. That's right — emotions are linked to your mitochondria.

"THE number one electron-stealer in the human body is unresolved emotional trauma."

— Dr. Robert DiMartino, Superior Health Solutions

We're not only talking big T-trauma that people tend to think of first, the type that shows up on your ACEs score (with 63% of the US population reporting at least one Adverse Childhood Experience), but also developmental trauma, childhood emotional neglect, and other the slow-burn, cumulative, lesser-acknowledged aspects of how we grew up. These invisible factors directly influence our mitochondrial function and vagal tone as adults, and they leave us in a chronic low-grade stress response that we can't seem to shake no matter how stellar our diets ... or how long we lay on our earthing mats ... or many supplements we swallow each day.

First, let's back up to some basics and define mitochondria.

WHAT IS MITOCHONDRIA?

Mitochondria are organelles in the cytoplasm of eukaryotic cells. They are referred to as the "powerhouses" of the cell because their primary function is the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the cell's main energy carrier. The process of generating ATP occurs in the inner membrane of the mitochondria, where enzymes involved in the electron transport chain are located and oxidative phosphorylation occurs.

In addition to energy production, mitochondria are involved in other critical cellular functions, including the regulation of cell metabolism, apoptosis (programmed cell death), calcium homeostasis, and the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), also known as free radicals, which are byproducts of metabolism. Mitochondria have their own DNA, which is different from the nuclear genome, and they replicate independently within the cell.

Mitochondrial dysfunction is linked to a variety of diseases, including neurodegenerative disorders, autoimmunity, chronic fatigue, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic conditions, and more. This makes sense as mitochondria are literally the producers of cellular energy, so if they are dysregulated, anything upstream is impacted as well.

In fact, with long-term low-grade stress resulting from unprocessed emotions, a process named the Cell Danger Response can get switched on ... and not shut off until the roots of trauma get healed.

WHAT IS THE CELL DANGER RESPONSE?

The Cell Danger Response (CDR) is a protective, adaptive biological process initiated by cells in response to stress, injury, or infection. First proposed by Dr. Robert Naviaux, the CDR is a way to describe the cellular response to a variety of harmful stimuli, such as physical damage, pathogens, toxins, or metabolic disturbances; however, it is also deeply connected to psychological stressors. The CDR is a complex, evolutionary conserved mechanism that aims to protect the integrity of cells and tissues, promoting recovery and survival under challenging conditions.

In CDR, cells alter their normal metabolic and signaling activities to enter a state of "alert" or "defense." This can include a wide range of processes:

Increased production of pro-inflammatory signals (e.g., cytokines) to recruit immune cells to the site of injury or infection.
Altered cellular metabolism where energy production shifts to favor survival over growth, often through the inhibition of processes like protein synthesis or cell division.
Activation of stress response pathways, such as autophagy or the unfolded protein response (UPR), to manage cellular damage.
Changes in mitochondrial function, where mitochondria might shift from energy production to releasing signaling molecules that facilitate the defense response.

The CDR is a survival strategy, orchestrating a temporary suspension of normal cellular functions to focus resources on managing the immediate threat. However, when the response is prolonged or becomes dysregulated, it can contribute to chronic inflammation and pathology, playing a role in various diseases, including autoimmune disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, and chronic fatigue syndrome.

UNRESOLVED TRAUMA MAY LEAD TO MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION

This is a relatively new area in research. It is proposed that "mitochondria play a key role in the stress response and may be an important mechanism by which stress is transduced into biological risk for disease" (Zitkovsky et al 2021). Unresolved emotional trauma, even from birth or very early years, can produce a constant low-grade signal or set point in the body marking a lack of safety. This set point can lead to an allostatic load imbalance and mitochondrial dysfunction, which contributes to chronic disease (Picard et al 2018 and Reid et al 2025).

HOW DO WE SUPORT MITOCHONDRIA & POTENTIALLY RESET THE CDR WITH FREQUENCY SPECIFIC MICROCURRENT?

Microcurrent has been shown in various studies to improve ATP production by up to 500% (Seegers et al 2002; Macfelda et al 2015; Cheng et al 1982). In other words, just by running microcurrent through the tissues of the body, we are effectively improving energy stores at the cell level. In a treatment session, we deliver the sub-sensory, micro amperage (millionths of an ampere, 10 –6 amps) pulsed electrical current through the body either via warm towels or electrode sticky pads. The treatment is very gentle and typically people ask, "have you turned it on yet?" due to the gentleness of micro-current (for comparison, this treatment is 1000 times less intensity than a TENS unit). The treatment is typically very relaxing and can be combined with manual therapy, breathing training, therapeutic activities, neuromuscular re-education, HeartMath, vagus nerve toning strategies, and much more for enhanced effectiveness.

Man receiving frequency specific microcurrent and frequency specific PEMF treatment by a provider — Dr. Jessie delivers a treatment session utilizing multiple frequency specific microcurrent units to a patient prone on a treatment table.

Please note that this ATP generation phenomena happens more readily with microcurrent than it does with PEMF, so if you are someone who is needing mitochondrial support, we will opt for microcurrent over PEMF during your in-person sessions for the purpose of supporting ATP production and donating more electrons to your system.

One important additional factor to consider with treatment using microcurrent in a population with mitochondrial dysfunction is the potential for an increased demand placed on the mitochondria. This is something a skilled FSM Practitioner will be able to modulate by monitoring your treatment response and making adjustments based on feedback from your system.

Microcurrent & PEMF: What's the Difference?

IS IT POSSIBLE TO TARGET THE MITOCHONDRIA WITH FREQUENCIES FOR REPAIR?

Finally, and perhaps most excitingly, there are frequencies that are hypothesized to target the mitochondria themselves. With this very targeted approach using professional equipment that can handle dual-channel microcurrent, we pair the frequency for 'restore vitality' with the frequency for 'mitochondria' resulting in much potential therapeutic benefit.

Please note that we are referring to Frequency Specific Microcurrent (FSM), not simple microcurrent stimulation. With FSM, we are able to manually program our dura-channel unit with two separate frequencies, an instruction frequency with a target tissue frequency, in order to elicit a very specific response.

To learn more about Frequency Specific Microcurrent, scroll down to check out the resources here, particularly The Resonance Effect: How Frequency Specific Microcurrent is Changing Medicine by Dr. McMakin.

HOW DO WE SUPPORT EMOTIONAL HEALING WITH FREQUENCIES?

There are known frequencies (which we measure in pulses per second, or Hz) that are believed to target the vagus nerve, the amygdala, many other brain parts, and there are even proposed frequencies that are hypothesized to impact various emotional factors. For many practitioners and patients alike, this is hard to believe until you see and experience a tangible, significant shift during a treatment session, and witness it repeated over and over again ... but that is a discussion for another blog post!

This is a potentially revolutionary approach to supporting mitochondrial healing—on an emotional level. It has been shown that increasing vagal tone will decrease pro-inflammatory cytokines among many other factors, and vagally-mediated inputs are one way to give the body a sense of safety. We have been clinically demonstrating this for a number of years with Frequency Specific Microcurrent.

FSM Research

An additional consideration when working with frequency medicine: since generally we define the emotions as more magnetic on the electromagnetic scale (see the work of German Neuroscientist Karl Pribram and Eileen McKusick's Electric Body Electric Health and associated research papers), there may be a scientific basis to why we appear to be able to clinically utilize PEMF to deliver frequency specific protocols that target the emotional factors.

PEMF Research

RESOURCES FOR SUPPORT: HOW TO GET STARTED

It is important to understand that while we can be tremendously supportive of your mitochondrial healing journey with frequency medicine, as you are delve into root-cause emotional healing it is important to partner with a professional who specializes in developmental trauma in order to be most effective and efficient with treatment.

When we work together, I will be happy to support you in finding the best mental health practitioner or specialized coach that matches your personal healing style so that we can really make the most of our treatment sessions. For starters, many of my patients do well with Dr. Cathleen King's self-paced online Primal Trust program which combines somatic & cognitive based strategies. The program, however, does not replace a great one-to-one relationship with a therapist in real-time but can provide an excellent foundation, and you can literally start now.

WHAT IF I DON'T HAVE ANY TRAUMA?

One factor I find important share out is that many of my patients with chronic health challenges and mitochondrial dysfunction may not self-identify as someone with developmental or early childhood trauma. This exploration is often a delicate yet essential and life-changing first step on their journey to true, deep, lasting healing.

How to know if you may be someone with unacknowledged trauma? Working with a professional versed in this realm is the best step. You can do some exploration in the meantime:

Visit Jonice Webb, PhD's website, take her CEN Questionnaire. and read her book, Running on Empty.
Take an attachment style quiz and learn more about what this means for you as an adult.
Find a credentialed Neuro-Affective Relational Model (NARM) somatic therapist.
Check out @RossRosenberg's YouTube channel, or read his book The Human Magnet Syndrome.
Look up interviews with the authors listed below and learn more of the features of developmental trauma.
More recommendations coming soon ...