Have you ever wondered if you’ve carried trauma for too long? If it’s too late to heal after all these years? Mary’s story might change your mind about what’s possible.
When Mary first walked through our doors, she brought with her an ACE score of seven. That’s seven “yes” answers out of ten on a questionnaire that measures childhood trauma—and that’s significant. Her story included sexual violation as both a child and an adult, plus decades of suicidal thoughts starting when she was just 16 years old.
Here’s what makes Mary’s journey so powerful: It wasn’t just about healing old wounds. It was about what happened when someone from her traumatic past—someone she hadn’t seen in 50 years—suddenly reappeared and tried to shame her all over again. That’s when we really saw what healing could look like.
When Mary first came to us, her ACE score revealed the extent of trauma she had endured throughout her life. The Adverse Childhood Experiences questionnaire measures exposure to various forms of childhood trauma, and Mary’s high score placed her in a category where healing can often feel impossible.
Her trauma history was complex and severe:
Working with clients who have endured such profound violations requires a careful balance between addressing the trauma directly while creating enough safety for deep healing to occur.
Mary’s healing journey required a multifaceted approach that addressed trauma stored in her mind, body, and spirit. Our team worked with her using several specialized techniques:
Yoga Breath Therapy: Working with our specialist Carla, Mary learned how breathing techniques could help regulate her nervous system and release trauma stored in her body.
Mind-Body-Spirit Program: Mary participated in our comprehensive program that addresses trauma from multiple angles, recognizing that childhood sexual abuse affects every aspect of a person’s being.
Resonance Repatterning: One of the most powerful tools we used with Mary was something called “suppressed image and emotion repatterning.” Here’s how it works: when someone experiences trauma, their brain creates survival responses—basically, it imagines what they could do to make the abuse stop. These images and emotions get buried along with the trauma memory itself. By gently bringing these suppressed responses to the surface and releasing them, we unlock tremendous healing energy that’s been trapped in the system.
This approach acknowledges that trauma isn’t just a mental or emotional experience—it’s stored in the body and affects the entire nervous system. By addressing these multiple layers, we could help Mary process and release trauma that had been held in her system for decades.
Mary’s progress was tracked using our measurement system, where higher numbers indicate more intense distress (shown in red) and lower numbers indicate relief (shown in green). Her journey from April to October demonstrated steady improvement in managing her trauma symptoms.
The September Test: When Old Trauma Got Triggered
In September, Mary faced an unexpected challenge that tested everything she had learned. Someone from 50 years ago—someone who had been involved with her trauma when she was 16—came back into her life and actually shamed her about that trauma from five decades past.
This triggering event caused her symptoms to spike, as shown by the higher numbers (in red and dark orange) coming back up on her tracking chart. But here’s what made Mary’s story remarkable: using the tools we had taught her, she was quickly able to find her footing and get back to releasing the shame.
Rapid Recovery Using New Tools
Rather than being derailed by this triggering event, Mary demonstrated the power of her new coping mechanisms. You can see in her progress chart how the shame line came back down as she applied her healing tools. This wasn’t just about managing symptoms—it was about having real, practical ways to process and release trauma when it resurfaced.
Mary’s story proves that it’s never too late to address childhood trauma. Even after carrying these wounds for 50 years, she was able to find significant relief and develop resilience against future triggers.
Using phrases like “your early teachers of love were quite inept” allows us to work on profound trauma without being overwhelmed by its weight. This approach creates psychological safety while still addressing the core issues.
Trauma affects the mind, body, and spirit. Mary’s recovery involved yoga breath therapy, resonance repatterning, and mind-body-spirit work because comprehensive healing requires addressing all these aspects.
The “suppressed image and emotion repatterning” helped Mary identify and release the survival responses her brain created during trauma. Bringing these suppressed elements into the light allowed for deep energetic release.
When Mary’s trauma got retriggered after months of progress, she didn’t spiral back to where she started. Instead, she quickly applied her tools and brought her symptoms back down. This is what true healing looks like—not the absence of triggers, but the ability to navigate them skillfully.
Maybe you’re reading this and seeing yourself in Mary’s story. Maybe you have your own high ACE score and have been carrying childhood trauma for years or even decades. Maybe you’ve been told it’s too late to heal, or that you just need to “get over it” and move on.
Mary’s journey proves that healing is possible at any stage of life, even when:
Mary spent 50 years carrying her trauma because the comprehensive, multi-layered approach she experienced with us simply wasn’t available to her earlier. But it’s available to you now.
If you’re tired of managing trauma symptoms instead of truly healing them, ready to address the root causes that keep you stuck, and want tools that will help you navigate future triggers with resilience, Mary’s approach could be the breakthrough you’ve been searching for.
The question isn’t whether healing is possible for you after all this time. Mary’s story proves it is. The question is: Are you ready to stop just surviving your trauma and start truly healing from it?
Modern Holistic Health specializes in helping people heal from “unexplainable” chronic illness, unresolved trauma, anxiety, depression, autoimmune conditions, metabolic issues, and neurological disorders.
We use an evidence-based approach with data-driven solutions to help create a holistic healing plan to enhance your quality of life and give you a deeper understanding of what’s truly driving your symptoms and how to heal from the root cause.
