Trauma Recovery Begins With One Small Step Forward

The Advisor with Stacey Chillemi · Mar 23, 2026 · 50m

Trauma recovery started for her in a hospital bed, staring at a white tile ceiling, setting one goal: walk to the mailbox. Years later, it meant running from an abusive marriage with a single suitcase, calling the orphan she'd sponsored 7,000 miles away, and hearing him say We will keep you safe. If you feel like a shell of yourself, that isn't weakness — it's what survival costs, and it rebuilds one day at a time.

Martha Hoy, nurse, author of Becoming Mother Martha, and founder of the Mother Martha Family Foundation, shows where rebuilding starts. You'll leave with a first step you can…