By the time Martha Stem decided she desperately needed relief from a fresh wave of anguish, she had been adding to what she calls her “trauma box” for decades.
A retired appellate paralegal and grandmother in her early 70s, Stem had compartmentalized all sorts of traumatic events so that she could focus on caring for others. In her “box” were two sexual assaults while in college, pressure from loved ones to keep those incidents quiet, a suicide attempt, two divorces and other significant stressors. Packing away all these difficult experiences left her angry and depressed for much of her life.
Then, during Hurricane Helene in September 2024, the box finally busted open.
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