I’ve been reflecting a lot on trauma healing recently. When a reader reached out, it felt like the right moment to write about it.
Trauma Healing
A few days ago, a reader — a business colleague of my husband’s — emailed to say she enjoys my website.
Tips to Healthy Living
She mentioned she appreciates my recipes, but that she especially values the healthy living tips I share.
A Five Point Healing Program for MS
Her favorite resource on the site was my Five Point Healing Program for managing MS and other chronic health issues.
She also shared that one part of the plan is proving difficult for her.
Boundaries Setting
For many of us facing health challenges, boundaries are the hardest to maintain. Can you guess which part she struggled with? Boundaries.
Setting and enforcing boundaries is widely difficult, and it becomes even more taxing when medical problems amplify stress and vulnerability.
Stress Effects on Body
If you’re coping with chronic illness, you’re likely also carrying excess stress. That’s why healthy, protective boundaries are essential.
As I noted years ago, minimizing exposure to stressful interactions is a key part of recovery:
One important part of my Five Point Healing Program is keeping interactions short and intentional with people, places, and things that drain or stress you.
Practicing Positivity
A related part of the plan is practicing positivity, a subject I’ve written about often. Still, positivity isn’t always realistic or helpful in every moment.
Healing is Not Linear
Healing rarely follows a straight line. Progress often comes in fits and starts — we move forward, then back — so it’s crucial to be gentle with yourself and to reduce stress where possible.
Stress Reduction
MS affects the nervous system, and for anyone with autoimmune conditions, lowering stress is critical to support healing and symptom management.
Some stress patterns trace back to earlier life experiences. That’s where ACEs come into the conversation.
ACEs Meaning
ACEs stands for Adverse Childhood Experiences — early events like abuse, neglect, or household dysfunction that can shape stress responses and long-term health.
Adverse Childhood Experiences
For those managing chronic illness, it’s common to find higher ACE scores. Early adversity can sensitize the nervous system, making adults more reactive to stress.
How to Protect After the Neglect
That history makes it even more important to avoid people who are aggressive or passive-aggressive and to protect your nervous system from repeated negative interactions.
This protective stance matters regardless of the other person’s intentions; your well-being comes first.
ACEs Charting
Calculating your ACE score can help you recognize patterns and “quantify” aspects of your trauma history. While not a complete picture, it can be a useful wake-up call.
CDC – Kaiser Permanente ACEs Study
The original ACEs research, launched in 1995 by Kaiser Permanente and the CDC, examined how childhood adversity relates to adult health outcomes.
The ACEs Study
That large study involved more than 17,000 participants and remains one of the most influential investigations linking childhood abuse, neglect, and household stressors to long-term physical and mental health issues.
Goal of ACEs Study
The study framed adverse childhood experiences as a public health issue, showing how early trauma contributes to chronic disease risk and reduced well-being.
ACEs Test for Trauma
People with higher ACE scores tend to be more sensitive to negative events because of prolonged exposure and a lack of protective buffering in childhood.
ACEs Test Online
Taking an ACE quiz can provide insight into how early experiences might influence current health and stress responses.
ACEs Charting
Research and public health resources highlight the strong links between childhood trauma and adult chronic disease, including autoimmune conditions and mental health disorders.
The CDC’s ACE Study uncovered a striking connection between childhood trauma and chronic diseases that appear in adulthood, from heart disease and lung cancer to diabetes, autoimmune conditions, and depression.
Your ACEs Test Score
My own ACE score is just above five, which aligns with several autoimmune and chronic diagnoses I’ve received over the years:
- Celiac Disease
- Hashimoto’s Thyroid Disease
- Lumbar Radiculopathy
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Osteopenia
As my friend Donna Jackson Nakazawa writes in Childhood Disrupted, higher ACE scores are associated with poorer health outcomes later in life.
Trauma Psychologist
Talk therapy can help, but trauma often lives in the limbic system and can be re-triggered through verbal recall. A skilled trauma psychologist will use approaches that limit reactivation while promoting healing.
Wired for Healing
Some people find success with programs like the Dynamic Neural Retraining System, though results vary. Exploring evidence-based approaches and books on neural retraining can be worthwhile.
On Healing Trauma
Working through trauma is intense and works best when the triggering circumstances have stopped. Trying to heal while repeatedly exposed to trauma is more difficult, which is another reason to distance yourself from stressful people and situations.
Trauma Healing Quotes
One of my favorite reminders for hard days is: “It is ok if all you did today was breathe.” Simple affirmations and gentle practices can help on the hardest days.
ACEs and Your Health
Have you taken the ACE quiz? If so, how did it resonate with you? Does your score reflect your current physical or mental health experiences? Share your thoughts in the comments — I’d love to hear how this resonates for you.