Matrescence is a developmental passage — one that can reopen earlier chapters while inviting integration. Childhood sexual abuse and a woman’s reproductive life may be separated by years or decades. And yet traumatic memories can resurface, because they are often held in the body and mind in a non-linear way. When traumatic memories resurface, in those moments, the nervous system may respond as if the past is happening again, leading to sensations of threat, loss of control,