There are stories that stop you in your tracks. Stories that remind you how resilient the human spirit truly is. Martha Glory Kartaoui’s is one of them.
Martha is a trauma-informed coach, Amazon bestselling author, speaker, and TV host of Let Glory Shine. She’s the creator of Unbound — a live trauma healing event held annually in Raleigh, NC — and The Collective, a weekly trauma healing community. But before any of that, she was a cult survivor.
For the first 26 years of her life, Martha lived inside a religious cult where every facet of her existence was controlled. She was named by the cult leader, not her parents. She had no freedom of thought, no freedom of choice. She experienced physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and sexual abuse. And when she finally escaped at 26, she entered the outside world with nothing — not even a sense of who she was.
“I was navigating from the place of a very scared little girl. I created chaos everywhere I went — even though I was free — because I didn’t know how to be free.” — Martha Glory Kartaoui
The Body’s Cry for Help
In her early 30s, Martha’s physical body began to break down. Intense migraines. Fibromyalgia. Chronic back pain. Gastrointestinal issues. She bounced through neurologists, gastroenterologists, and pain specialists. Everyone had a label. No one had an answer.
The turning point came in a continuing education somatics class for massage therapists, when her teacher said something that changed everything: “Did you know that trauma is stored on a cellular level in our bodies?” She was referencing The Body Keeps the Score, the landmark work by Bessel van der Kolk — and for Martha, it was like a light turning on.
“This is what’s wrong with me,” she realized. There was no pill for what she was carrying. There never had been. What she needed was to heal from the inside out.
The Healing Journey: 14 Years of Coming Home to Herself
Martha spent the next 14 years peeling back the layers — studying somatic healing, holistic modalities, nervous system regulation, and trauma-informed practices. She released over 100 pounds that she has kept off for 12 years. She cleared every chronic condition. And perhaps most profoundly, she began to discover who she actually was — separate from everything she’d been told to be.
Because one of the most disorienting aspects of cult life is the complete erasure of identity. Every identity she had been given — her name, her role, her beliefs — had been assigned to her. She had never chosen anything for herself. Healing, for Martha, meant not just releasing trauma but constructing a self from the ground up.
“I had to ask myself: is this truly what I believe? If it’s no, I discard it. If it’s yes, I hold it sacred. I went through every belief system I had to choose what resonated with me.” — Martha Glory Kartaoui
Finding Her Way Back to Faith
One of the most remarkable threads in Martha’s story is her journey back to God. Having been raised in a cult that weaponized fear and the Old Testament to maintain control, she ran from faith for years after escaping. She was furious. She felt forsaken.
But in a moment of desperation — her body breaking down, her marriage strained, feeling utterly alone — she cried out: “God, if you’re real, I need to feel you.” And God showed up.
She found herself standing outside a church she’d never seen, at dusk, reading a sign: “Did you know Jesus loves you?” She sat on a bench and wept. And in that moment, she felt an embrace she had never experienced before — and heard, clearly: “You ran from me. I’ve always been here. You’re still alive because I’ve been here.”
“There’s something that no human can fill. It’s an emptiness that happens within us. It’s God’s place. And when I allowed my faith to be built, that love to be felt — everything started to change.” — Martha Glory Kartaoui
The Gift in Her Hands
Before any of this healing work took shape, Martha had already been given a gift — she just didn’t know yet what it was for. As a child, she’d soothe her father on long car rides to cult gatherings by rubbing his shoulders and neck. In massage school, her teachers told her there was something different about her hands. They just knew.
What she eventually discovered is that she is an intuitive healer. Her hands could feel what her clients’ bodies were holding. For years she shut that down, overwhelmed by what she was sensing. But as her own healing deepened, she opened back up — learning to access that gift intentionally, with boundaries, and only when invited.
“Your body will tell all of the secrets,” she says. “I can hear it, feel it, all of those things.” It’s a sentence that could have come directly from the work of trauma researchers — and it points to the deep integration of body, spirit, and healing that defines everything Martha does.
Unbound & The Collective: Healing in Community
Two years ago, God called Martha to something bigger. She created Unbound — a live, in-person trauma healing event held in Raleigh, NC. The first year drew 47 people. The next year will be bigger.
“For your first event to have 47 people is unheard of,” she says. “I felt so honored and privileged that people trusted me to come to this container.”
This year’s Unbound runs August 21-23 in Raleigh, NC. Tickets and information are available at unboundcommunity.com.
For those who need ongoing support between annual events, Martha created The Collective — a weekly trauma healing group that meets every Monday at 7:00 PM. Members work through themes like fear, abandonment, brain chemistry, and rewiring — together, in community, because Martha knows firsthand that healing alone takes longer and costs more than it should.
“Stop lying to yourself and telling yourself you’re alone. Alone is a choice. And showing up for yourself is a choice too. You are worthy of healing.” — Martha Glory Kartaoui
The Invitation
If you are someone who is carrying trauma — from religious environments, childhood abuse, or any of the countless ways life can wound us — Martha’s message is clear: you are not alone. Pain is pain. And the first step is simply showing up. Camera off is fine. Just come.
Healing is possible. Martha is proof.
🎧 Listen to the full episode on heathereck.com
🌟 Learn about Unbound (Aug 21-23, Raleigh): unboundcommunity.com
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is Unbound?
Unbound is a live, in-person trauma healing event created by Martha Glory Kartaoui and held annually in Raleigh, NC. It combines group workshops, one-on-one sessions with coaches and therapists, and a community of people committed to their healing journey. This year’s event runs August 21-23. Learn more and get tickets at unboundcommunity.com.
What is The Collective?
The Collective is Martha Glory Kartaoui’s weekly online trauma healing group, meeting every Monday at 7:00 PM. Members work through topics including fear, abandonment, brain chemistry, and nervous system rewiring in a community setting. It’s designed for people who need ongoing support between larger events or coaching sessions.
What is somatic healing and how does it help with trauma?
Somatic healing is a body-centered approach to trauma recovery based on the understanding — supported extensively by research, including Bessel van der Kolk’s landmark book The Body Keeps the Score — that trauma is stored on a cellular level in the body. Somatic practices help release this stored trauma through movement, breathwork, body awareness, and other modalities that bypass the thinking mind and work directly with the nervous system.
How do you heal an identity that was formed by abuse or control?
Martha Glory Kartaoui describes this as asking yourself a foundational question about every belief you hold: Is this truly what I believe? If the answer is no, you discard it. If yes, you hold it sacred. Healing identity after cult membership, abuse, or religious trauma involves consciously choosing — often for the very first time — who you are and what you believe, rather than operating from identities that were assigned to you.
Can you heal religious trauma and still have faith?
Yes. Martha Glory Kartaoui is a powerful example. After escaping a religious cult that weaponized fear and scripture as tools of control, she ran from faith for years. Her journey back to God was slow, messy, and profound — and it resulted in a relationship with faith built entirely on love, grace, and personal resonance rather than fear. Healing religious trauma and rebuilding spiritual connection are not mutually exclusive.
What is the first step to healing from trauma?
Martha’s answer: stop telling yourself you’re alone. Alone is a choice. The first step is showing up — for a group, a community, a coaching call, or any container that offers connection. You don’t have to have your camera on. You don’t have to speak. You just have to show up. Healing begins with the decision that you are worthy of it.
Who is Martha Glory Kartaoui?
Martha Glory Kartaoui is a cult survivor turned trauma-informed coach, Amazon bestselling international author, speaker, and TV host of Let Glory Shine. She is the creator of Unbound (a live trauma healing event) and The Collective (a weekly healing community). After spending 26 years in a religious cult and 14 years on her own healing journey, she now helps others reclaim wholeness in mind, body, and spirit through her company, Artesian Wellness, LLC. Find her at letgloryshine.com.
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