Someone molested you.

(You have a really hard time even saying that out loud)

You went through something no one should ever have to go through.

You went numb. You left your body to get through it. And you did. You survived. You handled it on your own, but it keeps popping it’s pesky little head up in your current life and relationships. Your current sex life is a struggle if it exists at all. Your fear of abandonment and difficulty trusting anyone often gets in the way of getting close with anyone. You find yourself physically shaking and paralyzed in seemingly random situations. This is all really scary, confusing, and embarrassing. Sometimes you wonder if you are going crazy. You avoid places where the panic might bubble up to the surface. You hate that out-of-control feeling. Panic attacks, nightmares, and flashbacks threaten to swallow you whole on a daily basis. You struggle with intense emotions - anger, shame, fear - and you’ve found yourself just trying to cope any you can. In the shame cycle, you turn on yourself and get stuck in harmful patterns that, if you’re honest, only end up hurting you more. You’re afraid to let yourself dream. Living a better life that is free from all of this pain feels like it might be completely out of reach.

Sexual Trauma

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) often goes unreported, making it particularly difficult to measure just how common it is. However, it is estimated that 1 in 5 girls are victims of abuse and 20% of female-identifying adults were victimized as children. Sexual assault (SA) is also often unreported. However, 1 in 3 women have experienced SA in their lifetimes. 

Sexual trauma (CSA and SA) affects survivors emotionally, physically, and psychologically. The survivor’s educational, professional, and social life is often also negatively affected. Survivors experience depression, anxiety, intrusive flashbacks and memories, nightmares, psychological and physiological reactions when in situations that resemble the abuse/assault, and often also experience addiction and/or eating disorders as a result of the violence perpetrated against them. 

Therapy can help.

Counseling has been shown to help reduce the negative effects of sexual trauma. Since the 90’s, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing has reduced distress for sexual assault survivors. Somatic-based therapy is an approach that addresses the kind of pain that is beyond words, moving the trauma through the body so that it can be released. A combination of both somatic therapy and talk therapy can help move you towards being able to talk about the trauma without becoming overwhelmed.

Here’s where I come in

Each of us has an innate capacity for healing and wisdom. My job is to help you understand and connect with that healing and wisdom. By bringing your darkness into the light, you can find healing for your deepest wounds. 

I provide a safe environment for you to be able to explore what brought you to this point and how to move forward. I’ll ask some clarifying questions, summarize what I am hearing and seeing, provide some evidence-based helpful hints, and use other techniques like EMDR to help you get unstuck.

What if therapy stirs up more issues than I can handle right now?

Since therapy often involves discussing unpleasant aspects of your life, you may experience uncomfortable feelings like sadness, guilt, anger, frustration, loneliness, and helplessness. On the other hand, therapy has also been shown to have benefits for people who go through it. Yes, things might get worse before they start to really get better. In the long run, though, therapy leads to better relationships, solutions to specific problems, and significant reductions in feelings of distress.

I work in a very empathetic and gentle way so as to build safety and trust prior to discussing anything painful or traumatizing. We can go as fast or as slow as you feel comfortable with. My goal is to keep you within the “window of tolerance” to provide maximum growth and healing without further traumatizing you or giving you more than you can handle at any one time.