Healing Sexual Trauma

Reclaiming Safety, Pleasure & Connection

Sexual trauma can leave deep marks on the body, mind, and nervous system. But healing is possible—slowly, gently, and on your terms. Whether the trauma happened recently or years ago, you deserve support that honors your lived experience and helps you rebuild trust, safety, and connection with yourself and others.

This page will help you understand how sexual trauma affects desire, intimacy, and relationships—and how trauma-informed therapy can support you in healing.

What Is Sexual Trauma?

Sexual trauma includes any unwanted sexual experience that overwhelms your ability to cope. This can include assault, coercion, childhood sexual experiences, sexual shame, boundary violations, or experiences in which your “no” wasn’t respected.

Trauma isn’t defined by the event alone—it’s defined by the impact on your nervous system, your sense of agency, and your relationship with safety.

How Sexual Trauma Shows Up Today

Sexual trauma can affect:

Your Body

Difficulty relaxing during intimacy
Painful sex or vaginismus
Disconnection from bodily sensations
Feeling numb or “checked out”

Your Nervous System

Fight/flight/freeze/fawn responses during intimacy
Hypervigilance or feeling easily overwhelmed
Shutdown or dissociation when triggered
Feeling unsafe even with a caring partner

Your Relationships

Difficulty trusting others
Fear of being misunderstood or rejected
Patterns of people-pleasing or self-abandonment
Avoiding intimacy—even when you deeply want connection

Your Sexuality

Low desire or feeling “asexual but not by choice”
Losing interest in sex after a trauma-triggering moment
Feeling confused about what you want or like
Feeling pressured to perform or “be normal”

None of these responses mean anything is wrong with you. They are adaptive survival responses—your nervous system doing its best to protect you.

Trauma-Informed Sexual Healing

Healing sexual trauma requires a space that is safe, attuned, and paced to your system. My work integrates:

Attachment-Informed Therapy

Understanding how early relational experiences shape trust, boundaries, and intimacy.

Nervous System Regulation

Helping your body learn to feel safe through grounding, breath, somatic awareness, and gentle trauma-processing.

Sex Therapy + Erotic Recovery

Rebuilding agency, desire, and pleasure at a pace that respects your limits and honors your capacity.

Shame Resilience Work

Untangling cultural, familial, or religious messaging that has shaped your relationship with sex.

Relational Repair

Exploring patterns that repeat in adult intimacy, including fawning, avoidance, or shutdown.

Healing sexual trauma isn’t about “moving on.” It’s about reclaiming your relationship with yourself.

What Healing Can Look Like

With trauma-informed therapy, clients often experience:

A restored sense of safety in their own body
A clearer understanding of boundaries and desires
More ease and comfort during intimacy
Decreased fear, shame, or panic responses
A deeper connection with partners
Renewed desire and pleasure
The ability to say “yes” and “no” with confidence

Healing is not linear—but it is absolutely possible.

A Slow, Gentle, Attuned Approach

You never have to talk about anything before you’re ready.

You set the pace.
You choose the direction.
Your safety—emotional, physical, and relational—is always the priority.

Whether you're processing a specific trauma or navigating the long shadow of experiences that shaped your sexuality, you don’t have to do this alone.

Who I Work With

I support individuals and couples who are healing from:

Sexual assault or coercion
Childhood sexual experiences or abuse
Religious or purity-culture sexual shame
Relationship trauma or betrayal
Body-based trauma responses
Desire loss after triggering experiences
Difficulty feeling safe during intimacy

I am queer, LGBTQ+ affirming, sex-positive, kink-aware, and polyamory-competent.

Begin Your Healing

You deserve support that is compassionate, grounded, and informed by the science of trauma and the reality of human intimacy.

If you’re ready to explore what sexual healing might look like for you, you can begin with:

Individual Therapy
Couples & Intimacy Therapy
Sexual Desire & Nervous System Work
Online Sessions Available

Your body can heal.
Your pleasure can return.
Your story is not over.

contact me today