Conditions We Treat
Sexual Abuse Therapy
Reclaiming safety, confidence, and trust
Healing after sexual abuse is possible, and you do not have to do it alone or on a timeline that drags on for years.
Our private one-on-one intensives offer proven, gentle support for survivors, helping you process what happened at your own pace so you can regain a sense of safety and confidence in your body and with others. You decide how much to share, and we begin with safety before anything difficult.
What it is
Finding your way back to safety
Sexual abuse is never only about sex. It is an attempt to take away power, and it can rob a survivor of the sense of safety, self-sufficiency, and trust in others that we all deserve. In its aftermath, it is common to carry complicated feelings of anger, sadness, and shame, and many survivors quietly take on some measure of blame. If you have lived through this, it is important to know that it was not your fault. Your privacy and your right to choose who shares your intimate moments are basic human rights that no one can take from you.
Recovery and reconnection are possible. With the support of a trained therapist, the fear, anger, guilt, and shame that so often accompany sexual trauma can begin to ease, and the relationship you have with your own body and with the people around you can slowly be repaired. Our retreats create a secure, supported environment where you can do this work in a way that feels safe, and where reclaiming your sense of self is the whole point.
- Safety and resourcing come first, before any difficult work begins
- You set the pace and decide what you share
- Feeling-based methods that do not require reliving every detail
- Years of progress condensed into a focused span of days
The core experiences of psychological trauma are disempowerment and disconnection from others. Recovery, therefore, is based upon the empowerment of the survivor and the creation of new connections.
Reclaiming safety is the whole work, and it is possible.
How we help
What recovery at an intensive can look like
There is no single path, and yours is your own. What follows is a gentle outline of how the work tends to unfold at a retreat, always at a pace that feels right to you.
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An unhurried beginning
We start with a calm, unhurried conversation to understand your history and your hopes for the work. There is no rush, and you decide how much to share and when.
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Establishing safety and consent
Before anything difficult, we put safety first. Your therapist explains how the work happens, asks for your consent at every step, and guides you through a safe-place exercise so you have a reliable way to steady yourself.
- 03
Gathering your resources
Together we draw on the strengths, supports, and grounding practices already in your life, building a foundation of steadiness to return to whenever you need it.
- 04
Processing at your pace
Using EMDR, IFS, or ART, we gently help your mind and body release what they have been holding. These are feeling-based methods, so you do not need to retell every detail for them to work.
- 05
Reconnecting with your body
As the charge of a memory settles, we help you reconnect with a sense of safety in your own body, easing the tension and guardedness that trauma can leave behind.
- 06
Integration and ongoing support
We close gently, helping you make sense of the work and what comes next, and we talk through the support that can continue to hold you once the retreat is over.
Why it lingers in the body
How sexual trauma lives in the body
After an experience like this, a survivor may no longer feel that their body is really their own. That is not a weakness or a failing. It is the natural way the nervous system tries to protect us, and it is something that can gently change.
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Holds the alarm
The body
Trauma can leave the body in a state of high alert, quick to sense danger and slow to feel at ease. This can show up as tension, hypervigilance, or trouble feeling safe even when nothing is wrong.
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The trauma's imprint
Shame and disconnection
Sexual abuse can shatter trust in oneself and others, leaving shame, self-blame, and a painful sense of disconnection from one's own body and from the people one wants to be close to.
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The path back
Safety and choice
Because the wound is one of lost power and lost safety, the way back runs through restoring both: the felt sense of safety, and the experience of choice and consent at every step.
Safety and choice can be restored. As the work unfolds, the charge a memory carries can settle, so that what once overwhelmed you becomes something you can hold, and your body can begin to feel like home again.
At your pace, safety and trust can be yours again.
Why an intensive
Years of progress in a focused span of days
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Gentle, accelerated healing
Concentrated, supported work lets relief come sooner than weekly therapy, while always honoring the pace that feels safe to you.
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Greater efficiency
Many survivors reach meaningful, lasting progress in fewer total sessions, sparing the long, drawn-out arc of weekly appointments.
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Fully personalized
Every intensive is shaped around your history, your needs, and your goals, never a generic program.
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A safe, private space
One-on-one and confidential, our retreats give you a secure, supported environment where you can feel held as you do this tender work.
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Renewed confidence
Many leave with a steadier sense of self, a renewed feeling of safety in their own body, and more confidence in their relationships with others.
Formats we offer
- Half-day
Three to four hours, focused on a single issue or goal. A strong starting point.
- Full-day
Six to eight hours to immerse fully and make significant progress in a single day.
- Multi-day
Several days for complex trauma, with room for comprehensive, sustained work.
- Virtual
Conducted online for those who prefer to work from home or cannot travel.
Is it right for you?
A recovery intensive may be a good fit if you
This work is gentle, paced by you, and does not require reliving every detail. It tends to suit people who:
- Have survived sexual abuse and feel ready, with support, to begin processing it
- Are carrying anxiety, shame, flashbacks, or a loss of safety in your body
- Want to make meaningful progress without years of weekly sessions
- Prefer a private, one-on-one space shaped entirely around your needs
- Want to move at your own pace, sharing only what feels right, with steady support
How we treat it
Therapies we use for sexual trauma
- EMDR Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing A well-researched approach that helps the brain release the charge held around a memory, without needing to describe it in detail. Learn more
- IFS Internal Family Systems A gentle approach that helps you understand and care for the different parts within you, including the ones still carrying pain. Learn more
- ART Accelerated Resolution Therapy A feeling-based method that helps resolve distressing memories quickly, with relief that tends to hold. Learn more
Ready to talk it through?
Reaching out can feel like a big step, and there is no pressure here. Speak to a therapist about what you are carrying and whether an intensive might be a gentle place to begin.