Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence
Some experiences disrupt a person’s sense of safety at a very deep level. Sexual abuse and sexual violence are among those experiences. They can affect how someone relates to their body, their emotions, their identity, and their relationships—often long after the harm itself has ended.
Sexual abuse and sexual violence can occur at any point in life. For some, the harm happened in childhood or adolescence. For others, it occurred later, in a relationship, within a family, in a community setting, or at the hands of someone trusted. These experiences may involve force, coercion, manipulation, or violations of consent. Sometimes they are clearly named. Other times, they remain confusing, minimized, or buried under silence.
What matters is not how the experience is labeled, but how it lives on inside the person who endured it.
How These Experiences Can Echo Over Time
People respond to sexual abuse and sexual violence in many different ways. Some effects are immediate. Others emerge slowly, shaped by years of adaptation and survival.
You may notice:
Feeling disconnected from your body or emotions
Strong reactions to touch, closeness, or intimacy
Shame, self-blame, or confusion about what happened
Difficulty trusting others or feeling safe in relationships
Anxiety, panic, or a constant sense of vigilance
Periods of numbness, detachment, or dissociation
Changes in how you see yourself, your worth, or your identity
For those who experienced sexual abuse in childhood, these patterns may feel especially woven into daily life. Early violations can shape how boundaries are understood, how care is received, and how safety is defined. Many people live for years without realizing that these struggles are connected to what they endured.
None of these responses mean you are broken. They reflect a system that learned how to survive when choice and safety were taken away.
A Space Where What Happened Can Be Held
At Little River Psychological Services, therapy for sexual abuse and sexual violence is grounded in steadiness, consent, and respect. This work is not about pushing for disclosure, revisiting details before you are ready, or moving toward healing on anyone else’s timeline.
Therapy offers a space where your experience can be acknowledged without being questioned, minimized, or explained away. Together, we work to support safety in the present, understand how the past continues to shape your inner world, and gently restore a sense of agency, connection, and choice.
Treatment may draw from trauma-informed approaches, narrative work, and psychodynamic techniques, always guided by what feels most supportive and manageable for you. The focus is on helping your nervous system settle and allowing meaning to emerge at a pace that honors what you have lived through.
Moving Forward
Healing from sexual abuse or sexual violence is not about erasing the past or forcing strength. It is about being met with care, having your pain witnessed, and slowly reclaiming a sense of ownership over your body, your story, and your life.
If you are carrying experiences like these and are looking for a space where they can be held with respect and understanding, we invite you to reach out to schedule a consultation.
You do not have to carry this alone.