TRAUMA RESOURCES

Trigger warning: sexual assault, sexual trauma.
Content warning: no direct mention of sexual assault, violence, or rape.

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I want to openly and freely share this list of trauma resources I’ve found that are either sex positive, body focused / somatic approaches, or have a harm reduction approach.

I’m by no means a trauma expert or professional, but in the process of becoming more aware of the effects of trauma, researching the nervous system, and training in trauma-informed facilitation I’ve found these resources to be helpful for my understanding and supportive for my clients as they develop a relationship with their bodies, pleasure, and exploration.

With my clients I see that you often can’t speak about pleasure and bodies without acknowledging some degree of pain and trauma as it can affect one’s sense of bodily autonomy, embodiment, safety, trust, agency, and intimacy.

I refer to and work in tandem with many other therapists and health practitioners such as sex positive therapists, EMDR therapists, pelvic floor physiotherapists, Somatic Experiencing practitioners, or other somatic focused therapy. I’d love to hear from you if your work can be supportive to clients, so I can potentially refer to you in the future.

I think it’s also useful context to know that trauma has only been publicly acknowledged and studied since the 1970s and the brain directly since the 1990s, so we still have A LOT to learn about our own bodies, and these resources don’t encapsulate everything.

I truly hope this list helps resource and support you or someone you know.

RESOURCES: all of them are hyperlinked to Google Books so they are accessible to read without buying.

• ‘Healing Sex: A Mind-body Approach to Healing Sexual Trauma’ by Staci Haines. Note: this book is very binary in it’s language.

• ‘The Sexual Healing Journey: A Guide for Survivors of Sexual Abuse’ by Wendy Maltz

• ‘It Didn’t Start With You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle’ by Mark Wolynn

• ‘The Body Keeps The Score’ by Bessel van der Kolk

• ‘Mindfulness skills for Trauma and PTSD: Practices for Recovery and Resilience’ by Rachel Goldsmith Turow

• ‘Waking The Tiger: Healing Trauma’ by Peter Levine

• ‘The Courage To Heal: A Guide To Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse’ by Ellen Bass and Laura Davis

• ‘Trauma Is Really Strange’ by Steve Haines

• ‘Healing Justice Podcast’ by Kate Werning - creating resilience and healing for social justice movements.

• ‘Generative Somatics: somatic transformation and social justice’ - highly recommended by a fellow trauma informed somatic colleague as they share embodied tools and practices.

• ‘The Way of Tenderness: Awakening Through Race, Sexuality, and Gender’ by Zenju Earthlyn Manuel - highly recommended by a fellow trauma informed somatic colleague for situating trauma and spiritual healing in cultural and social contexts.

• ‘Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness: Practices for Safe and Transformative Healing’ by David A. Treleaven - highly recommended by a fellow trauma informed somatic colleague as it is very practical and accessible.

In my experience and research, the trauma space is very white, cisgendered, and able bodied centred. So if you have more intersectional and representative resources to add to this list, that would be incredible.

I’d love to keep growing this resource for anyone to access, so if you would like to add a resource, with an acknowledgement to you (if you want to be identified), please email me through the contact page.