Sexual Abuse therapists in Lexington, Tennessee TN

Sexual abuse is not always violent, in fact, it is rarely violent. I have presented at conferences on non-consensual sexual experiences and how those experiences affect clients. I will never ever tell you that anything you went through was your fault, wasn't "really rape," or is your marital duty. In addition to non-consensual sexual experiences I specialize in treating military sexual trauma. Almost all cases of sexual abuse are compounded by institutional betrayal either by medical professionals, police officers, human resources or commanding officers, or lawyers. Institutional betrayal can make it difficult for clients to trust anyone. I hope that if you are a person who has gone through any of these experiences that you will reach out to myself or other sex positive therapists.  

Many of our therapists work with sexual abuse survivors. We feel that sexual abuse survivors need and deserve a safe and secure place to discuss their pain and survivor-hood. Dr. Sanness and Dr. Nelson specialize in trauma. Dr. Sanness also specialized in Complex Trauma (repeated trauma that has occurred over developmental time periods throughout the life-span).  

Sexual abuse at any age is traumatic. Working with trauma, using EMDR to process the traumatic experiences helps move towards healing of any abuse, including sexual abuse. If is it from childhood or more recent, healing is the only way to have a more productive life.  

The effects of sexual abuse in your life, whether you are a victim or very close to one, can cause you to struggle in a number of areas in your life. But it doesnt have to define you so in therapy we work to have you resolve those issues and find your true self.  

Kids are resilient, but… They often need help processing and coping with the experiences they’ve had or changes they may be going through. After experiencing sexual abuse, most children often don’t have the tools to cope and move forward (at least not in a healthy way). Maybe they didn’t seem bothered by these things at the time, but now (perhaps even months or years later), their behaviors suggest that something is wrong. During a life-changing experience, kids go into “survival mode.” And that can look different based on the child. During or immediately after a stressful event, a child’s brain may activate specific areas of the brain and de-activate others as a natural response to help them survive. Some children may have increased awareness and adrenaline, often becoming jumpy or easily startled. Others may struggle with the area of the brain that helps them regulate their emotions, causing them to have mood swings, emotional outbursts, or tearfulness. Many children begin to withdraw and isolate themselves. Children who are struggling to process or cope with trauma experience problems sleeping, such as nightmares and trouble falling or staying asleep. They experience intense feelings of anxiety that cause them to be on “overdrive” and always alert to potential danger. They struggle to process and communicate their feelings appropriately, resulting in meltdowns, tantrums, or isolating themselves. They are easily distracted and find their mind wanders, causing them to “space out” during tasks or conversations. They don’t know how to trust you (or anyone) because of what they experienced. A special therapy has been proven to help. Whether your child has experienced recent sexual abuse… or it’s something they’ve experienced in the past, I’m here to help. Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy is a proven treatment to help children and teens who have experienced a scary or stressful event in life. This therapy will identify how trauma has affected your child and will help your child process stressful memories and develop ways to cope with thoughts and feelings related to the event in a safe environment. Children who have experienced trauma are frequently still “haunted” by lingering trauma reminders (or trauma triggers)… A fight at school could bring back crippling memories of a fight they witnessed in the past. Together, your child and I will identify and confront the trauma triggers that are still impacting your child. Your child will process the experience in a safe environment and develop skills to cope with the emotions associated with the event. Relaxation skills such as mindfulness, breathing exercises, and meditation will be taught and practiced with your child in sessions (and in language they understand). These will become your child’s defense against their big and scary thoughts and feelings as they continue to move through treatment. They’ll learn ways to manage their emotions and combat panic and anxiety related to the experience and how to identify their feelings. Your child will create a “feelings-scale” and begin practicing ways to calm themselves down (or bring themselves “back down the scale”) when their feelings become too much. They’ll begin communicating their feelings to you in healthy ways. They’ll learn why their former (and sometimes aggressive) ways of communication are unhealthy and often result in consequences, and they’ll replace those old ways with new skills such as using “I-feel statements.” As your child develops these skills, they will prepare to process the traumatic event head-on by completing a trauma narrative with my support. Through the trauma-narrative process, your child will confront memories of the situation and address unhelpful thoughts and core beliefs they have as a result of the event. They may think the abuse was their fault. Or that they are a “bad kid” due to the abuse they experienced. We will work together to process these unhelpful thoughts and core beliefs and change them to positive, true, and helpful thoughts. The trauma-narrative process is completely tailored to each child. Your child may choose to draw, paint, or use art to express their narrative. They may choose to write and sing a song describing their experience, or they may simply choose to write their story in narrative form. Your child is free to choose the best way that works for them. After this process, your child will have the opportunity to “destroy” or keep the narrative to signify their incredible and brave progress in moving forward. Throughout treatment, we will also work together to plan for any additional needs for your child outside of therapy (ex. behavior planning, safety planning, school safety planning, or supervision planning). Don’t let an event change the rest of your child’s life. I am here to provide help within a judgement-free, therapeutic environment. Are you ready to help your child change their patterns of behavior, emotional distress, and negative thoughts resulting from the binding impacts of a traumatic event? If so, give me a call today!