The Role of Touch in Healing from Sexual Trauma

Beyond MeToo: Healing the Wounds of Sexual Trauma

“Many sexual trauma survivors went into a freeze state.. And so there’s this sense of ‘My body betrayed me, and I don’t want to be in this body, but I’m stuck here, so I’m going to do the best job I can to not be here.’ And that is the ultimate disconnection. So what we’re going for is to start to reconnect that, just a little bit at a time, maybe at first just with questions and guidance, and little by little, help you start to recognize that your body is an ally in this process of healing. And in fact, because it was the site of the crime, it’s also the site of immense healing. And until you can actually feel that, there are things you can’t heal. There are things you can’t heal with words because words weren’t what injured you.”

In this conversation, Molly and regular special guest Sarah Brennan share their perspective on the role of touch in healing from sexual trauma. Some of the themes they explore are:

• The power of safe touch.
• Doing TO the body or making the body DO versus feeling, experiencing, and listening to the body with genuine curiosity.
• The body as key to healing injuries that were (and continue to be) experienced in the body.
• Feeling betrayed by the body’s response to assault or violation.
• Feeling subtle sensations again (or for the first time) after only being able to feel extreme sensations or numbing out or being hypervigilant - or any combination of the aforementioned strategic adaptations.

“People who are terrified need to get a sense of where their bodies are in space and of their boundaries. Firm and reassuring touch lets them know where those boundaries are: what’s outside them, where their bodies end. They discover they do not need to constantly wonder who and where they are. They discover their body is solid and they do not have to constantly be on guard. Touch lets them know they are safe.” ~Bessel Van Der Kolk

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Contact Sarah: www.theembodyconnection.com // [e-mail]

Contact Molly: www.theembodyconnection.com // [e-mail]

Book: The Body Keeps the Score, by Bessel Van Der Kolk

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Special thanks to:

Jenn Baykan, content creation for somatic based healers: https://www.jbaykan.com/

Dave Hiltebrand for intro and outro music original composition: https://www.davehiltebrand.com/

Gina McLaughlin Photography for photo and graphic design: https://www.facebook.com/ginamclaughlinphotography/?fref=tag