Relational & Sexual Trauma Therapy in NYC
Trauma-Informed Therapy for Intimacy, Trust, and Emotional Safety
Relational and sexual trauma can change how closeness feels in your body and in your relationships. You may want intimacy, partnership, or connection, while your body responds with tension, shutdown, or distance. Touch can feel complicated. Trust may feel fragile. Desire may feel unpredictable. Even in caring relationships, something tightens or pulls away.
At Our Kind Therapy, we understand relational and sexual trauma as an injury to safety within connection. Healing happens through rebuilding trust slowly, precisely, and with respect for how your body learned to protect you. Our work supports intimacy that feels possible again, without pressure or force. We work with individuals and couples across New York City, including Manhattan and Brooklyn, with in-person and virtual therapy available.
What is Relational and Sexual Trauma
Relational and sexual trauma forms when connection happens without enough safety, agency, or choice. This can occur through clear violations, but it can also develop through repeated experiences of pressure, imbalance, or emotional override within relationships.
Trauma may be rooted in:
sexual experiences shaped by coercion, obligation, or fear
emotional manipulation or power imbalance
long-term relational harm rather than a single event
early attachment experiences where needs were ignored
situations where saying no did not feel possible
Over time, the nervous system adapts. It learns to protect through distance, compliance, control, or shutdown. These responses are intelligent. They are not flaws. They are how safety was preserved when safety was not guaranteed.
How Relational and Sexual Trauma Shows Up
Relational and sexual trauma often lives in the present, not just in memory.
Clients may notice:
tension, numbness, or disconnection during closeness
difficulty trusting even caring partners
obligation around sex rather than choice
shame or confusion about desire and boundaries
pulling away after moments of intimacy
cycles of over accommodation followed by withdrawal
Many people function well in work and daily life while feeling deeply unsettled in intimate spaces. Therapy focuses on how the body responds now, not just what happened then.
Couples Therapy for Relational and Sexual Trauma
When trauma is present, couples therapy requires careful pacing and containment.
Our work with couples focuses on:
creating safety so intimacy does not feel forced
helping partners understand trauma responses without personalizing them
slowing interactions before overwhelm takes over
building communication that does not rely on urgency or reassurance seeking
Sometimes therapy supports deeper closeness. Sometimes it stabilizes the relationship. Sometimes it clarifies what each partner needs to feel safe continuing. All of these outcomes are valid.
The goal is not to perform intimacy well. It is to allow intimacy to feel possible again.
Individual Therapy for Relational and Sexual Trauma
In individual therapy, the focus is on restoring agency, embodiment, and internal trust.
We work with clients to:
reconnect with bodily signals
understand protective patterns without judgment
soften shame and self-blame
rebuild a sense of choice in relationships and sexuality
stay present without overriding oneself
Disclosure is never forced. Memory is never rushed. Therapy becomes a place where the body is listened to carefully and consistently.
How We Work at Our Kind Therapy
Our approach is trauma-informed, relational, and experiential.
We work by:
moving at the pace of the nervous system
supporting emotional processing within safety
addressing defenses that once protected but now restrict intimacy
using the therapeutic relationship as a lived experience of steadiness and repair
This work is direct, grounded, and respectful. We do not avoid difficult moments, and we do not overwhelm the system.
What Begins to Change With Support
With consistent therapy, clients often experience:
greater ease in emotional and physical closeness
increased clarity around boundaries and desire
less shame around bodily responses
stronger internal trust
the ability to choose a connection rather than brace against it
Healing does not mean forgetting what happened. It means relating to the present with more choice and steadiness.
Relational & Sexual Trauma Therapy in New York City
If relational or sexual trauma is shaping how you experience intimacy, trust, or connection, therapy can offer a place where safety is rebuilt carefully, without pressure, exposure, or expectation.
We offer relational and sexual trauma therapy in NYC, including Manhattan and Brooklyn, with in-person and virtual options available.
