Healing After
Childhood Sexual Abuse

Childhood sexual abuse can leave deep emotional and psychological imprints that often show up later in life as shame, anxiety, relationship struggles, dissociation, or a painful sense of being “different” from others. Many survivors spend years trying to “talk through” their past, only to find that insight alone does not shift the emotional intensity, the body memory, or the internal belief of “something is wrong with me.”

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The work I do integrates EMDR, IFS Parts Work, and Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy to help survivors heal at the root: in the nervous system, in the body, and in the parts of the self that still carry pain.

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Understanding the Shame That Follows Childhood Sexual Abuse​

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Shame is one of the most common and most devastating aftereffects of sexual abuse.

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Shame develops because:

• The experience was overwhelming, confusing, or terrifying.

• Children naturally assume the problem must be themselves, because they cannot make sense of the behavior of adults.

• The child often feels complicit, even though they were never in control.

• Silence, secrecy, and lack of validation reinforce the belief that the abuse reflects something about who they are.

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So many survivors say:

• “I should have stopped it.”

• “I must have done something to cause it.”

• “Maybe I wanted it.”

• “If people knew, they would see who I really am.”

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These beliefs are not truths.

They are protective adaptations—a child’s attempt to create meaning in a situation where they had no power.

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Therapy is about helping the adult self see that clearly and release the shame that never belonged to you.

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Get a FREE booklet created by the Canadian government "When Males Have Been Sexually Abused As Children"

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Why EMDR, IFS, and Ketamine Together?​

Healing from sexual trauma is not simply about remembering or talking.

It is about repairing the nervous system, reprocessing the traumatic memory, and reconnecting to parts of yourself that split off in order to survive.

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Each modality supports a different layer of healing:

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1. EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)

EMDR helps your brain reprocess traumatic memories so they lose their emotional intensity.

Rather than reliving the abuse when triggered, EMDR allows the memory to move into the past—where it belongs.

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EMDR helps with:

• Flashbacks and body memories

• Nightmares

• Hypervigilance

• Emotional flooding

• Avoidance and numbness

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You do not have to retell every detail of what happened for EMDR to work.

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2. IFS Parts Work (Internal Family Systems)

Sexual abuse often creates internal conflict:
One part wants to forget.
Another part is terrified.
Another part blames you.
Another part still carries the pain of the child you were.

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IFS helps you:

• Identify the parts that hold trauma, fear, anger, shame, or confusion

• Understand why each part developed and how it protected you

• Build compassion for yourself

• Reconnect with a grounded, wise Self who can lead the healing process

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There are no bad parts.
Only parts that adapted to help you stay alive.

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3. Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy

Ketamine, when used carefully and clinically, temporarily softens the psychological defenses that keep traumatic material walled off.

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This can:

• Reduce emotional overwhelm

• Increase access to compassion for the younger parts of you

• Create the openness needed to integrate EMDR and parts work more effectively

• Help release shame and self-blame from the body

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Clients often describe ketamine sessions as:
“The first time I felt like I could see what happened without collapsing into it.”

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What Healing Can Feel Like

This work helps you move from:

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• Self-blame → Self-understanding

• Emotional shutdown → Capacity to feel safely

• Internal chaos → Internal cooperation

• Isolation → Connection with others and yourself

• Shame → Dignity

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Healing does not erase the past.
It changes your relationship to it.

The memory becomes something you survived, not something that defines you.

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My Approach

We begin with grounding, stabilization, and identifying the protective parts.
Then, when your system is ready, we work slowly and respectfully to process the trauma using EMDR and ketamine-supported integration (when appropriate).

Therapy is paced intentionally.

Your nervous system guides the timing.
Your parts lead the way.

You are not pushed.
You are not retraumatized.
You are met with respect, attunement, and care.