I created this list as a companion to my Healing, Pleasure, and Sex After Trauma workshops. Now, I regularly distribute it as a resource to readers, followers, and any other interested folks! Whether you’ve attended a workshop of mine or not, welcome. Below, you’ll find selected individual books, articles, and courses as well as sex bloggers, sex educators, websites, and organizations and nonprofits that focus on healing after trauma. Not all of these resources may have a direct focus on sex and pleasure, but they all seek to support survivors’ healing.
My work is informed in and grounded by an inclusive definition of trauma that recognizes many types of trauma can affect sex and pleasure—including sexual violence, chronic illness, death, pregnancy loss, religious trauma, systemic and historical violence and oppression, etc.
This list is a living document; always evolving and growing. I aim to add new resources each week! If you know of a resource that isn’t listed here that should be, please reach out.
Books
- Healing Sex: A Mind-Body Approach to Healing Sexual Trauma by Staci Haines
- Sex After Grief: Navigating Your Sexuality After Losing Your Beloved by Joan Price
- The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk M.D.
- My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem
- The Art of Healing from Sexual Trauma: Tending Body and Soul through Creativity, Nature, and Intuition by Naomi Ardea
- Love Without Emergency: Writing on Trauma, Attachment, and Polyamory by Clementine Morrigan
- The Monster Under the Bed: Sex, Depression, and the Conversations We Aren’t Having by JoEllen Notte
- Polysecure: Attachment, Trauma and Consensual Nonmonogamy by Jessica Fern
- The Complex PTSD Workbook: A Mind-Body Approach to Regaining Emotional Control and Becoming Whole by Arielle Schwartz, PhD
- Trauma is Really Strange by Steve Haines, illustrated by Sophie Standing
- Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma by Peter A. Levine Ph.D.
- Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence—from Domestic Abuse to Political Terror by Judith Herman
Articles and Blog Posts
- 6 Steps You Can Take To Start Healing From Trauma Right Now by CarmenLeah Ascencio on Black Girl Dangerous
- Using Sex Toys to Heal From Trauma: A Guide for Survivors by me
- Q&A: Sex After Sexual Trauma by G. Starr Vidal and the Center for Sexual Pleasure and Health
- Sex Geek’s Yes/No/Maybe List by Bex Talks Sex — can be incredibly helpful for survivors who are trying to navigate figuring out what kind of touch, sexual acts, etc. are desired, what they’re curious about, and what’s off limits
- Self-Care Methods that Don’t Require Access to Money by me (written after the election, but is a good list of general self-care tips after any traumatic event)
- Using Sex Toys to Cope with Sexual Trauma by Miss Ruby Reviews
- [CW: rape] Rape Play: A Sexual Assault Survivor’s Guide by Submissive Feminist
E-Courses and Toolkits
- Healing Intersections’ web courses — Healing Sexual Trauma from an Intersectional Lens, Dating as a Survivor, and How to Support a Survivor: Transitioning from an Ally to an Accomplice, created by Jimanekia Eborn and Angie Gunn
- Trauma-Informed Care: Serving Survivors of Sexual Assault in Clinical Settings — a live, recorded, or in-person training by Bianca Palmisano of Intimate Health Consulting
- Survivor’s Toolkit — collaborative collection of resources created by and designed for survivors of sexual trauma who are ready to begin the work of erotic recovery, hosted by Pleasure Mechanics
- Dating and Sex After Trauma — a webinar by Traci Medeiros-Bagan, hosted by Everyday Feminism
Organizations and Non-Profits
- Scarleteen — independent, grassroots sexuality and relationships education and support organization and website for teens and emerging adults
- FreeFrom — nonprofit that creates pathways to financial security and long-term safety that support survivors of gender-based violence
Ethical Sex Shops and Sex Toy Shopping Resources
- SheVibe — online feminist sex toy shop with massive selection and excellent, caring owners and customer care team
- Superhero Sex Shops — a list of ethical feminist brick-and-mortar sex shops around United States and Canada from sex blogger JoEllen Notte
Shopping for sex toys can be daunting sometimes, especially as a survivor. If you ever need help choosing a toy — or just need advice on where to start! — I’m here to help. I offer free sex toy shopping consultations for survivors and those who support them. Contact me to learn more!
Finally, if you are a survivor, you are not alone. Please know you are loved and supported. I believe you. You matter to me.
Thank you for visiting! This page is updated frequently, so do check back soon for more resources.