Domestic Violence Counseling
Are You Living With The Unseen Wounds Of Relational Violence?
Instances Of Domestic Violence And Sexual Assault Often Lead To Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
While trauma is a very nuanced concept encompassing many different kinds of upsetting or disturbing experiences, our practice specializes in the relational trauma that occurs as a result of sexual assault and domestic violence. Recognizing the high occurrence of these issues among the population we work with—impacting women, men, and nonbinary individuals alike—we seek to validate survivors’ experiences in the process of challenging the harmful behaviors and narratives that have resulted from their trauma.
If you’ve ever felt threatened, harmed, or unsafe in a relationship with someone close to you, chances are you have a hard time trusting yourself and others.
As a result, you may have developed intense stress and anxiety in otherwise “normal” situations, causing you to feel on edge or withdrawn, particularly around your partner. Perhaps you don’t feel comfortable becoming vulnerable or intimate with those around you because someone else in your life has made you feel small and unworthy. Instead of living life on your terms, you may feel like everything you do or say is in service of keeping others happy so you can feel safe, secure, and at ease.
At Holistic Counseling, we are a team of highly trained and passionate therapists who want to guide you in the process of healing emotional and relational wounds. As we collaborate with you to identify goals and create a lasting tool kit for coping and maintaining healthy, fulfilling relationships in your life, you can experience newfound self-awareness, empowerment, and healing in therapy.
Are You Being Victimized By Sexual Assault Or Domestic Violence?
Research done by the National Domestic Violence Hotline has found that 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men ages 18 and older will be victimized by severe physical violence inflicted by an intimate partner in their lifetime. Similarly, 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men in the US have experienced sexual assault, abuse, or stalking by an intimate partner. [1] These numbers are no doubt alarming, demonstrating that even with advances in legislation and cultural awareness, domestic and sexual violence remain a huge issue in our society.
Many survivors of domestic violence and/or sexual assault attempt to minimize their experiences or find some way to justify what happened to them, whether they blame themselves or have had violent behaviors normalized throughout their lives. But domestic and sexual violence are forms of trauma, and when the time is right, a therapist who is specially trained in trauma can be a valuable tool on the healing journey.
If you’ve ever experienced the following—whether or not you know your perpetrator—you may be struggling with the fear, discomfort, and lack of security that stems from unresolved trauma:
Unwanted or coerced physical or sexual contact
Violent outbursts—including assaults, threats, throwing objects, and other violent motions—that have caused you to feel in physical danger
Emotional or mental abuse, including insulting or demeaning language intended to make you feel isolated, powerless, and unworthy
Restrictions on your daily life, including how you spend your time, who you engage with, how you spend money, and other individual decisions
Destroying your home, belongings, and/or access to the outside world (i.e., taking away your phone)
Though these traumas are usually committed by a known perpetrator, domestic violence and sexual assaults are not always inflicted by an intimate partner. Regardless of the circumstances, counseling is a proven way to work through domestic and sexual violence on the path to healing.
Our Practice Specializes In Counseling For Survivors Of Domestic And Sexual Violence
At Holistic Counseling, we are a team of trauma-informed clinicians who work with a diverse array of sexual assault and domestic violence survivors in therapy. Taking a two-pronged approach to treatment that balances immediate relief with long-term healing solutions, we seek to help clients regain a sense of power, clarity, and control in their lives.
What To Expect
Our therapists are passionate about collaborating with survivors on their healing journey, and we’ve received highly specialized training to work with this population, including training through The Rape Recovery Center, The Refuge, and Utah Domestic Violence Coalition (UDVC). We’re fluent in relational trauma, individualizing the treatment process in a way that will promote feelings of safety and a grounded, affirming mind-body connection.
Because Holistic Counseling addresses trauma on every level, we are likely to incorporate aspects of the following in therapy for domestic violence and sexual assault:
Movement, yoga, meditation, and breathwork to bolster awareness
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) to heal core traumas
Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy and inner child work to align values and develop a sense of wholeness and authenticity
Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) to reprogram how distressing memories or experiences are stored
We believe that by processing stored trauma, you will begin to feel healing and recovery at every level—from the way you feel physically to the way you interact with yourself and others. By arming you with the skills and perspectives needed to communicate, handle stress, and effectively enforce boundaries, we can help you get to a place where the past feels more resolved and the future more hopeful.
Though relational trauma has compromised your sense of agency, the truth is that you absolutely have control over what happens next. As a survivor of domestic and/or sexual violence, you’ve done everything you can to protect yourself and remain resilient through challenges, and counseling can get you to a place of thriving, not just surviving. We are so proud of you for making it this far, and we want to help carry the load moving forward so that life feels lighter, more joyful, and full of possibilities for positive change and growth.
Common Concerns Survivors Have About Counseling…
I’ve discussed my domestic violence/sexual assault experiences with a therapist before, but they made me feel ashamed, belittled, or isolated in their approach—how will therapy through your practice be any different?
We’ve worked with a lot of survivors in counseling, and it breaks our hearts to say that many clients come to our practice having already tried to work through their trauma with someone who didn’t “get” it. While many therapists may be trauma-informed in their approach, not everyone has advanced training in matters of domestic violence and sexual assault.
In addition to offering a number of evidence-based treatments for trauma and PTSD, our clinicians have trained through the Rape Recovery Center, The Refuge, and the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition. Our practice owner has even been a presenter for The Refuge’s 40-hour training.
When you’re working with us, you never have to worry about being judged in therapy—we’re here to help you feel understood and capable of healing on your terms. Many of the domestic violence/sexual assault survivors we work with in counseling have been able to “graduate” from therapy more quickly than they otherwise might have been because of our holistic and humanistic approach.
Won’t discussing my experiences with a therapist just make me feel worse?
We completely understand that discussing painful and traumatic experiences is no doubt uncomfortable, and there is some truth to the idea that therapy can make those feelings slightly worse at the outset of treatment.
Just as your muscles get tired from being conditioned at the gym, the counseling process will probably make you feel a little more tired and dysregulated as you learn how to recondition your brain and stress response. But we want to assure you that the discomfort is usually temporary—and most certainly worth the payoff of experiencing less anxiety, shame, and struggle overall.
Can therapy still help if a trauma occurred a long time ago?
Yes, and in fact, therapy can be a life-changing opportunity to heal old wounds. Many of our clients have experienced domestic violence or sexual trauma stemming back to childhood, and our therapists know that these injuries don’t just heal with time. Our holistic approach is designed to change the way trauma is stored and experienced in the body, even if the trauma has been there for a while.
How will I know my privacy is protected?
Therapy is always confidential; we know that this process only works as long as clients feel safe and like the information they’re sharing is protected. This is your story, and you get to tell it however you see fit. Similarly, through this process, you will be empowered to make your own decisions around how you want to proceed in your relationship—and we will work to support you in whatever way possible.
It might be helpful to note that while therapists are obligated to disclose any information about an intention to hurt yourself or others, we would only make a report about harm occurring to you if you wanted us to—after we have your explicit consent, and it’s something you want to do.
The Power To Heal Belongs To You
At Holistic Counseling, we specialize in therapy for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault/abuse, and other relational traumas. Contact us to find out more about our therapists’ qualifications or to schedule your first session. Online treatment is available to clients throughout Utah, Nevada, and Wyoming.
If you or anyone you know has been victimized by domestic violence and/or sexual assault, we recommend the following resources for support:
The Utah Domestic Violence Coalition
SafeUT Crisis Chat and Tip Line
The National Domestic Violence Hotline
[1] https://www.thehotline.org/stakeholders/domestic-violence-statistics/