Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse is any forced and unwanted sexual activity. Since children are unable to consent, sexual child abuse is any sexual activity involving a child. Most of the time, the victims of sexual abuse know their attacker and sexual abuse often becomes worse over time. A person who has been sexually abused may feel anger, shock, shame, guilt, fear or disbelief. If you have been sexually abused, as a child or an adult, you may develop depression, anxiety, poor self-esteem or post-traumatic stress disorder. A qualified mental health professional can help victims of sexual abuse, both children and adults, to recover from the trauma they have experienced.

Local experts in Sexual Abuse

Sarah Sumner (She/They)

Clinical Social Work Associate

MSW, C-YT

I’m passionate about supporting survivors of sexual abuse (and their partners in a couples therapy context). My goal is to help you heal, find a sense of relief from the way trauma impacts you, build up compassion and confidence in yourself, find pleasurable ways to connect with your body & sexuality, and integrate your trauma into a fulfilling and empowered life.

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Sawyer Salameh

Licensed Professional Counselor

I have worked with adults that have experience childhood sexual abuse and recent abuse. I come from a trauma education with EMDR training.

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Kimberly Dudley (she/her)

Licensed Professional Counselor

LMHC, LPC, NCC

Sexual abuse is unwanted sexual behavior between a person who holds more power than another person and forces them into sexual acts using threats of violence, using force and/or taking advantage of a vulnerability. Power can be described as authority, age, status, intelligence, etc.

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Christine Bethel (she/her)

Licensed Marriage Family Therapist

LMFT

My work has shown me that an astounding number of us have experienced sexual abuse. Perhaps your experience was recent or maybe it is from the distant past, maybe you have buried it deep or have addressed it before but now find it cropping up in your life and causing problems. You don't have to live with the pain you are experiencing, many tools, including EMDR, can bring you significant healing.

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Jane Ward, PhD (she/her)

Clinical Psychologist

I am a certified Sex Offender Treatment Provider, which authorizes me to work with perpetrators of sexual abuse in the state of Oregon. I am able to work with people who are court-mandated or self-referred. I also provide therapy to victims of sexual abuse and sexual trauma.

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Robin Friedman, LCSW (she/her)

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

L5164

I have worked directly with sexual able/assault survivors of all genders for many years including over 4 years as a therapist at a Rape Recovery Center. I work with adults who are survivors of any kind of sexual and physical abuse trauma from ongoing childhood abuse to single incident rape or other sexual violence.

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Jacqueline Boltz

Clinical Social Work Associate

I have spent over five years working as an advocate for survivors of sexual assault and studied somatic and cognitive practices to help individuals understand and heal from sexual abuse.

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Sarah Hardin

Licensed Marriage Family Therapist

Being a survivor is immensely complicated. I have extensive experience working with sexual abuse survivors and their families, and will witness and support your healing work with care and compassion. I use a family systems perspective to work in a relationship-based manner to address the complexities of abuse in individuals and families.

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Arielle Ross (they/them)

Licensed Professional Counselor

MA, MPH, LPC

I work with a lot of different kinds of trauma, but sexual and relational trauma are my main area of focus. I use IFS, EMDR and other tools to help you work through that trauma. I'm a strong believer in consent, and together we'll work on understanding your needs, identifying the boundaries you need in relationships to be safe and how you can explore your sexuality and sensuality safely.

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Lindsay Howson (she/her)

Licensed Professional Counselor

LPC

Sexual abuse affects us in ways that we may not realize. This often includes anxiety, depression, difficulty trusting others, and difficulty forming and maintaining healthy relationships. I am here to help my clients learn how to reestablish their lives and begin to recover.

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Jenn Garlock (she/her)

Licensed Professional Counselor

MA, LPC, NCC

I use Internal Family Systems therapy, Attachment therapy, EMDR, and Psychodynamic therapy to help my clients identify what happened to them, explore how this has impacted their lives, their relationships, and their self esteem, and make steps to create the lives and relationships that they want for themselves.

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Miranda York

Licensed Marriage Family Therapist

I work with adults who were sexually abused as children. I also work with adults who have experienced sexual abuse from intimate partners.

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