(29) Intimacy After Sexual Abuse

Sexual intimacy provides the opportunity to express love with connection, pleasure, and satisfaction. Yet, for people who have experienced sexual assault, sexual violence, and abuse, intimacy can feel very unsafe. Being on guard, and sometimes checking out and dissociating, is what has allowed abuse victims to survive, and the idea of "relinquishing control and getting lost in the moment" can be terrifying. Rather than associate physical intimacy with pleasure and connection, sex can trigger feelings of shame, disgust, aversion, and pain. Healing from sexual abuse in order to experience emotional and physical intimacy in a healthy way can be a long and difficult process. Join Talli Rosenbaum and Rabbi Scott Kahn as they speak candidly about this difficult reality. Please go to https://www.intimatejudaism.com/ for shownotes, including resources like a list of organizations that help survivors of sexual abuse, and a book list.   Become an Intimate Judaism Patreon subscriber to get additional episodes, merch, and more. Just go to https://www.patreon.com/intimatejudaism.