You Deserve A Healthy Relationship
A group therapeutic experience designed around the notion of re-learning touch and intimacy consent after there’s been a rupture of some kind--generally either sexual assault trauma, domestic abuse, or some kind of adverse childhood experience.
Together in an eight-week course we’ll learn the pillars of consent and have opportunities to discuss emergent themes and trouble spots with intimacy in your individual lives.
Both a mixed-gender and a female/femme group are available, feel free to state your preference. Gender non-conforming individuals are welcome in the female/femme group, it’s just a space designated for those who would have trouble opening up emotionally in the presence of cisgender men, for trauma or other related reasons.
Let’s Explore Your Potential Together
This is a group therapy most appropriate to those who are dealing with any of the following problems:
Fear and avoidance of dating due to adverse experiences in the past
An inability to regulate negative emotions such as anxiety, depression, and feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness
Lack of healthy boundaries and discernment when it comes to choosing partners, either having trouble saying “no” or a pattern of choosing partners who repeat cycles of abuse.
Communication problems with dating partners about levels of intimacy, monogamy, the mutual meeting of needs or other problems related to an inability to bring forth hard conversations.
Patterns of people-pleasing that leave you feeling depleted and undernourished.
Pain during intercourse either due to conditions like vaginasmus or patterns of holding physical tension due to psychological trauma
Difficulty achieving arousal or accessing authentic pleasure
An inability to engage in intimate contact without the use of drugs or alcohol
A belief that you have to settle for less than fulfilling encounters because you are “damaged” or “not good enough.”
The 8 Pillars of Mindful Consent:
Awareness
Are we in a clear state of mind and fully enrolled in the unfolding circumstances? Do we each deeply know what we want? If not, how can we get there?
Mind/Body Integrity
Are we entering into this with respect for our physical health and energy? Are we fully present to all risk factors, and taking precautions to mitigate potential harms? (Does everyone get to leave with all their parts?)
Relational Respect
What do we mean to one another? Are all parties on the same page in terms of the level of depth of the encounter? Are there relational dynamics at play that should be made transparent, like monogamous/non monogamous orientation?
Communication
What are our preferred ways to communicate? How can we all be heard, seen and understood in a way that feels comfortable to us?
Boundaries
What do I need to hold for myself, separate from my partner or partners? What do I really want, and how can I protect that line?
Impact
The present moment has ripple effects--experiences of deep pleasure can heal in ways that undo the traumas of the past and help us bolster our sense of joy and confidence in the world, and even difficult moments, well-navigated, can have a reparative sense of safety. Are we holding each other’s experience with respect for its potential impact, or are we behaving in a manner that might instead cause ripples of pain?
Joy
Am I maintaining a sense of pleasure and play? Can I hold depth lightly, allowing space for the joyful absurdity of relational fun? Am I relaxed & I having a good time?
Love
Do I love what I’m learning? Do I hold, in my heart, a love of humanity that will allow me to desire the good for the people I enter into touch dynamics with? Where am I in my understanding of love, and how can I lovingly communicate my needs, limitations, and boundaries?
You can build healthy boundaries, make empowered choices, and heal from the trauma
The cost of this group is $60 per session. If you’d like to use insurance for this group, please send me your insurance information.
Feel free to reach out for a free diagnostic tool and 20-minute phone consultation to see whether you qualify.
Email: HBernsteinAMFT@gmail.com
Phone #: (424) 260-3595