Your story deserves to be heard.
Virtual, trauma-informed therapy for survivors of sexual trauma, childhood sexual abuse, and intimate partner violence, throughout New York State.
Maybe you’ve never said it out loud. Maybe you told someone and weren’t believed, or you’ve told yourself it wasn’t that bad, that it happened a long time ago, that other people had it worse. Your reaction doesn’t have to match anyone’s idea of what’s bad enough. What happened to you counts, and so does what it’s done to you since.
In therapy, you decide what we talk about and when. You don’t have to share details before you’re ready, and we don’t have to start with the hardest thing.
Therapy for sexual trauma
There’s no “right” way to have been affected. We go slowly, and we start with what feels manageable.
Therapy for childhood sexual abuse survivors
What happened to you as a child shaped how you learned to stay safe, and those strategies made sense then. We work on understanding them, and on what you need now, without rushing you toward memories.
Therapy for intimate partner violence and domestic violence survivors
Abuse isn’t always visible, and leaving isn’t always simple. We make room for the love, the fear, the anger, and the confusion, all of it, without telling you what you should have done.
Therapy for the aftermath
The aftermath can look like exhaustion, shutting down, anxiety, anger, or feeling nothing. We take it seriously, and we look at how it shows up in your body, your relationships, and your sense of self.
What we do in session
I’m warm, direct, and relational, and we go at your pace. Together we:
Build safety and steadiness first, so we’re never working harder than you can handle
Name what happened in your own words, and only as much as you choose to share
Work with the body as well as the story, using a trauma-informed and creative approach
Make room for anger, grief, shame, confusion, uncertainty, and guilt, including the guilt about anger
Untangle what was done to you from what you’ve come to believe about yourself
Rebuild trust in your own judgment, create softness in your life, and make room for who you are now.
Look at what closeness, safety, and pleasure can mean for you now
You can pause, change direction, or say no at any point. That’s part of the work, not a failure of it. I will not turn away from you.
What feeling better can look like
You stop asking whether it was “bad enough.” You have more steadiness in your body and less dread in your day. You can trust your own read on people. You can be close to someone without losing yourself and say no without a spiral. The shame stops being yours to carry, and you can hold what happened without it defining you.
You might relate if you:
Carry something you haven’t named
Aren’t sure what happened “counts,” or have called it something else for years
Have never told anyone, or told someone and didn’t get the response you needed
Have memories that come in pieces, or aren’t clear on what happened
Wonder why you can’t just get over it
Carry shame or blame that you can’t trace to anything you did
Are healing from a relationship that hurt you
Were with someone who controlled, isolated, frightened, or belittled you, whether or not it ever got physical
Still love them, miss them, or feel confused about why it was so hard to leave
Second-guess your own judgment and doubt that you can trust yourself
Have a pattern of over-giving, people-pleasing, or staying quiet to keep the peace
Feel it in your body and your relationships
Find closeness, touch, or sex complicated, or feel numb, tense, or far away
Startle easily, feel on guard, or can’t relax
Have physical pain or symptoms with no clear explanation
Struggle to say no, set boundaries, or trust that someone will stay
Have been hurt in an institution, a faith community, or by someone you were supposed to be able to trust
I’m Gina Sacino, MS, LCAT, a Licensed Creative Arts Therapist in Rochester, NY, providing virtual therapy throughout New York State.
If you’re in danger or need support right now
Therapy isn’t a crisis service. If you’re in immediate danger, call 911. For confidential support at any hour, you can reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (or text START to 88788), RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673, or call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.