Reclaiming Pleasure: A Sex Positive Guide for Moving Past Sexual Trauma and Living a Passionate Life

(Paperback)

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Description

Go beyond surviving to reclaim your sexual self.

If you have experienced sexual abuse, assault, harassment, or rape, you may feel disconnected from your sexual self-even if you've overcome the initial trauma of your experience. You are a survivor; but surviving is just the beginning. This book explores what comes next.

Written by a psychologist and grounded in cutting-edge research, Reclaiming Pleasure picks up where other sexual trauma recovery books leave off. It offers practical tools to help you cultivate a sense of safety, security and trust in order to reclaim the vitality, pleasure and great sex you deserve. The book will also serve as your compass on a journey toward the rediscovery of desire, letting you explore what you want from others and for yourself.

This groundbreaking book will help you:

*Understand the lasting mental, physical, sexual, and relational impacts of sexual trauma
*Move beyond feelings of shame
*Reclaim pleasure and reignite passion in your life

Surviving is merely the first step in the process of recovery from sexual trauma. With this sex-positive and empowering guide, you are invited to take your recovery to the next level. You'll feel emboldened by the desire for better sex, healthier relationships, and a more connected, pleasurable life.

Reviews

"Blending both grounded theory and narrative, Holly Richmond's work, Reclaiming Pleasure, takes the taboo and forbidden topics like sexuality and violation into the light of clear understanding. Richmond provides invaluable vocabulary and nuanced definitions for the complicated but necessary conversations that guide survivors to behavior that ensures our thriving. As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, Reclaiming Pleasure is both affirming and empowering and has facilitated life-altering healing"
--Colin Bedell, cosmopolitan astrologer, and best-selling author--Colin Bedell
"Finally, a smart and truly helpful book for survivors who want to experience sexual pleasure, passion, and joy. These are your right, and Holly Richmond will help you access them."
--Wednesday Martin, PhD, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Untrue and Primates of Park Avenue--Wednesday Martin, PhD
"Holly Richmond is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to trauma and sexual healing. Her writing is dynamic, loving, and affirming in a way all survivors of sexual trauma deserve. Reclaiming Pleasure will undoubtedly be an invaluable resource for both trauma survivors and practitioners like myself who work with these incredibly brave individuals."
--Gigi Engle, ACS, certified clinical sexologist, and author of All the F*cking Mistakes--Gigi Engle, ACS
"Holly Richmond makes an invaluable contribution to the field of psychotherapy where trauma and sexuality do not usually intersect. Her book is the first to talk about going from sexual trauma to sexual triumph inclusive of sex-positive information. Without this, clients are left on their own without help to identify what sex and erotica is for them. This book provides a pathway for those interested in healing with a sexual health component."
--Joe Kort, PhD, LMSW, author of Is My Husband Gay, Straight, or Bi; and codirector of Modern Sex Therapy Institutes--Joe Kort, PhD, LMSW
"Holly Richmond manages to bridge information with heart, touching on subject matter that so many of us hide deep inside. She calls us all into the process of reclaiming pleasure, but also reclaiming ourselves in the process. I am thankful the world has this resource of a book, and the wise, impactful words of Holly Richmond."
--Chinae Alexander, social entrepreneur, content creator at ChinaeAlexander, writer, speaker, and host of the Press Send Podcast--Chinae Alexander
"I am thrilled to have the opportunity to endorse this insightful and much-needed book by Holly Richmond. Richmond gives high-quality and important information to help those who have experienced sexual trauma live a passionate and sex-positive life. The book is well written, easy to follow, and gives behavioral exercises that are valuable and easy to understand."
--Rachel Needle, PsyD, codirector of Modern Sex Therapy Institutes, and licensed psychologist and executive director at Whole Health Psychological Center--Rachel Needle, PsyD
"In her groundbreaking book, Holly Richmond promises stuck survivors cut off from integral parts of ourselves that we can--and will--experience desire, ecstasy, and eroticism again (or for the very first time). Then--and this part is important--she shows us how. A beautifully written must-read for survivors ready to thrive."
--Linda Kay Klein, author of Pure, and founder of Break Free Together--Linda Kay Klein
"Paving the way forward for survivors and those who love them, Reclaiming Pleasure is a doorway to vitality, freedom, and transformation. It gives vocabulary to the ideas and feelings many have but haven't yet been able to articulate. Reading it feels like going on a road trip with your best friend, wise mentor, and healing balm in one."
--Mal Harrison, executive director of The Center for Erotic Intelligence--Mal Harrison
"Richmond combines theory and practice into a singular work of clinical insight that is sure to prove indispensable in helping mental health professionals guide survivors of sexual trauma from pain to passion. The exercises at the end of each chapter are awesome!"
--Ian Kerner, codirector of the sex therapy program at the Institute For Contemporary Psychotherapy, and New York Times bestselling author of She Comes First--Ian Kerner

Author Bio

Holly Richmond, PhD, is a somatic psychologist, certified sex therapist, and licensed marriage and family therapist. She is a frequent contributor to publications and media outlets on the intersection of psychology and sexuality. She resides in New York, NY, with her husband and two sons.