Working with Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Program Content Description:

Date: BOTH DAYS REQUIRED: August 5th & 6th, 2026 
Time: 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM CST (Same time for both nights)

Workshop Description & Learning Objectives:

1. Foundations of Trauma-Informed Care with this Population
   a. Apply the core principles of trauma-informed care to clinical interactions with adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA).
   b. Analyze how trauma responses such as dissociation, hypervigilance, and shame, may present in adult clients with a history of CSA.
   c. Distinguish between trauma-sensitive and retraumatizing clinical practices with this group.
   
2. Building Safety and the Therapeutic Relationship
   a. Apply strategies for establishing physical and emotional safety within the therapeutic relationship with CSA survivors.
   b. Analyze the impact of power dynamics in therapy and identify strategies for working with CSA-specific transference and countertransference.
   c. Evaluate when and how to use therapeutic self-disclosure about relational dynamics to deepen the client’s experience of a safe, attuned relationship.
   d. Analyze the inevitability of therapeutic rupture and demonstrate repair strategies that model healthy relational patterns for survivors whose early attachments were characterized by violation and betrayal.
   
3. Assessment and Screening
   a. Apply trauma-specific screening tools and conduct a trauma-sensitive assessment with adult survivors of CSA.
   b. Analyze comorbid presentations commonly associated with CSA, including PTSD, complex trauma, depression, substance use, and dissociative disorders.
   
4. Evidence-Based Treatment Modalities
   a. Compare and contrast evidence-based treatment approaches for complex trauma, such as EMDR, CBT, and somatic therapies.
   b. Analyze the rationale for using expressive and non-verbal modalities with survivors who have pre-verbal or non-verbal trauma histories.
   
5. Sand Tray Therapy with Adult Survivors of CSA
   a. Analyze the theoretical foundations of sand tray therapy and explain their relevance to trauma treatment with adult CSA survivors.
   b. Apply sand tray techniques in a clinical context, demonstrating how the modality’s projective and symbolic nature facilitates trauma processing, reduces verbal demand, and supports integration of dissociated experiences.
   c. Evaluate clinical indicators and contraindications for introducing sand tray therapy with adult survivors.
   
6. Working with Shame, Disclosure, and Complex Presentations
   a. Analyze how internalized shame manifests in adult survivors and apply therapeutic strategies to address shame-based cognitions and relational
   patterns.
   b. Demonstrate trauma-sensitive responses to disclosures occurring within and outside of structured trauma processing.
   c. Apply culturally responsive practices when working with survivors across diverse identities, backgrounds, and lived experiences.

6.00 NBCC Hours

Presented By: Sarah Freeze, LCSW
Sarah is a psychotherapist and licensed clinical social worker in private practice in Denver, CO. Sarah is a psychotherapist and licensed clinical social worker in private practice in Denver, CO. She specializes in treating trauma and PTSD, using EMDR, psychodynamic, and sandtray therapies. She also works as a clinical supervisor and consultant, with a focus on group consultation for trauma therapists. Sarah’s passion is working with people who have experienced childhood abuse, neglect, and emotional non-recognition. Sarah considers how environment, society, and culture shape personal development and well-being, including the impact of racism, sexism, and cisheteronormativity on mental and physical health. Beyond her private practice, Sarah has clinical experience in agency settings, working with children and adults who have experienced sexual abuse, sexual assault, physical abuse, and domestic violence.

Brave Play has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6763. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Brave Play is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.