Healing Through Connection:
Softening the Impact of Sexual Trauma Together
October 19 - November 23
Saturdays, 12:00pm- 1:30pm
Led by Anjali Vaswani, LMSW (she/her)
A 6-week group therapy series designed to explore and address the impacts of sexual trauma. This series offers a supportive environment for participants to deepen their understanding of intimacy and soothe trauma wounds through both cognitive and embodied healing practices. With community care at the heart of the work, participants will share insights and learn practical tools designed to support our shared journey toward softening the symptoms of trauma and reclaiming our right to pleasure.
In this therapy group, we will engage with each other using a trauma-informed approach, offering participants choice and autonomy throughout. You will be encouraged to tend to your own needs and determine what feels best for you, ensuring a supportive and respectful environment for collective healing and growth.
Themes Explored:
Deconstructing Purity Culture: Examine the societal narratives around purity and their impact on personal experiences of trauma.
Exploring Consent: Delve into the principles of consent, its importance, and how it influences relationships and personal boundaries.
Unpacking Sexualized Roles/Tropes: Analyze the cultural and media-driven stereotypes that shape our understanding of sexuality and trauma.
Boundary Setting in Relationships: Learn strategies for establishing and maintaining healthy boundaries in various relationships.
Practicing Radical Vulnerability: Engage in exercises designed to foster deep, authentic connections with yourself and others.
Intimacy Exploration with Self/Others: Explore how to cultivate intimacy, both with oneself and in relationships with others.
Living an Erotic Life: Discover ways to embrace and celebrate your erotic self in a healthy, empowered manner.
What to Expect:
● Develop Trusting Relationships: Build a supportive network where mutual respect and boundary-setting are fundamental.
● Learn Liberatory Frameworks: Engage with frameworks for collective healing and personal growth, focusing on reparative practices.
● Explore Intimacy: Gain insights into how you relate to yourself and others, and discover new methods to nurture these connections.
● Engage in Diverse Processing Methods: Participate in verbal, conceptual, embodied, and collaborative methods to process and integrate the course content.
● Grant Grace in Growth: Allow yourself and others the space to evolve and navigate the journey of healing with compassion and understanding.
***This group is for individuals 18 years old and older
***Max number of participants in group is 10
REGISTRATION
To sign up for a FREE 15 minute exploratory conversation with Anjali to determine if this series would be an appropriate step in your healing journey, please visit the calendly link here: Free exploratory conversation with Anjali
Questions?
For questions about equity tiered pricing, scholarship application, or general FAQ, email Anjali directly at anjalivaswaniLLC@gmail.com.
Equity Pricing
Empowered Spaces and Anjali Vaswani value community care. Given the systemic injustice in this world which affects each of us differently, this equity pricing scale acknowledges that our ability to pay for services, and access those services, varies. We offer a self-determined sliding scale based on the ways that your identity grants you access to privilege and to social capital, e.g. race, gender & sexual identity, socio-economic status, educational background, able-bodied-ness, etc.
Supporter $50/session ($300 total)
Sustainer $35/session ($210 total)
Community $20/session ($120 total)
**Full & Partial scholarships: Empowered Spaces is committed to doing everything possible to make offerings accessible to everyone. To inquire about the Empowered Spaces Equity Scholarship please contact Kelly at kkcaul@yahoo.com
Health & Saftey Precautions
We will follow CDC guidelines when it comes to masking. Currently: Masks are optional. If cases go up in St. Louis County and guidelines change, masks will be required throughout the offering. Please stay home if you have symptoms, test positive, or were exposed to someone with COVID-19. If anyone would like to participate and would only feel comfortable if everyone is masked, please email us to name this request.
Accessibility
The Empowered Spaces yoga studio is located on the ground floor. There is a 12-car parking lot adjacent to the studio & additional free parking on neighborhood streets. Restroom is gender neutral, wheelchair-accessible, and ramp-accessible in the main building. Please reach out to Kelly kkcaul@yahoo.com if there is anything more we can do to make our offerings more accessible. Empowered Spaces is committed to accessibility, and strives to be accessible and inclusive of all abilities and all individuals.
Meet Anjali
Anjali (she/her) has long been dedicated to exploring themes of intimacy, community, and embodied experience. Her academic journey began at UCLA, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Dance and Performing Arts Education, focusing on Contact Improvisation and somatic practices such as the Alexander Technique. This background deepened her connection to her own body and to the presence of others.
For six years, Anjali worked as a facilitator, guiding youth towards higher education both domestically and internationally. Seeking a more profound impact, she left Los Angeles to pursue a Master of Social Work with a concentration in Mental Health and a specialization in Sexual Health Education at the Brown School of Social Work, Washington University.
Since becoming an LMSW, Anjali has made significant contributions at Healing Action as a Service Manager of Holistic Safety, where she provides comprehensive case management and group therapy for survivors of commercial sexual exploitation and human trafficking. She also leads the Healthy Intimacy and Sexuality program, offering workshops on a variety of topics including Masturbation & Solo Sex, Boundary Setting within Intimate Relationships, Consent & Creating Safety within Sexual Relationships, Sex and Spirituality.
Anjali’s approach is characterized by authenticity, radical vulnerability, and open-hearted curiosity. She values shared wisdom, respect for healthy boundaries, and the deconstruction of oppressive frameworks. Her work embraces expansive and embodied eroticism, as well as joyful exploration. With this multidimensional perspective, Anjali is thrilled to present her therapeutic group offerings at Empowered Spaces, where she continues to champion community healing and personal growth.
Supervisor: Caitlin McNeece, LCSW