Sexual Trauma If You Said Yes: When Going Along With It Isn't Consent

Sexual trauma can happen even when you said yes. If you went along with sex you didn't want and keep asking yourself whether it counts, this is how therapists define consent. → For therapists: The Trauma-Informed Intake Toolkit, a self-paced 5.25 CE hour course on running trauma-informed intakes (ASWB ACE and NBCC approved): https://cassiemccarthy.com/the-trauma... → Free checklist, Does This Count as Trauma? A Checklist for Women: https://cassiemccarthy.com/trauma-che... → For therapists: When Consent Is Compromised, a self-paced 8.5 CE hour course on treating sexual coercion (ASWB ACE and NBCC approved): https://cassiemccarthy.com/sexual-coe... "Going along with something because saying no could make things worse is a form of coercion." The legal definition of consent changes from state to state, so RAINN's database is linked below. Clinically, consent has three rules: it was an enthusiastic yes, it was an opt-in, and if no wasn't a real option, yes wasn't either. The absence of a no is not the same as consent. The DSM counts sexual violence, coercion included, as a trauma exposure. Not everyone develops PTSD after it, but sexual violence is strongly linked to it: about three in four people met criteria one month after a sexual assault, and about four in 10 a year later. In this video: • how therapists define consent • why sexual coercion counts as sexual violence • whether sexual trauma always causes PTSD • why so many women don't call it sexual violence • the therapies that help after sexual trauma A trauma response after coercion makes sense, and it doesn't mean you're being dramatic. CPT, Prolonged Exposure (PE) and EMDR all help people recover. What are your thoughts on what defines consent and what is coercion? Tell me in the comments. Chapters 00:00 Can it be sexual trauma if I said yes? 02:03 Legal consent vs. what a therapist calls consent 05:54 Can sexual coercion be sexual trauma? 09:05 Does sexual trauma always cause PTSD? 12:49 Why it doesn't feel like it counts 14:10 When it's still affecting you: treatment that works Find a trauma-focused therapist CPT provider roster: https://cptforptsd.com/cpt-provider-r... EMDR therapist directory (EMDRIA): https://www.emdria.org/find-an-emdr-t... Resources named in this video Your state's consent laws (RAINN): https://apps.rainn.org/policy/compare... My video on sexual coercion vs consent and California's affirmative consent law:    • Sexual Coercion vs Consent: Does What Happ...   Send me a DM: Instagram   / cassie_mccarthy_therapy   or Facebook   / cassie-mccarthy-licsw-104166121210162   Sources named in this video American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.). Mou, N. L. (2026). Men's sexual violence against women: A systematic review of self-reported measures of perpetration. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 27(2), 475–489. Muehlenhard, C. L., Humphreys, T. P., Jozkowski, K. N., & Peterson, Z. D. (2016). The complexities of sexual consent among college students: A conceptual and empirical review. The Journal of Sex Research, 53(4–5), 457–487. Student safety: Sexual assault, S.B. 967, Chapter 748 (Cal. 2014). Cal. Educ. Code § 67386. RAINN. (n.d.). Consent laws [State law database]. Basile, K. C., Smith, S. G., Kresnow, M., Khatiwada, S., & Leemis, R. W. (2022). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2016/2017 report on sexual violence. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dworkin, E. R., Jaffe, A. E., Bedard-Gilligan, M., & Fitzpatrick, S. (2023). PTSD in the year following sexual assault: A meta-analysis of prospective studies. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 24(2), 497–514. Broach, J. L., & Petretic, P. A. (2006). Beyond traditional definitions of assault: Expanding our focus to include sexually coercive experiences. Journal of Family Violence, 21(8), 477–486. Wilson, L. C., & Miller, K. E. (2016). Meta-analysis of the prevalence of unacknowledged rape. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 17(2), 149–159. Kilimnik, C. D., Boyd, R. L., Stanton, A. M., & Meston, C. M. (2018). Identification of nonconsensual sexual experiences and the sexual self-schemas of women: Implications for sexual functioning. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 47, 1633–1647. Hi, I'm Cassie McCarthy, LICSW. I've worked as a trauma therapist since 2008, helping women understand what happened to them and heal from it. I use Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), and I'm an AASECT Certified Sex Therapist (CST).