Self-pleasure (or masturbation) has been a tool to educate oneself about their body and explore sexual desires and fantasies with partners. These same tools can be used as an effective tool to address past sexual trauma and reintroduce sexual pleasure into a person’s life.

Self-pleasure mapping is an exercise encouraging bodily autonomy (control of one’s own body) and sexual agency (the ability to choose whether or not one wants to participate in a sexual activity). Self-pleasure can be recognized as a form of resistance by one being able to explore and decide what is pleasurable and what is not pleasurable after experiencing sexual trauma.