On Sex Work & Therapy: You Deserve to Be Met Where You Are
Why Sex Workers Deserve Nonjudgmental Therapy
Let’s be honest, sex work carries a lot of stories, and not all of them are told with care. Too often, people only see one version of it: the trauma, the risk, the taboo. But the truth is much more complex, much more human. People enter sex work for endless reasons: survival, agency, creativity, curiosity, connection, financial freedom, healing, or simply because they choose to. Every story is valid.
And yet, when sex workers walk into therapy, they often brace for judgment. Will I be seen as broken? Will my therapist assume I need to be “saved”? Therapy shouldn’t feel like that. It should be a space where you’re met exactly where you are, with gentleness, curiosity, and respect for your autonomy.
Beyond the Myths of Sex Work
Sex work exists in a world that’s deeply uncomfortable with bodies, desire, and power. It’s shaped by stigma, but also by strength. For some, it’s a means of survival. For others, it’s a source of empowerment, creative expression, or deep personal agency. People hold all kinds of emotions about their work: joy, pride, shame, exhaustion, excitement, fear, and sometimes all of them at once.
The point isn’t why someone is in the industry. The point is that every reason is human. Every story deserves space. In therapy, that means listening without labeling, understanding without assuming, and creating a relationship where safety isn’t conditional on how you make a living.
A good therapist listens, hold space for the nuance that you can feel empowered and tired, proud and scared, that your job can be both work and something deeper.
The Role of the Therapist: Relationship Over Rescue
In relational therapy, the therapist walks alongside you rather than standing above you. They stay curious about what comes up for both of you in the room, naming tensions, biases, and moments of discomfort out loud so they can be explored together. When stigma, shame, or misunderstanding shows up, it becomes part of the work. The therapist’s role is to stay in relationship with you through it, not to fix or avoid it. This kind of transparency builds safety and trust, allowing therapy to be a place where honesty and connection take root.
Therapy should feel like a partnership built on trust, transparency, and care. Your therapist’s job isn’t to fix or moralize; it’s to understand your world through your eyes. That includes respecting the boundaries you set, your reasons for being in the industry, and your right to define your own healing.
What Healing really Looks Like
Healing in therapy doesn’t mean leaving sex work or changing who you are. It means finding peace in your own story. It’s about feeling safe enough to ask questions like:
What does safety look like for me?
What do I need from my relationships?
How can I honor my boundaries and my desires?
In that space, you get to be complex and messy. You get to explore how your work intersects with identity, pleasure, power, or survival without having to defend it. You get to be seen in full color, not reduced to a stereotype or a diagnosis.
Therapy done right honors the truth that there’s no “right way” to be a sex worker, and no “right reason” to seek support. Whether you love what you do, feel conflicted about it, or are simply tired, your story belongs here.
healing without shame: Creating Space for Humanity
Therapy should never make you feel smaller. It should expand your capacity to be yourself fully, freely, without apology. Whether sex work is a chapter, a calling, or a way to get by, you deserve a therapist who listens and holds your story with care.
You don’t need to change to be worthy of help. You just need a space that meets you where you are and reminds you that being human is never something to be ashamed of.
Finding the Right Therapist for Sex Workers
If you’re a sex worker who finds joy and excitement in your work, you’re feeling ambivalent or exhausted by it, or if you’re just finding this post really resonant, reach out for care that meets you where you are. The diverse team at Kindman & Co. is made up of therapists who are deeply human and won’t ask you to justify or defend your work. We’re here to help you be yourself freely and fully, exactly as you are.
Sign up for a free information session for therapy for sex workers to get started now!
Featured therapist author:
Madison Segarra is a Graduate Student Trainee Therapist who’s passionate about love, intimacy, and what it means to be fully yourself. As a former sex worker, she believes in meeting people exactly where they are and creating therapy spaces that feel safe, open, and real. Madison brings brings a little edge and a lot of heart into her work and believes that healing doesn’t have to be cold or clinical; it can be messy, human, and a little magical.
GET HELP NOW
If you are interested in therapy with Kindman & Co. and would like to learn more about the services we have to help you, follow these quick & easy steps:
Schedule a free 20-minute phone consultation with our Care Coordinator.
Get matched with the therapist who’s right for you.
Start feeling more supported and fulfilled in your life and relationships!
THERAPY AT KINDMAN & CO.
We are here for your diverse L.A. counseling needs. Our team of therapists provides lgbtqia+ affirmative therapy, couples therapy & premarital counseling, grief & loss counseling, group therapy, and more. We have specialists in trauma, women's issues, depression & anxiety, substance use, mindfulness & embodiment, and support for creatives. For therapists and practice owners, we also provide consultation and supervision services! We look forward to welcoming you for therapy in Highland Park and online.