Dating After Trauma – How Survivors Navigate Romantic Relationships

I am excited to participate in the second “Conference on Love Studies” held by the International Institute of Love Studies, an educational and scientific organisation based in Michigan, USA. The conference, scheduled for March 14–16, 2025, will gather researchers and practitioners from diverse disciplines to explore love from a scientific perspective. I will present my talk titled: “Dating After Trauma: How Survivors of Childhood Abuse Navigate Romantic Relationships”.

The pre-recorded presentations are available on the Institute’s YouTube channel, followed by live thematic panel sessions on Zoom. This format offers the opportunity to delve into various aspects of love through a reflective and interdisciplinary lens.

Love After Trauma

Child sexual abuse leaves profound scars, impacting survivors’ emotional and relational lives. Trust, intimacy, and self-worth are often compromised, making it difficult to build healthy romantic relationships. Fear, shame, and guilt are recurring emotions that emerge when survivors attempt to connect with others.

At the same time, online dating platforms have introduced new opportunities for survivors to explore connections in more controlled environments, allowing them to set boundaries and reclaim agency over their emotional and physical experiences. However, limited research has focused on how survivors navigate these platforms. This study aims to contribute to filling this gap by exploring how early trauma shapes survivors’ perceptions of romantic spaces, both physical and digital.

Study Objectives

This study has three main purposes:

1. To examine how adult survivors of childhood abuse navigate dating and physical attraction that could potentially lead to long-term intimate relationships.

2. To explore how trauma shapes survivors’ interactions with potential partners, focusing on in-person and online dating contexts.

3. To highlight survivors’ strategies to establish trust, set boundaries, and reclaim agency in romantic spaces.

An Ethnographic Approach

The research employs a mixed-methods ethnographic approach, combining qualitative interviews with visual ethnography to capture survivors’ lived experiences. A key methodological innovation is the use of ‘verbal maps’ as a tool for autoethnographic exploration, enabling participants to describe and map their experiences in physical and virtual dating spaces.

Interviews with 30 survivors provide deep insights into how they perceive and navigate the challenges of intimacy and connection. Visual ethnography, including sketch maps and participant-generated visuals, offers additional depth by exploring how survivors conceptualise and interact with dating spaces.

Practical Tips for Online Dating Apps

Based on the study’s findings, I will conclude my presentation with practical tips for online dating apps. Modern dating platforms offer valuable control mechanisms but also pose risks of re-traumatisation. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for designing trauma-informed dating environments that respect survivors’ histories and their need for clear boundaries.

The presentation slides can be downloaded for free here👇🏽

ILS 2025 - Gabriele Rosato.pdf

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