Girl, Groomed

Seasoned psychotherapist Carol Odell joins us to discuss her new memoir “Girl, Groomed: A Therapist’s Memoir of Trauma” (She Writes Press, April 22, 2025), an unflinching exploration of her journey to confront and heal from the complex trauma of childhood sexual abuse within the world of Virginia’s equestrian show-jumping circuit. 

Raw and riveting, “Girl, Groomed” is an evolving story of coming to terms with the impacts of Odell’s own history of sexual abuse and violence at the hands of a predatory horse trainer who, for far too much of her young life, held all the reins. Set in the equestrian world of Virginia, this candid memoir details how, starting at ten years old, Carol falls under the spell of Clarentine, the charismatic—and explosively violent—owner of the stables just down the hill from her house. In tandem with that story, Carol examines the multi-faceted consequences of the complex trauma that resulted from the exploitative relationship Clarentine cultivated with her - including the resulting crisis she blindly imposes on her marriage. Chapters toggle back and forth between scenes of her childhood growing up jumping horses on the show circuit and the therapy sessions she later undergoes as an adult.

Using her own journey as an example, Carol demonstrates in this insightful memoir how unintegrated trauma limits us and our connection with others—and how the work of uncovering and reintegrating “what we do with what happens to us” can become the very source of our liberation.