I have a friend, they're very dear to me. They shared early on in our relationship that in their youth, they had touched their cousin sexually. When they shared they couldn't verbalize it; they had to write it down shakily, while crying.

They clearly have deep guilt. I suspect they hate themselves, and that self hate they feel comes from this. They've explained that they don't feel like they can connect closely with friends because they'll never know the terrible things they've done (their words). 

As far as I know, I am the only one they have told because I was able to share a similar backstory.

They don't feel like they can talk to family about it either. The cousin struggles with emotional difficulty. My friend attributes this to that one incident. I don't know that persons life; it could be this one thing, or a plethora of other things.

I want my friend to know that people exploring sexuality as a child is very normal, even healthy. I want my friend to process this guilt and self hate, and feel safe enough to not have to hide this and likely other things from the world, including their parents who I've seen them be very close with. I want them free of these shackles.

How can I help?

I have suggested therapy, but they don't feel safe with medical professionals due to being treated very poorly in the past. I don't know of other resources, other than potentially just hearing from other, normal folks that this is a reality for others, and how they've made this okay for themselves.