You can heal from Religious Trauma and Spiritual Abuse
Spiritual abuse and religious trauma are uniquely painful experiences that can involve losing your support system, trusted leaders, or deeply held spiritual beliefs. Our religious upbringing may have as much influence on us as our family of origin, and leaving a church or religious tradition can be traumatic. Even after we’ve left the group or a set of theologies behind, those patterns and messages can stick with us and cause trouble.
I work with brave, empathetic people of all genders who are survivors of adverse religious experiences that cause religious trauma:
Purity Culture and sexual shame
Emotionally neglectful parenting in the name of religion
Sexual and emotional abuse by a church or spiritual leader
Friendship break-ups over religious difference
Fear of hell or “the rapture”
Patriarchal control or coercive religious leaders
Painful faith transitions and deconstruction experiences
Discrimination & rejection based on LGBTQIA+ identity
Spiritual abuse and manipulation of faith beliefs
Physical abuse spanking to “breaking a child’s will”
Evangelical, LDS/Mormon, and Fundamentalist Christian upbringing
Homeschooling & hyper-religious education experiences
Difficult experiences at Christian or religious colleges
Forced “faith-healing” for chronic illness or disability
Toxic churches, cult-like & high control spiritual group experiences