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Healing Spiritual & Religious Abuse & Trauma

It’s time to reclaim your life and self after spiritual harm

Have you experienced religious or spiritual abuse and trauma?

Maybe you have a different word for what you experienced. That’s all right. Maybe you have a complicated relationship with your faith community. Perhaps you grew up in a home that weaponized religion. Your spiritual abuse or trauma may have resulted in a faith crisis. You could have had a religious leader use shame or guilt to “solve” or shut down questions or problems. Maybe someone used their religious or spiritual authority to take advantage of you in different ways.

If any of these are true or have happened to you, I’m so sorry. That’s awful, and it sucks. This trauma is so damn hard to get over:

  • The connection you had to the part of your life that always gave you meaning, a community, and an understanding of yourself, is damaged or gone.

  • Someone may have said what happened was your fault, you should’ve been more faithful, stronger, or prayed harder.

  • You probably get told that you need to “forgive and forget” what happened.

  • You wonder whether you can maintain a spiritual connection after being hurt by religion, or if you even want to at all.

  • You don’t know who you can talk to that won’t tell you what you’re supposed to do or believe.

You feel lost and don’t know where to go. You’re not sure if or how you can process these things and truly heal from them.

You’re in the right place.

Let’s get you healed.

Healing from spiritual and religious abuse is possible.

No, I know. But you read that right the first time. Read it again. Breathe. Say it with me: You CAN heal from spiritual or religious abuse.

You can process these experiences in a safe place, with someone you can trust, and really move through them. You don’t have to keep running, feel haunted, or stay oppressed.

Let me give you an idea of what therapy for spiritual or religious abuse and trauma can do for you:

  • You can break through the chains of shame, guilt, and pain caused by spiritual abuse and reclaim a healthy identity.

  • You learn practical ways to engage with your abuse and perpetrators in ways that help you build peace and confidence in the path you choose.

  • You create a sense of self and learn how to honor your whole self.

  • You decide how you want to proceed, regardless of whether you maintain a spiritual connection or religious community.

  • Was vetted and approved by people who labeled me as a safe therapist for ex-Mormons who needed to process spiritual and religious trauma

  • Can be trusted to work with you sensitively, safely, and compassionately.

Here’s my commitment: I am a specialist who…

  • Has traveled this road myself. That’s right. I grew up with religious and spiritual abuse that I needed to wade through and heal from

  • Understands how painful, frightening, and impossible this work can feel

  • Completely owns who I am in the room and encourages you to do the same

  • I own my experience and perspective. I’m a religious guy who’s gone through religious abuse, left religion and returned, and whose favorite words are all 4 letters long

Here’s my secret: It isn’t about me…

  • I see the damage, deep wounds, anger, betrayal, and confusion caused by spiritual and religious abuse and trauma. And it pisses me off. You didn’t deserve any of it.

But it’s not about me. It’s your time to heal

  • You bring what you need, how you need. Feeling angry at God or people? Lots of pain and confusion? Need to word vomit a bunch of deep experiences you’ve never shared before? Bring it. Let’s hold it together.

  • Feeling nervous because you’ve been judged before for bringing it up? Well, with me, you can bring it. I’ll hold space for it. And honor it. And help you heal from it.

I’m here to help you heal however you need. I’m here for you, not the other way around

Therapy for spiritual or religious abuse and trauma IS:

  • A place that can hold space for all your experiences, trauma, and pain

  • Where we honor your whole self, your complexity, beliefs, and views

  • Where you can process and heal from spiritual and religious hurt without judgment

  • Where it’s okay to struggle with what your experiences, beliefs, and complexities mean for you, your relationships, and your future

  • Where I support your path forward, regardless of if you maintain a spiritual life, leave a religious community, or anything in between

Therapy for spiritual or religious abuse and trauma ISN’T:

  • Where I endorse a spiritual or religious agenda or worldview

  • Where I try to get you to engage in religion or spirituality

  • Only for people from a particular faith tradition or religious group

  • Bible or religious therapy

  • Just rehashing all the details without looking for new perspectives and ways to help you move forward, fully, in your life

 Frequently Asked Questions

  • Great question. Here’s a few questions back to you: Are you looking for information about spiritual abuse and its common effects on people? Do you need to process tough existential questions because of a faith crisis? Do you want to talk to someone who isn’t afraid of owning their own journey through spiritual trauma and can show you that you’re not alone? Do you have deep pain or anger about religious and spiritual trauma and abuse that you don’t know where or how to share? If you answered yes to any of these, let’s talk. This therapy is probably what you’ve been looking for.

  • Short answer: no. Longer answer: Hell no. When processing spiritual and religious abuse or trauma, my expertise is in my honor, sensitivity, and reverence for your experiences. It’s also in knowing how to approach your concerns in ways that help you really heal from them, not cover them up or make them worse. People who’ve experienced spiritual or religious abuse don’t need to read verses and pray to get through it. They don’t need to just “forgive and forget.” They need someone to meet them where they’re at, with what they have, and help them safely process their trauma, pain, anger, and whatever else. You may want to maintain a spiritual connection in your life, break all connection with a religious community, or find a balance in between that works for you. Great! That’s why I’m here. I meet you where you’re at, and help you get to where you need, regardless of what that looks like.

  • Nope! I’ve worked with hundreds of people from so many different spiritual backgrounds. I’ve helped Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Pagan, Wiccan, Agnostic, and Atheist clients work through spiritual abuse. And many of these diverse people have told me how healing it is to have someone with this depth of experience and knowledge of different cultures, faith traditions, and traumas.

  • I’m so glad you asked that. Yes! I work with many LGBTQ+ individuals who need to process religious and spiritual abuse or discrimination. And I work with queer folks who want to create different futures for themselves, whether that’s maintaining a connection to their religious community, find a new one, remain spiritual but not religious, or not maintain this identity in any form. This particular work is so important to me, and I have close friends and family members who have wrestled with these same things.

  • Click below! The first step is to set up a free 20-minute consultation call where I can get a better idea of your concerns, give you an idea of what it’s like to work with me, and answer any initial questions you have. Once we know it’s a good fit, I send you some paperwork and we set a time to start meeting! I’m excited to hear from you!

You can write your own story about how you healed from religious or spiritual trauma.

It’s time to turn the page. Let’s get writing.