Redefine spirituality on your own terms. Religious trauma therapy in Texas, Ohio, & Colorado.
Religious Trauma
“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” -Rumi
Sometimes the walls need to fall in order to rebuild a solid foundation.
Do you find yourself asking “is this even what I believe anymore?” or “if God is really so loving, why did he let that happen?” Maybe you’re wondering if you’ll ever be able to trust anyone again after the people you were the most vulnerable with used it to shame or ostracize you.
It might feel like your whole world has been turned upside down and you don’t recognize who you are anymore. Maybe you’re looking for answers to questions that you didn’t even realize you had. Or maybe you know the answers, but guilt or fear has kept you from allowing yourself to move forward.
There is still hope.
Religion is supposed to be a place where we can find healing, answers, and guidance. Unfortunately, too often religion is instead a place where we find hurt, abuse, or shame. Having these types of painful experiences within a religious or spiritual context can feel isolating and confusing, and even leave us rethinking our morals or values.
Maybe you feel broken, dirty, or like no matter what you do, it will never be good enough. Maybe you’ve been told that you’re “damaged goods” or felt scared of losing your community if you spoke up about your experiences.
Spirituality is a part of the human experience, but it doesn’t exist only within the four walls of a church. If you’ve experienced pain at the hands of religious leaders, communities, or teachings, understanding or redefining what spirituality means for you can feel daunting.
When you’ve experienced religious trauma or spiritual confusion, the last thing you need is someone telling you to “just pray harder.”
Maybe you…
have been told that who you are is “sinful”
feel like the values you were raised with don’t make sense anymore
are grieving the sense of comfort that religion once provided you
are scared of losing your community
experience guilt or shame for questioning your faith
feel angry at religious leaders or institutions
want to unlearn the harmful teachings of purity culture
WHAT WE’LL DO TOGETHER
I’m here to help you become the author of your own story.
Hold Space for the Hurt
Whether you have experienced religious abuse, spiritual trauma, been negatively impacted by purity culture, or want a safe space to reexamine your beliefs, we will work together to identify your unique concerns and the ways that you have been impacted by religion.
Redefine Spirituality
Spirituality isn’t one-size-fits-all, and therapy isn’t either. If you need to work through the confusion of being hurt in religious spaces, deconstruct old frameworks, or start to make sense of who you are in a new context, we can utilize talk therapy or EMDR to help you begin to move forward.
Embrace Peace
For some, the end goal of therapy might be to leave old belief systems behind, while for others it might be to return to them with a fresh perspective. Exploring new spiritual avenues, healing from religious trauma, and building a stronger relationship with ourself are all things that we might work towards to help you start living the life that you want.
Common questions about religious trauma therapy:
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Religious trauma can occur when someone’s experience with religion, religious teachings, or religious leaders has presented a threat to their physical, emotional, mental, sexual, or spiritual health or safety.
If you have experienced harm, abuse, coercion, degradation, or shame due to religion, these are things that we can begin to work through in therapy.
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Religious or spiritual abuse is when someone uses a position of power, a religious doctrine, or a belief system to coerce, control, or manipulate the behavior or wellbeing of another person.
There are many types of religious abuse. Religious abuse can also include being embarrassed, humiliated, or harassed, or using religion to promote selfish gain at the expense of another person. Often religious abuse results in some sort of psychological harm or trauma.
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If you’re reading through this page and feeling like it resonates, it might be useful to talk about your experiences in therapy.
If you experience anxiety, guilt, shame, or fear related to your religious upbringing, beliefs, or spirituality, therapy for religious trauma may be beneficial for you.
If you’re still not sure and want to talk about it a bit further, schedule a consultation so we can decide if this might be the right fit for you.
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Not at all. Religious or spiritual abuse/trauma can and does happen in any religion. It’s also not something that only people who have been involved in organized religion experience.