leaving church, religious harm, church trauma, healing from Christianity

Religious Trauma Therapy

Healing from the Impact of Religious Trauma

At Whole Health Counseling, we specialize in helping individuals overcome the emotional and psychological effects of religious trauma. Whether you are struggling with healing from spiritual abuse, leaving a high-demand religious group and trying to start over, or currently holding conflicting beliefs with your church and unsure what to do next, we offer a compassionate and supportive space to heal and find your way forward. It is important to note that in psychotherapy, this is a space to question and get curious about YOUR values, goals, worldview, philosophy, and dreams. Therapy is not a place to tell you what to believe or what to do, but rather create a safe environment for exploration of yourself. It is critical to work with a therapist who understands this nuance so that you do not feel like you are in yet another place where you place someone else on the pedestal of being the author of your life. In therapy, we help build your ability to trust and have confidence in your OWN inner knowing, with the therapist as the guide to you finding your answers, rather than an expert telling you what to do with your life (much like a pastor at a church). The healing work is done in you accepting responsibility and authority over your own life path, actions, and steps forward rather than externalizing authority to another person such as a therapist.

What Is Religious Trauma?

Religious trauma occurs when individuals experience emotional or psychological harm due to religious beliefs, practices, or communities. It often involves spiritual abuse, guilt, shame, rejection, and intense feelings of isolation. This trauma can stem from:

  • Authoritarian religious leaders or communities

  • Experiences of shaming or condemnation or denying your reality

  • Conflict between personal beliefs and imposed doctrines

  • Abuse under the guise of spiritual guidance

Signs of Religious Trauma

Individuals experiencing religious trauma may struggle with:

  • Feelings of guilt, shame, or fear associated with religious teachings

  • Difficulty trusting religious institutions or authority figures

  • Depression or anxiety due to internal conflict between personal values and imposed beliefs

  • Loss of spiritual connection or identity

  • Difficulty in relationships due to past religious control or isolation

  • Self-doubt and questioning of personal faith or beliefs

How We Can Help

We understand the unique emotional and spiritual struggles involved in recovering from religious trauma, and our therapy services are tailored to address these challenges. It is powerful and encouraging to have a therapist with lived experience who truly understands the trauma of losing your spiritual identity and starting over again. Through trauma-informed care, we help clients:

  • Heal from feelings of guilt, shame, and fear

  • Rebuild a healthy relationship with spirituality (or redefine it on your own terms)

  • Find clarity and peace by integrating past experiences with future goals

  • Develop self-compassion and self-trust in your personal beliefs and values

  • Work through complex feelings of grief and loss tied to leaving a faith community

  • Connect with your most empowered self and feel confident to make choices and decisions based on YOUR values, goals, and intuition

Is Religious Trauma Therapy Right for You?

Religious trauma therapy is beneficial for anyone who has:

  • Experienced spiritual abuse or manipulation

  • Left a controlling or abusive religious environment

  • Struggled with conflicted beliefs or spiritual guilt

  • Experienced shame or rejection by family or community based on religious differences

  • Feels lost and unsure of how to be the authority of your own life

Healing is absolutely possible, and we are here to inspire you that you can live a life where you feel empowered, thriving, and at peace. Whatever path you choose from here, it is your time to be in the driver’s seat of your life. Your therapist is your co-pilot until you are ready to move forward on your own.

Cult recovery, spiritual abuse, religious trauma, exvangelical, exmormon

Ready to take the next step toward healing?

If you're feeling called to begin your journey of recovery from religious trauma, I invite you to click 'Get Started' for a free 15-minute consultation. You're not alone—and you don’t have to do this alone.