Religious Trauma & Deconstruction

Growing up in religion can be damaging. While this is a relatively new area of study in the mental health field, numerous research studies and individual stories are raising awareness for the lasting negative impacts that religion can cause on someone’s mental and emotional wellbeing. Symptoms can include:

  • feelings of guilt

  • shame around identity or sexuality

  • perfectionism

  • fear of hell or existential distress

  • rejection from community

  • depression

  • low self-worth

  • lack of boundaries

While religion is by no means always harmful, there has been a high prevalence of harm and abuse in high-control, punishment-based religious environments. LGBTQ+ individuals, specifically, face high rates of marginalization, rejection, and internalized shame from religious communities, and those raised in “purity culture” (settings that place a high emphasis on sexual sin and abstinence before marriage), experience inordinate amounts of sexual dysfunction in adulthood.

Personally, I have a background and education based in fundamentalist Christianity, and I am currently pursuing certification in Religious Trauma Therapy so that, whether you are hoping to heal from negative impacts of religion, leave a religious community, or deconstruct your beliefs in order to reconnect with the beneficial aspects of spirituality and religious practice, I can be best equipped to help you on your path of healing.

Contact me