Religious PTSD recovery
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The Ground Beneath My Feet
All I’d ever done was pretend—first in the family that raised me, then in the church. I didn’t even know I was pretending. Then I finally faced the truth, and people were talking about me. What followed was almost a decade of wandering. But what I’ve found in peer support groups isn’t another savior—it’s shared… Continue reading
abuse of power, adoption trauma, adult clergy sexual abuse, adverse religious experiences, ancestral wisdom, authentic living, authentic self, belonging, Church trauma therapy, clergy sexual abuse, collective healing, collective hope, community, complex trauma, connection, CPTSD, cult recovery, Deconstronstruction, developmental trauma, emotional manipulation, faith and religion, faith deconstruction, false prophets, healing and recovery, healing process, hope, mental health and wellness, religious abuse, religious deconstruction, religious freedom, Religious PTSD recovery, religious trauma recovery, Religious trauma syndrome, sacredwounds, self-discovery, Self-Reflection, spiritual abuse recovery, spiritual connection, spirituality and trauma, Toxic religion recovery, trauma recovery coaching -
When the Shell Cracks: Finding Truth Beyond Religious Performance
Truth always finds a way to surface. Our ego tries to keep everything together, but eventually the shell cracks and what’s inside starts leaking out. If we’re brave enough to look at what seeps out instead of frantically patching the holes, we might find what we’ve been searching for all along. Continue reading
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The Stories We Tell Ourselves: Finding Truth Beyond Collective Narratives
We tell ourselves stories in order to live,” Joan Didion wrote. But what happens when those shared stories—our collective narratives—become barriers to the very connection they promise to create? Growing up with parents whose lives were like apple carts filled to capacity, I learned early how fragile our shared stories can be. One uncomfortable truth… Continue reading
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You’re Not Crazy: Psychology Finally Recognizes Religious Trauma
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson For years, those of us who walked away from toxic religion were told we just had a ‘bad church experience’—but a groundbreaking American Psychological Association article is finally validating what we’ve known Continue reading
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When Stars Fall: Finding the Light Within
“Sometimes life feels almost too heavy to bear. I find myself turning off the news or closing social media after yet another story of a bright star crashing into darkness—someone whose light had guided so many of us through our own difficult days. But why do their lights go out? Why do they sometimes choose… Continue reading
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Finding My Way Back to Myself
Why did I so readily follow a dangerous man wherever he went? Why did it all feel like the right thing to do? Looking back on my time in church, I’m still trying to understand what made me believe a rigid belief system and a broken pastor could fill the gaps in my life. The… Continue reading
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When Breaking Apart Sets You Free
Autonomy isn’t selfish—it’s about staying true to yourself, no matter what others say you “should” be. How often do people tell you who to be or what to believe? Sometimes they push so hard because they’re unsure of themselves and need you to mirror their choices to feel comfortable. When we abandon ourselves to become Continue reading
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You ARE A Lot Stronger Than You Think You Are
I struggle with the expectation that I should be stronger when facing people who think I’m sinning for disagreeing with their doctrine. My abuse happened in a mainstream evangelical church—not something people call a cult today. Many people I care about still attend churches with similar beliefs. I often wonder: am I traumatized by the Continue reading
A Liminal Space 