religious trauma

December 2, 2025

When the Tool Becomes a Crutch: AI, Agency, and Doing Your Own Thinking

I’ve discovered something troubling: there’s a line between AI helping me organize my thoughts and AI doing my thinking for me. And that line matters. Continue reading

ai, mental health, sacred healing, technology and society, trauma recovery

agency, ai, AI ethics, AI limitations, Anthropic, artificial intelligence, autonomy, Boundaries, chatgpt, Claude, cognitive health, creative process, critical thinking, decision making, discernment, echo chamber, healing, Human Connection, IFS, Internal Family Systems, mental health, peer support, personal growth, professional help, psychological wellbeing, religious trauma, responsible AI use, self-awareness, self-led living, spiritual manipulation, technology, therapy, trauma recovery, trauma-informed, writing, writing process
November 23, 2025

LOVE VS. CONSUMPTION: I DIDN’T KNOW THE DIFFERENCE

I used to think being valued meant being loved. I didn’t know someone could see my worth and still devour me whole. Here’s what I learned about the difference between love and consumption. Continue reading

abuse of power, authentic living, belonging, Boundaries, personal journey, religious abuse, religious trauma recovery, sacred healing, Self-Reflection, trauma recovery

Boundaries, codependency, conditional love, emotional abuse, emotional manipulation, gaslighting, healing-journey, healthy relationships, love vs consumption, narcissistic abuse, Nashville trauma support, peer support, religious trauma, self-worth, spiritual abuse, spiritual manipulation, survivor, toxic family, toxic relationships, trauma recovery
November 21, 2025

When Helping Ourselves Becomes Hurting Ourselves: My Journey with Rumination

For years, I thought retelling my abuse story was helping me heal. I had no idea I was retraumatizing myself every single time. Today I discovered the hidden pattern that’s been keeping me stuck—and why even well-intentioned therapy can miss it. Continue reading

peer support, rumination, sacred healing, trauma Informed, trauma recovery

church abuse, coping skills, counseling, depression, emotional regulation, emotional sobriety, healing from abuse, hypervigilance, IFS, Internal Family Systems, mental health, mental health awareness, mindfulness, nervous system regulation, peer support, perfectionism, personal growth, ptsd, religious trauma, retraumatization, rumination, self-compassion, self-help, survivor, therapy, trauma healing, trauma recovery, trauma response, trauma-informed coaching, victim mentality
November 2, 2025

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

abusive relationships, Authenticity, belonging, Clergy abuse, community healing, deconstruction, family trauma, Friendly Circle Berlin, IFS, IFS Peers, imagination, Midnight Mass, peer support, power imbalance, pretending, religious trauma, safety, spiritual abuse, unconference, wilderness years
October 17, 2025

Care or Carrying?

**Tags:** – trauma recovery – boundaries – codependency – religious trauma – emotional responsibility – self-leadership – caring vs carrying – parenting adult children – healing patterns – compassion fatigue – inner work – family dynamics – faith deconstruction – emotional boundaries – recovery coaching **Excerpt:** I was 17 when I called my ex-boyfriend to… Continue reading

healing and recovery, Personal Development, trauma recovery coaching

Boundaries, caring vs carrying, codependency, compassion fatigue, emotional boundaries, emotional responsibility, faith deconstruction, Family Dynamics, healing, healing patterns, inner work, life, love, mental health, parenting adult children, relationships, religious trauma, self-leadership, trauma recovery
September 6, 2025

Finding Joy and Hope Beyond the Emotional Highs: A Journey from Manufactured to Authentic

After losing the intoxicating emotional highs of church community, I discovered that true joy and hope aren’t dramatic peaks to chase, but subtle moments that accumulate like stalactites—building lasting strength one drop at a time in the darkness. Continue reading

adverse religious experiences, authentic, belonging, connection, Deconstronstruction, faith deconstruction, healing and recovery, mental health, religious deconstruction, religious trauma, religious trauma recovery, spiritual trauma, spirituality and trauma, trauma recovery

authentic joy, belief systems, belonging, church abuse, community trauma, emotional highs, emotional wellness, faith deconstruction, finding hope, genuine relationships, healing from abuse, healing-journey, hope, manufactured joy, polarization, post-church life, religious manipulation, religious recovery, religious trauma, spiritual abuse recovery, Spiritual Growth, spiritual healing, stalactite metaphor, tiny joys, trauma healing
August 31, 2025

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

authentic living, authentic self, childhood trauma, complex trauma, CPTSD, Cults, Deconstronstruction, developmental trauma, ego death, emotional courage, Emotional Intelligence, emotional manipulation, emotional regulation, faith deconstruction, Faith deconstruction help, false prophets, grief, healing and recovery, hope, light, strength within, life reflection, mental health and wellness, Personal Development, personal growth, personal journey, perspective shifts, ptsd, religious abuse, religious deconstruction, Religious PTSD recovery, Religious trauma syndrome, sacred healing, sacredwounds, self discovery, self trust, self-care, self-discovery, Self-Reflection, soul discovery, spiritual abuse, spiritual abuse recovery, spiritual journey, spirituality, subconscious patterns, Toxic religion recovery, toxic shame, trauma bond, trauma informed ministry, trauma practitioner, trauma recovery coaching, Wholeheartedness

adoption trauma, authentic faith, breaking free, church hurt, Church Trauma, deconstruction, evangelical church, faith and healing, faith crisis, faith deconstruction, finding truth, healing-journey, inner critic, pastor abuse, personal growth, personal testimony, religious conditioning, religious hypocrisy, religious performance, religious shame, religious trauma, spiritual abuse, spiritual abuse recovery, spiritual authenticity, spiritual awakening, spiritual healing, spiritual journey, spiritual memoir, spiritual transformation, trauma recovery
August 23, 2025

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

authentic living, authentic self, faith deconstruction, mental health and wellness, religious deconstruction, religious freedom, Religious PTSD recovery, religious trauma, sacred healing, self discovery, self trust, soul discovery, spiritual abuse recovery, spiritual awakening, spiritual connection, spiritual journey, spirituality, system of abuse, Toxic religion recovery, Wholeheartedness

authentic connection, authentic living, breaking cycles, childhood trauma, church hurt, collective narratives, faith deconstruction, family dysfunction, finding voice, healing-journey, honest conversations, meaningful relationships, personal story, religious abuse, religious trauma, spiritual awakening, Spiritual Growth, trauma recovery, truth telling, vulnerability
July 23, 2025

When Authority Becomes the Enemy of Truth

“Blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth.” — Albert EinsteinThe ambulance lights cut through the darkness at the convenience store. Someone had played Russian roulette and lost. As I drove past that night, seventeen and heartbroken after my boyfriend left me for my best friend, I looked up at the empty sky… Continue reading

abuse of power, adverse religious experiences, authentic self, mental health, personal growth, personal journey, spiritual abuse, spiritual abuse recovery, spiritual trauma, system of abuse, Toxic religion recovery, trauma recovery

abuse prevention, adoption trauma, advocacy, authoritarian abuse, blind obedience, body keeps the score, breaking cycles, breaking silence, child protection, childhood trauma, church hurt, complex trauma, critical thinking, cult recovery, discernment, emotional healing, evangelical trauma, exploitation, exvangelical, faith deconstruction, family dysfunction, finding your voice, gaslighting, generational trauma, grooming, healing community, healing is possible, healing-journey, inner child work, inner wisdom, institutional betrayal, intuition, leaving religion, manipulation tactics, mental health, narcissistic abuse, pastoral abuse, personal growth, post-religious, power dynamics, protecting children, ptsd, questioning faith, red flags, religious fundamentalism, religious manipulation, religious trauma, reparenting, self trust, setting boundaries, speaking truth, spiritual abuse, spiritual awakening, spiritual bypassing, spiritual freedom, survivor stories, survivor support, systemic abuse, therapy, toxic authority, toxic relationships, trauma awareness, trauma Informed, trauma recovery, trauma therapy, trusting your gut, truth seeking, vulnerability
July 15, 2025

Why Systems Choose Silence Over Survivors

When you’re a survivor and hardly anyone believes you, it becomes almost impossible not to question yourself. Even with a therapist saying over and over “this isn’t your fault,” even with the friends and family who stuck around telling you the same thing, that part of me that was wired to believe I needed the… Continue reading

abuse of power, adult clergy sexual abuse, religious abuse, Religious PTSD recovery, religious trauma, Religious trauma syndrome, soul discovery, spiritual abuse, spiritual abuse recovery, toxic shame

abuse survivors, church abuse, church hurt, church leadership, faith crisis, faith deconstruction, faith reconstruction, finding truth, healing process, healing-journey, letting go, pastoral abuse, religious authority, religious community, religious control, religious manipulation, religious power, religious systems, religious trauma, spiritual abuse, spiritual freedom, Spiritual Growth, spiritual healing, spiritual journey, spiritual resilience, survivor story, survivor support, toxic church, trauma recovery, trauma therapy