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Religious Trauma & Faith Transitions Counseling

Reclaim your voice. Rebuild trust. Create relationships that feel safe.

What Is Religious Trauma?

Religious trauma happens when high-control or authoritarian religious environments suppress your voice, restrict your identity, and undermine your sense of self. These experiences can deeply shape how you relate to yourself, to others, and to your body.

You may know the teachings were harmful, yet still find yourself carrying anxiety, guilt, self-doubt, or fear long after leaving.

Healing from religious trauma isn’t just about leaving a belief system — it’s about rebuilding yourself.

How Religious Trauma Impacts Relationships

Many clients I work with notice that early religious messaging shaped their attachment patterns, emotional expression, and sense of worth.

You may experience:

Chronic self-doubt & fear of disappointing others

Anxiety in relationships or overthinking every interaction

Difficulty expressing needs or emotions

People-pleasing, conflict avoidance, or shrinking yourself

Choosing partners who repeat familiar (unhealthy) dynamics

Shame or fear around sexuality, desire, or pleasure

A deep sense of emptiness or loss of identity

Internal conflicts between your values and old belief systems

These patterns are not character flaws — they are adaptations to environments that demanded perfection, obedience, or emotional silence.

LGBTQ+ Individuals & Religious Trauma

LGBTQ+ clients often carry a unique form of religious trauma where identity, belonging, and love were directly tied to fear, shame, or rejection.

You may be navigating:

Internalized shame (“There is something wrong with me.”)

Anxiety about being judged, rejected, or punished

Hypervigilance in relationships.

Complicated feelings around sexuality, intimacy, or pleasure

Grief for lost community or family conflict

Trauma from suppression, secrecy, or attempts to change who you are

Religious trauma for LGBTQ+ individuals often impacts:

Self-worth

Identity formation

Attachment and intimacy

Romantic relationships

Body connection and desire

In our work together, you’ll have space to reclaim your authenticity, rebuild emotional safety, and explore relationships where you are seen and valued exactly as you are.

Signs You May Be Experiencing Religious Trauma

Clients often describe:

Persistent guilt or fear

Anxiety, panic, or “idea monster” intrusive thoughts

Shame about normal human emotions

Perfectionism or fear of doing things “wrong”

Difficulty trusting themselves

Feeling disconnected from their body

Fear of punishment or “something bad happening”

Complicated grief after leaving their faith community

Loss of identity, purpose, or belonging

You are not imagining this. These are predictable responses to psychological and emotional conditioning.

What Healing Looks Like

Healing from religious trauma is both relational and internal.

Our work may include:

Strengthening your connection to your inner voice
Reparenting the inner child
Integrating emotions without shame

Separating fear-based messages from your authentic voice
Supporting the nervous system
Creating safety inside your body

Understanding how your upbringing shaped attachment
Reducing overfunctioning, people-pleasing, or emotional withdrawal
Building communication skills for secure, grounded connection

Healing purity culture wounds
Feeling safe in your body
Rebuilding trust in intimacy

Exploring what you believe now
Creating new sources of meaning, community, and identity
Living without guilt, fear, or imposed roles

My Approach

My work weaves together:

Imago Relationship Therapy (connection, safety, communication)

Somatic & imagery-based emotional work (inner child, symbolic healing)

Attachment-based therapy

Identity & self-worth restoration

Trauma-informed, LGBTQ-affirming care

Grief, loss, and meaning-making

This is gentle, relational, and deeply affirming work where you grow at your own pace.

Who This Work Is For

This page is for you if:

You’re healing from high-control religion or purity culture

You left your faith and feel lost, anxious, or guilty

You're LGBTQ+ and navigating conflict or trauma from religious messages

You're in a mixed-faith or post-faith relationship

You want to rebuild self-trust, identity, and emotional safety

You’re ready to understand your relational patterns and heal them

You Deserve a Life That Is Yours

You deserve relationships that feel grounding and supportive.
You deserve to feel connected to your body, your truth, and your values.
And you deserve to exist fully — without fear, shame, or apology.

If you’re ready to begin this work, I’m here.