Religious trauma syndrome how to#
#ChurchToo:How Purity Culture Upholds Abuse and How to Find Healing by Emily Joy Allison You Are Your Own: A Reckoning with the Religious Trauma of Evangelical Christianity by Jamie Lee Finchīreathing Their Will: Shedding Light on Religious Child Maltreatment by Janet Heimlich Google and Amazon are definitely a great place to start and if you’d like a personal touch, I’d be honored to work with you. There are a growing number of social media pages, support groups, books and other media, and therapists like myself who can assist you in the process. If any of this sounds like you, I want you to know there IS hope! I’ve worked with hundreds of exvangelicals and those either questioning their faith or having walked away from organized religion. More people are needing help and the taboos about criticizing religion need to be questioned. While it may be easier to understand the damage done by sexual abuse or natural disaster, religious practices can be just as harmful. The important thing for us to realize is that Religious Trauma Syndrome is real. from a very controlling form of religion.Persons most at risk of RTS are those who were: Research has shown that the severity of RTS ranges and depends on a number of factors. Social/Cultural Impairment: Rupture of family and social network, employment issues, financial stress, problems acculturating into society, interpersonal dysfunction Why Does RTS Seem Worse For Some Than Others?
Common clues to look for that warrant further exploration:Ĭognitive Impairment: Confusion, difficulty with decision-making and critical thinking, dissociation, identity confusionĪffective/ Emotional Impairment: Anxiety, panic attacks, depression, suicidal ideation, anger, grief, guilt, loneliness, lack of meaningįunctional Impairment: Sleep and eating disorders, nightmares, sexual dysfunction, substance abuse, somatization (issues with physical body) It’s important that we ask the right questions so as not to misdiagnose clients’ symptoms which appears to happen more than my fellow colleagues might like to admit. In my own clinic, I have seen everything from depression, existential crises, thoughts of suicide, sexual issues (fear of masturbation, struggle to orgasm, painful intercourse, fear of performing certain sexual acts, rejection of anything that isn’t vanilla etc.) to eating disorders, sleep disturbances, rejection of normal emotions like anger or pride, fear of abandonment, anxiety and panic attacks ( … personally I still get a little skeevy even now, years later, when things remind me of “being out of God’s will” or “the Rapture” or “End Times Plagues & Tribulation”), or a struggle with identity or believing that they are inherently good and not some “wretch” God somehow loves in spite of their “sin.”įrom a therapist’s perspective, religious trauma affects ALL levels of being. The damage that RTS or spiritual abuse causes can be vast and even debilitating. Marlene Winell Common Symptoms of Religious Trauma Syndrome
People leaving are often ill-prepared to deal with this, both because they have been sheltered and taught to fear the secular world and because their personal skills for self-reliance and independent thinking are underdeveloped. This usually involves significant and sudden loss of social support while facing the task of reconstructing one’s life. Second, departing a religious fold adds enormous stress as an individual struggles with leaving what amounts to one world for another. In many cases, the emotional and mental abuse is compounded by physical and sexual abuse due to the patriarchal, repressive nature of the environment. First, the actual teachings and practices of a restrictive religion can be toxic and create life-long mental damage. It can be compared to a combination of PTSD and Complex PTSD (C-PTSD). Anything and anyone that didn’t meet the criteria of man made dogma was unacceptable and meant to either be worked on or left behind as we strove to “be holy and perfect like God was.” What is Religious Trauma Syndrome?Īs I have mentioned in my blog and talks given on spiritual abuse, the term Religious Trauma Syndrome describes the multi-layered experiences of those who have been hurt by being a part of a rigid spiritual belief system. Marlene Winnell, Jamie Lee Finch, and Glennon Doyle, religion became a scary, constricting net that left people and even parts of our Selves that we loved on the outside. Growing up in a religious household can be a wonderfully supportive experience.
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