Healing Religious Shame
Therapy for religious and non-religious identified individuals struggling with religious shame, identity, or trauma
If we can share our story with someone who responds with empathy and understanding, shame can’t survive.
-Dr. Brené Brown
You don't have to struggle alone!
- You have serious doubts or have left your faith
- Part of your identity is marginalized by your faith community
- You have been abused or betrayed by a religious figure
I understand how earth shattering this can be. When the foundations that we have built our understanding of life on shake or crumble, we lose parts of ourselves, our sense of meaning and purpose, and often times our trust and connection with those closest to us. This can lead to existential crisis, depression, anxiety, hopelessness, disillusionment, and isolation. As a licensed therapist who has struggled in my own faith journey, I bring deep compassion, understanding, and non-judgment to my healing work with individuals suffering from religious shame or trauma. Although I no longer identify as religious, I respect people of all faith backgrounds, and I believe that healing can be found in or out of a religious context. I would be delighted to walk with you on your journey of faith or out of the faith. If you have any questions or concerns about me, my work, or if therapy is right for you, I would be more than happy to speak with you!
Shame is the lie someone told you about yourself.
–Anaïs Nin
Do you suffer from Religious Trauma Syndrome (RTS)?
You may be suffering from Religious Trauma Syndrome if you grew up strongly identified with religion and you are dealing with the following symptoms:
- Negative beliefs about self-ability & self-worth
- Black & white thinking
- Perfectionism
- Difficulty with decision-making
- Confusion
- Poor critical thinking ability
- Depression, anxiety, anger, or grief
- Loneliness
- Difficulty with pleasure
- Loss of meaning
- Loss of social network
- Family rupture
- Sexual difficulty
- Unfamiliarity with secular world
- Difficulty belonging
- Information gaps (e.g. evolution, modern art, music)
My Story
I was raised in a tiny town in the middle of good ol’ Midwestern cornfields. When I was 12-years-old and joined the local church youth group, I discovered the meaning of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and became a passionate, outspoken Evangelical Christian. Growing up as a minority in a predominantly White town, up until that point, I was very confused about who I was, and I wasn’t sure how to fit in. When I became a born-again Christian, I finally had an identity that made sense to me, as well as a sense of meaning and purpose. Additionally, becoming Christian was a right-of-passage of sorts into being accepted as a “real American.” I was finally able to find common ground with the people in my community and find a way to connect. Even when a friend at youth group told me it was a sin to marry a black person and a prominent Christian leader make racist jeers at me, asking if I could see and threatening to blindfold me with floss, I ignored the problems that arose, as well as the parts of me that were different. I fully and whole heartedly embraced my identity as a follower of Jesus. And as I had been taught, I did not doubt, because the Bible taught me that I could know with certainty that I would go to heaven when I died.
After high school, I went to college at a very conservative, Evangelical liberal arts school called Wheaton College, in Wheaton, Illinois…
Want to learn more?
Contact me today, so we can see if working together is right for you!
630-384-9065
Healing Religious Shame | 1234 Main Street | Emeryville, CA, 94608 | Google Map