The Twenty Year Lent
On the week of Halloween, a coworker proposed a discussion question in a team meeting, something we often do for fun. Her question was something like “What is something scary you’ve experienced related to church or your faith?”
Unpacking Religious Trauma: The Deep and Lasting Effects of Spiritual Abuse
There have been countless times in Christian spaces and churches when I found myself feeling completely dysregulated, yet I had no idea what was happening to me. In those moments, I experienced a mix of panic, isolation, and anger, but what hurt most was how others often viewed me as crazy or out of control. The goal of this post is to help you understand the profound effects of spiritual abuse and how religious trauma impacts both the mind and body. It's about shedding light on how these experiences can shape your emotional and physical responses, often in ways that are misunderstood or ignored.
The Shaming of Anger: How Christian parenting books harmed generations of children.
My husband and I were out thrifting when I spotted this book title: The Heart of Anger: Critical Help for the Prevention and Cure of Anger in Children. I did not recognize the author, Lou Priolo, but the Foreword was by John MacAruthur, Jr. On the front of the book was a child whose expression probably looked much like mine quite often as a child. She was standing in the center of what looked like a bullseye.
Redefining the Holidays After Painful Experiences
I used to find the Christmas season incredibly challenging. Two profoundly traumatic and life-altering events occurred during this time in my childhood, leaving lasting scars. Adding to that, my fundamentalist Christian upbringing made navigating the holiday season as an adult both confusing and painful. When I began deconstructing much of the faith I grew up with, I often felt isolated and emotionally unsettled during Christmas. I felt out of place at family gatherings, unsure of how to be myself when I didn’t even know who I was.
Religious Trauma Recovery: Holiday Support
Are the holidays hard for you? You’re not alone.
For survivors of religious trauma and spiritual abuse, the holiday season can be an intensely triggering time. The ubiquitous religious imagery, music, and traditions can serve as painful reminders of past experiences within oppressive or abusive religious environments.
Family gatherings may force interactions with individuals who were complicit in or dismissive of the abuse or lived experience. The emphasis on faith, worship, and spiritual celebration can resurface complex emotions like grief, anger, and confusion about one's spiritual identity.
Religious Trauma: Navigating the Trifecta of Faith, Culture and Identity
In my role as an expert in culture and identity within the trauma space, my intent here is to explore three deeply intertwined factors—faith, culture, and identity create what I call a “trauma trifecta.” Each of these elements is foundational to personal identity, shaping how individuals experience, process, and heal from trauma. In my opinion, approaching religious trauma from this perspective, rather than as an isolated experience, allows us to recognize and understand the layered impacts of cultural and identity dynamics on a person’s spiritual journey and their psychological well-being.