Recovering From Harmful Religion
By: Deborah Christensen
Tags: Mental Health, Course, Religion, Religious Trauma Syndrome, Jehovahs Witnesses

A warm welcome to you all!

I am so pleased that you have decided to invest time in YOU to look at reclaiming and rebuilding your life after leaving religion.

For people from the outside looking in, they often have no idea of the emotional and psychological upheaval that occurs in someone when leaving a fundamentalist and authoritarian religion.

When it has permeated your whole life, you can be left in shatters and often terrified at negotiating the world outside of the tight rules and regulations you may have been living under since childhood.

Often you are negotiating these changes under an umbrella of guilt and shame, and without family and friends for support (if they are still in the religion).

Some people, depending on how long they were “inside”, how much support they have, previous trauma experienced, and personality, recover quite quickly and move on.

Others of us, struggle on for years, often attempting to find “truth” elsewhere in other faith communities, or withdrawing entirely from all religion, and trying to find ways (sometimes healthy/some not so healthy) to cope and live life.

I have created this course to try and address some of the unique needs of people who leave a religion that was authoritarian/controlling or fundamentalist in nature.

The course is divided into three main sections.

Figuring It Out

Healing

Identity & Growth

Each section contains articles on several topics related to that section.

I have embedded videos and quizzes as learning tools in various articles.

and as learning tools in various articles. Each embedded video ranges from 2 minutes to 15 minutes in length.

In this way, you can work your way through the course at your own pace, and if you have only 15–20 minutes to spare, you can still complete a topic in one sitting.

The information contained in each section, builds on previous knowledge, so that if you miss some, you may lose some foundational information.

However, I have created the course in such a way that you can do so if you wish. I will provide links at the end of each article to both the preceding article and the article which follows to make navigation easier.

The first SECTION of the course will deal with:

Figuring It Out

There are nine topics in this section.

The Recovery Process Breaking Away Grief: What I Miss From My Religion? Shunning/Exclusion/Disfellowshipping Family Background Mental Health/Suicidality My Story Your Story

The second SECTION is:

Healing

There are nine topics in this section.

Inner Child (Getting to Know) Irrational Fears/AnxietyAnger/Grief Emotional Recovery/Processing Feelings Sexuality Body Acceptance Parenting Without Physical Discipline Dealing with Family & Friends Still Inside Dealing with Shunning/Exclusion/Bullying Self Compassion

The final SECTION heading is:

Identity & Growth

There are six topics in this section.

How Are You Unique? (What makes you YOU?) Goal Setting It’s Okay to Think: Critical Thinking-What Is It/ How Do I Evaluate Information? Your Strengths Making New Connections (Family/Friends/Community) Finding Fun/Enjoyment/Meaning in Your Life!

There is a final section heading specifically for MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS along with a RESOURCES section.

I would also like to encourage you to read the three in-depth articles written by Dr Marlene Winell, who originally coined the phrase “Religious Trauma Syndrome”.

They each touch on information that underpins this course.

I am sure you will find them as fascinating and informative as I did.

I will be publishing new articles weekly as part of this course until all 24 topics have been completed.

If you wish to be informed when the next part of this course is published then please subscribe to this publication. In the future I plan to conduct webinars discussing topics contained within the course and will inform those subscribed to this publication of their dates.

Articles on Religious Trauma Syndrome by Dr Marlene Winell

Understanding Religious Trauma Syndrome: It’s Time To Recognize It by Dr Marlene Winell

Understanding Religious Trauma Syndrome: Trauma from Religion by Dr Marlene Winell

Understanding Religious Trauma Syndrome: Trauma from Leaving Religion by Dr Marlene Winell