This in-person (located in Columbia, MO but open to residents of Missouri) group is for those who have experienced trauma related to religious settings, and those beginning to explore what their experiences in controlling religious cultures were like.
Do you struggle with anxiety, fear of punishment or inability to trust your own intuition?
Do you have difficulty with emotions – especially anger, guilt, shame or sadness – as a result of ‘stuffing’ emotions based on religious experiences?
Are you grappling with grief, loss or loneliness from spiritual abuse or religious trauma?
Are you looking for a safe, validating and supportive space to better understand and heal from your experiences?
Religious trauma symptoms can include strong feelings of guilt or shame, fear of punishment, difficulty trusting one’s intuition, fear of expressing thoughts, feelings or emotions, and low self-worth or self-esteem. Religious trauma includes both a spiritual nature, as well as the physiological and psychological experience of the abuse and trauma.
This group will seek to provide members a space to better understand and name their experiences of spiritual abuse or religious trauma, identify where they are at in their spiritual journey and recovery, begin processing traumatic experiences with religion while building in-person relationships with others who have experienced similar traumas.
This group is for:
- Those who have experienced trauma from a religious system and/or religious leaders.
- Those who are navigating exploring, understanding and recovering from a religious system.
- Those who are suffering from grief, loss or loneliness due to leaving abusive religious communities.
- Those who are looking for how to move forward after traumatic religious experiences.
What this group will do for you:
- Help you identify where you are at in your spiritual journey, faith shift or deconstruction process.
- Help you process your experiences in a safe, supported and understanding space.
- Help you find community that understands what you’ve experienced.
- Help you identify resources and coping skills to empower you to move forward.
You deserve someone who ‘gets’ what you’ve experienced. Our team of professionals that offer Spiritual Abuse & Religious Trauma groups are also survivors, so while we understand and honor that each individual’s experiences vary, we also understand spiritual abuse from a unique and personal perspective.
Our team is also trained and experienced in trauma-informed care to help you overcome and resolve residual wounds, heal and move forward. It is possible to find healing after painful spiritually abusive experiences and the lingering effects of religious trauma.
To participate in this group, all members will be asked to go through a brief screening to determine if this group is the best fit for you and to ensure safety for all group members.