Religious Trauma & Spiritual Abuse Recovery

You feel like a fraud sitting in church, nodding along to sermons that make your soul recoil, wondering if everyone else can see through your performance.

You're drowning in guilt and shame for having "forbidden" thoughts about your faith, for questioning what you were taught was unquestionable, for being human in ways you were told were sinful.

You're terrified of losing everything – your family, your community, your sense of belonging – if they discover the questions that keep you awake at night.

You don't know who you are without the religious identity that once defined everything about your life, your relationships, your purpose.

You're grieving the loss of certainty while desperately searching for something real to hold onto in a world that suddenly feels groundless.

You feel utterly alone in a journey that seems to have no roadmap, no guidebook, no one who truly understands.

Hi, I'm Devan, and I've walked this path myself. I know the terror of realizing everything you've built your life on might be crumbling. I know the suffocating weight of pretending to be someone you're not. I know the deep grief of losing not just beliefs, but an entire identity.

But I also know something else: there is life—real, authentic, beautiful life—on the other side of religious deconstruction.

The very core of who you are—your deepest values, your capacity for love, your innate wisdom—none of that disappears when doctrine does.

You might experience:

• • Persistent guilt about normal human experiences like anger, sexuality, doubt, or boundary-setting
• • Fear of divine punishment that creates chronic anxiety and hypervigilance
• • Identity confusion when your sense of self was entirely wrapped up in religious roles
• • Relationship struggles as you navigate changing beliefs with family and community
• • Decision-making paralysis when you were never taught to trust your own judgment
• • Spiritual homelessness – wanting connection to something sacred but feeling unable to trust religious spaces

For LGBTQ+ Survivors

If you were told your sexuality or gender identity was sinful, I want you to know: You were never too much. You were just not meant to fit in a mold that was never made for you.

The devastating lie that your essence – your capacity to love, your authentic gender expression, your true self – was somehow wrong or broken requires specialized healing. We'll work together to dismantle these harmful messages and reclaim the sacred truth of who you are.

For Neurodivergent Survivors

If your brain was called "demonic," if your stimming was labeled "spiritual oppression," if your need for routine or literal thinking was seen as "lacking faith" – that wasn't spiritual discernment. That was ableism wrapped in religious language.

Your neurological differences aren't spiritual problems to be solved. They're part of the beautiful complexity of who you are.

For BIPOC Survivors

If your cultural heritage was dismissed as "pagan," if you were taught that your ancestors' wisdom was demonic, if white supremacy was embedded in your religious teachings – that wound runs deep through generations.

Healing means reclaiming not just your individual authentic self, but reconnecting with the cultural and spiritual wisdom that was taken from you and your family.

Understanding Religious Residue

Even after you intellectually reject harmful beliefs, they often remain in your body and unconscious mind as "religious residue" – automatic thought patterns, unexpected emotional triggers, and behavioral patterns that no longer serve you.

We'll gently identify and release these patterns using:

• ✓ Somatic awareness to help your body unlearn chronic hypervigilance
• ✓ EMDR to process traumatic religious experiences that still feel present
• ✓ Cognitive restructuring to replace inherited thoughts with your own wisdom
• ✓ Nervous system regulation to calm the chronic fear response religious trauma creates

Reclaiming Your Voice

You'll learn to:

• ✓ Trust your own judgment about what feels true and life-giving
• ✓ Set boundaries with people and systems that try to control your beliefs
• ✓ Navigate family relationships with love and integrity when beliefs differ
• ✓ Explore spirituality on your own terms, if and when you're ready

Building Your New Foundation

Together we'll:

• ✓ Identify your authentic values beneath what you were taught to believe
• ✓ Develop a personal moral compass based on love rather than fear
• ✓ Create meaning and purpose that comes from your heart, not external demands
• ✓ Find community with others who understand your journey