Religious Trauma Therapy in Texas and Colorado
Religious Trauma Therapy in Texas and Colorado
“They called it love.
I call it survival.”
—Inspired by Still Truths, Ep. 7
One of the most frustrating things I have noticed about healing from religious trauma is how often it is reduced, in therapy spaces and cultural narratives, to a neat before-and-after story… (see below)
Assumed Healing Path:
Belief * → Questioning → Deconstruction → Reconstruction*
This assumes that healing from religious trauma “ends” at deconstruction or reconstruction. Religious trauma does not necessarily unfold or heal along a linear path.
Not everyone began from a place of belief, and not everyone moves toward or desires reconstruction.
Everyone’s journey is their own.
Not everyone began from a place of belief, and not everyone moves toward or desires reconstruction.
Everyone’s journey is their own.
What gets left outside the margins?
Your experience may be far more complicated than a beginning, middle, and end:
Feeling free and afraid at the same time
Fear of consequences you no longer intellectually believe in
Grieving people, community, traditions, or belonging
Carrying shame or guilt long after your beliefs have changed
Trying to figure out who you are
Losing or becoming distant from family, friends, or community
Struggling to trust yourself or other people after being taught to distrust your own judgment or intuition
Feeling betrayed by people or institutions
Untangling what you were taught about your body, sexuality, gender, relationships, and what it meant to be “good”
Religion can be intertwined with the architecture through which we understand ourselves and the world.
So when that architecture crumbles, the questions that follow aren't necessarily just theological.
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Can I be honest about what I believe without losing people I love?
How do I cope when love or acceptance feels conditional?
How much of myself do I have to hide to keep the peace?
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If everything I understood about reality changes, what do I trust now?
How do I make peace with uncertainty when I was taught there was an answer for everything?
Who am I outside of the identity I was given?
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How do I know I'm a good person without someone else defining “goodness” for me?
Why do I still feel guilty about things I no longer believe are wrong?
Which of my values are actually mine, and which were given to me?
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Why am I terrified when I know I'm not doing anything wrong?
Can I trust what my body is telling me?
Can I dress or express myself in ways that feel like me without shame?
Religious trauma can bleed into attachment, institutional betrayal, estrangement, grief, identity, morality, self-trust, relationships, reality, substance use, dissociation, and the nervous system.
Healing deserves room for all of it.
Therapy for the full archive.
My approach is trauma-focused, dissociation-aware, and meaning-oriented. I will never force you to debate theology, and I will never ask you to revisit experiences before you feel ready.
Early work often focuses on stabilization:
understanding what activates fear or shame
practicing ways to stay present
strengthening boundaries
helping you relate to your internal experiences with more curiosity
Our work may incorporate:
EMDR and parts-informed EMDR to carefully work with distressing memories
parts work to understand protective responses
ACT and existential therapy to explore uncertainty, values, freedom, responsibility, grief, and meaning
mind-body and grounding practices adapted for trauma, chronic illness, neurodivergence, and dissociation
LEARN more about my approach here.
I provide secular therapy, meaning I will not use scripture, prayer, religious doctrine, or my own beliefs to direct your treatment. Your beliefs/non-beliefs are yours to define.
Frequently Asked Questions
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You do not need to prove that your experience was severe enough or use a particular label. Religious harm can involve fear-based teachings, coercion, shame, discrimination, authoritarian leadership, purity culture, suppression of identity, family control, institutional betrayal, or the loss of belonging after questioning. We can focus on what happened, how you had to adapt, what it taught you, and how it impacts you now.
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Totally fair question, especially if a therapist, religious/spiritual leader, or helping professional, or someone else has previously used their beliefs to dismiss or reinterpret your experiences.
I do not provide Christian or faith-based counseling or practice from a set religious dogma. I do not treat one spiritual or secular outcome as healthier than another, and I will not use scripture, prayer, ideas about sin or spiritual warfare, or pressure toward forgiveness to guide your treatment.
Instead, we can explore your experiences using your language, beliefs, values, and understanding of what happened. You can decide whether spirituality/religion has any place in our work, and I will ask rather than assume.
You are also welcome to question my approach or tell me when something feels too familiar to the framework that harmed you. My role is not to replace one prescribed worldview with another, but to help you gain/regain choice and trust in your own judgment.
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Nope! Forgiveness and reconciliation are not requirements for healing. If forgiveness is personally meaningful to you, you may choose to discuss it, but it will never be imposed as a moral obligation or therapeutic milestone.
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Nope, you may want to remain connected to your religion, redefine it, explore another tradition, become secular, or leave the question open. I will not treat returning to religion, or leaving it, as evidence that you are more healed. The goal is greater freedom and trust in your ability to make your own choices.