RELIGIOUS TRAUMA

I tell you a (true) story. Trigger warning for mention of abuse and abuse dynamics, but examples only referenced in passing. No in depth discussion or detailed disclosures. Trigger warning also for mention of God.

We explain the story of one of our only two lifelong friends, who was witness to some of our experiences. We tell the husband about our experience interviewing her for therapy and maybe the podcast. Trigger warning for references to abuse and trauma from parents, teachers, and youth ministers, but no specific disclosures or details are made. Also passing reference to mother’s suicide attempt, but only in a sentence and zero details or discussion.

Our interview with The English Teacher, about our timeline and putting pieces together. Trigger warning for references to abuse, therapist trauma, and church school experiences. No detailed disclosures specifically, but trauma timeline discussed and experiences referenced (including abuse and rape).

The conversation with The English Teacher continues, as she shares what it was like being groomed by a therapist for a relationship outside of therapy. We also discuss our transition away from The Therapist over the last year. We also discuss friendship issues, and what is healthy and what is toxic. Trigger warning for mention of abuse and grooming. There is also a “cult” reference about a church, but in context of stopping the cycle (no details or any SRA or MC references, only the evangelical reference).

We close our conversation with The English Teacher with more timeline and processing. We talk about how parenting can trigger developmental trauma memories, but also how our past can help us be better parents. She also explains about her experience in a Christian “cult” and what that was like realizing she wanted out. We also talk some about switching, and how the last year impacted different parts’ access to safe people. We introduce the concept of Betrayal Trauma. Trigger warning for mention of abuse, trafficking, pornography, adoption, rape, and developmental trauma.

While not going into detail, this episode discusses religious trauma explicitly and directly. We share with the husband about receiving a message from a college friend who found the podcast. We use what she shared and what we have done in therapy thus far to piece together part of a timeline… and grieve its implications.

Our friend Kim is back to school us on relationship privacy. We process what we learned from the Seasons of Love episode. We share experiences about religious trauma in LGBT lives and how we have navigated it differently. She shares her perspective on being a supporter of a loved one with DID.

We talk with our friend from college, sharing what it was like to hear from her roommate after she came on the podcast last year. We reminisce about how we experienced college and how she experienced our DID. We begin exploring the layers of religious and relational trauma we experienced there. While no details are disclosed, trauma is referenced in the context of religious trauma, relational trauma, and child abuse. As always, please care for yourself during and after listening to the podcast.

We talk with our friend from college. We reminisce about how we experienced college and how she experienced our DID. We explore the layers of religious and relational trauma we experienced there. While no details are disclosed, trauma is referenced in the context of religious trauma, relational trauma, and child abuse. As always, please care for yourself during and after listening to the podcast.

We talk with our friend from college. We reminisce about how we experienced college and how she experienced our DID. We explore the layers of religious and relational trauma we experienced there. While no details are disclosed, trauma is referenced in the context of religious trauma, relational trauma, and child abuse. As always, please care for yourself during and after listening to the podcast.

We talk with our friend from college. We reminisce about how we experienced college and how she experienced our DID. We explore the layers of religious and relational trauma we experienced there. While no details are disclosed, trauma is referenced in the context of religious trauma, relational trauma, and child abuse. As always, please care for yourself during and after listening to the podcast.

We read emails from our friend Elle, who wrote to us after hearing the Hallelujah and Roomies episodes last year, and in preparation to coming on the podcast for her episodes. Content note: due to the nature of discussion, this episode does discuss religious trauma. As part of this, suicidal ideation and self-harm are both mentioned, but only in passing reference and without any detail or discussion. As always, care for yourself during and after listening to the podcast. Thank you.

We share an update on therapy, religious trauma books we have been reading, and what we have been learning.

We continue reading “Leaving the Fold” about religious trauma.

We go through more of the book “Leaving the Fold” about religious trauma.  At the ten minute mark, in my example of leaving the family, I am talking about my family of origin when I was barely an adult.

We talked about the “Shiny Happy People” documentary about the religious trauma we grew up in and in which our college experiences happened.

We talk with the children about the “Leaving the Fold” book, and have a conversation about healthy family dynamics.