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Chances are you are here because of a concern about religious harm, recovering from an authoritarian religion, or suffering from religious trauma.  You may have heard of Religious Trauma Syndrome (“RTS”), which is comparable to post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD but specifically induced by Toxic Religious Experiences.  RTS is a result of 1) toxic teachings and practices within the religion and 2) the trauma of leaving the religion. You can read more about it here.

Recovering from religious harm is multi-faceted and a relatively new field of study.  There is a range of harm done by religion, (despite the positive contributions of healthy religion) and various levels of suffering and coping, depending on individual differences.  While some people are able to walk away and most report feelings of relief and liberation, many people are deeply damaged and can carry scars for decades.  Now we have a name for this damaged condition and we need to take it seriously. (more…)

General Comments I had a fantastic experience and am so thankful to finally identify what the hell I’ve been struggling with for 35 years.  I felt loved, cared for, and listened to.  I had a very positive, helpful, and healing Read more…

Reclaimers1, you are the pioneers. Reclaimers discard their confining religions and free their minds from the cages made in churches. I support you, I help you, but most of all, I salute you. Because it is clear to me after Read more…

Factors in Childhood Indoctrination in Fundamentalist Christianity

From this graphic, it should be clear that a child in a fundamentalist Christian environment faces a powerful array of factors influencing indoctrination. Many of these techniques are quite deliberate, such as keeping children at home for their schooling to control what they learn and don’t learn.  The primary goal of sincere Christian parents is to pass on their faith, not help their child develop critical thinking to make a fully informed decision about religion.  Christians do not present their offspring with literature on all the religions of the world and make field trips to temples, churches and mosques to help them decide.  Yet in their theology they claim that “accepting Jesus” is a personal choice of free will and only those who reject God’s free gift of salvation will go to hell. (more…)

Julia is a reclaimer who lives in London.   She is contributing poems to an upcoming anthology called “Happy Heretics:  Tips for Recovering from Harmful Religion.”   She is writing a memoir about growing up in a strict evangelical family and also a novel.  She recently performed a number of poems, including the one below, and sent me this link.  She is a great writer and you can get her humor even more when you watch the video.  And be sure not to miss the poem about Lot’s wife at 6.22.

                                                               “The Visiting Speaker”

But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me serve alone? Luke 10:40

Typical. The minute there’s a man about the house

she’s off, leaving me to get on (more…)

Ever really thought about what the doctrine of original sin does to a person’s sense of self-worth and capability?  I collected these Christian sayings and letters and made this video.  Have a look. (Click on title) Christian slogans and degraded Read more…

At this time of year it’s hard to avoid dealing with the differences you have with your family. If you are a “reclaimer” (reclaiming your life after being religious) who has been raised in a religious household, holiday times can be very uncomfortable when other family members are still devout.  Having worked through these issues with many clients, here are a few guidelines that might be helpful.

I’ll start by suggesting you write in a journal, starting now and continuing through the holidays. This can help you sort through jumbled thoughts and emotions, stay on track with how you are trying to handle things, take care of yourself, and learn.  There are exercises here to prompt your thinking.

In general, if you plan to be with family at this time, it helps a great deal to approach the holidays with a high level of consciousness.  In other words, don’t just blindly go home for Christmas, hoping it will be fine.  What do you really expect it might be like?  This refers to both external factors and how you will feel.  What experiences have you had so far with your family?  What have you found to work or not work in getting along?  Write something about this in your journal. (more…)