SPIRITUAL TRAUMA
Healing happens
at the sight of the wound.
When spiritual trauma has occurred, it can feel overwhelming to face, but you don’t have to face it alone. Together, we can approach it gently, with honesty and compassion, and begin to rediscover your sense of safety, wholeness, and belonging in the world.
If you’ve spent time in a high-control or rigid religious environment—whether for a few years or much of your life—you may carry a deep sense of not feeling safe in the world. Many people who seek therapy for religious or spiritual trauma describe feeling disconnected from themselves, from others, and from life itself.
You may notice moments of sadness, confusion, or hopelessness, or find it hard to trust your own inner voice when making decisions. There can be a quiet sense of doubt or mistrust that touches your relationships, your sense of identity, and even your belief in your own worthiness.
Do you feel lost or numb?
You know exactly what others need, but have no idea what feels good to you.
Your attention is constantly focused outward in a vigilant effort to “read the room” in anticipation of what others might say or do.
You lose track of your body, unable to sense your visceral experience and emotions.
You’re highly critical of yourself, believing there’s a criteria of perfection to be met.
The idea of sitting quietly or looking inward is terrifying because you’re afraid of what you might discover.
Maybe you can relate…
I don’t know what prayer is. I do know how to
pay attention, how to fall down int the grass, how to kneel down in the grass, how to be idle and blessed how to stroll through the fields, which is what I have been doing all day.
— Mary Oliver —
Feeling excited about your day when you wake up.
Knowing what feels right, good and true for you, and making choices base on these feelings.
Being able to in engage in interactions with others without alienating them, or being afraid you might lose or betray yourself.
Feeling at ease in your body, able to experience compassion for whatever you might be experiencing in any given moment.
Feeling a deep sense of connection to yourself, to others and to your life.
It’s possible to feel better.
Imagine this…
When we return to the living world around us, we also return to the living world within. Time spent in the natural world awakens the untamed and diverse aspects of our inner landscape, reminding us of our belonging to something
vast and alive.
— Arne Naess —
Nurture a sense of belonging.
You who have experienced spiritual trauma need healing that comes from a personal and direct experience of your true, untamed being, free from the restrictions of conditioning. In recovery from high-control religions, we uncover an implicit connection to the natural environment, which informs and reflects your relationship with your inherent nature. We will explore the unconscious beliefs and influences that undermine your innate sense of well being and create new, more accurate beliefs.
I provide religious trauma therapy to adults in Oregon. I tailor the work based on the needs and goals of each client in a collaborative, non-judgmental process. Therapy for spiritual trauma consists of 55 minute, one-on-one sessions.