Therapy for Religious Trauma & High-Control Religion Recovery
Hi! I’m Christine.
I’m a religious trauma therapist offering online therapy for people recovering from religious trauma, spiritual abuse, and the effects of high-control religion in California, Florida, and Missouri. I also support people in faith deconstruction as well as LGBTQIA folx harmed by conservative religion or purity culture.
Ditch Harmful Religion. Find Yourself.
My clients often arrive feeling the way you might right now: exhausted.
They are intelligent, thoughtful, and deeply reflective people. They’ve spent years trying to make their faith work — praying harder, questioning themselves, pushing their doubts aside, bypassing their very real and human emotions — hoping things would eventually make sense again.
But eventually that strategy stops working.
The framework they once built their life around begins to crack. And suddenly an enormous amount of mental and emotional energy is spent simply trying to keep everything from falling apart.
They’re no longer able to ignore the impact of what they experienced in church — the shame, the manipulation, the fear, the pressure to obey and conform and to suppress their doubts.
Many of my clients feel stuck because the environments they came from had so many rules about how to think, feel, and behave that they were not allowed to ever truly be themselves. Over time, they learned to monitor themselves constantly — questioning their instincts, suppressing their needs, and worrying about whether they were doing something wrong. Even after leaving those environments or no longer believing the theology, that conditioning lingers. Things that should feel simple — making decisions, trusting their own judgment, asserting what they need, or exploring what they actually want — can feel loaded with anxiety.
They often find themselves wondering:
It’s probably just me.
Will I ever feel certain about anything again?
I should be over this by now.
Did I ruin my life by leaving?
Why didn’t I see the signs sooner?
There is often deep grief around the loss of relationships within their faith community — relationships that once felt like a second family. The people they once turned to for support either don’t understand, respond with judgment or shame, or were the source of the harm themselves. Some relationships quietly fade away or end abruptly once doubts are voiced or someone steps outside the expectations of the community. People who once felt like family may stop calling, avoid difficult conversations, or disappear from their lives entirely.
Many religious trauma survivors also carry deep anger toward church leaders who overstepped their authority, sometimes using phrases like “God told me to tell you…” to pressure or control the people who trusted them.
Over time, the impact of religious trauma can begin to touch every part of life. Anxiety and depression become constant companions. Confidence starts to erode. Relationships feel harder. A sense of purpose and meaning in life that once felt very clear now feels confusing or out of reach.
Before starting therapy, many of my clients quietly worry that no one will truly understand what happened to them. They worry that if they finally admit how much they’re struggling, everything they’ve been trying so hard to hold together might begin to unravel.
If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone.
Healing from religious trauma and spiritual abuse is possible, and working with a therapist who understands high-control religion and religious trauma recovery can make a huge difference.
Therapy can help you make sense of what you went through in high control religion, untangle the harmful messages you’ve carried for years, and start building a life that actually fits who you are.
Feeling alive and whole is not out of reach.
If you want to heal from the harm you’ve experienced in religion, I’d love to help you.
Therapy Designed for Survivors of Religious Harm
Religious Trauma Therapy
If you grew up in a high-control religious environment, you may carry shame, anxiety, or confusion even after leaving. Religious trauma therapy helps you make sense of what happened, start trusting yourself again, and take steps toward a life that feels like yours.
Faith Deconstruction Therapy
Reexamining beliefs that once felt certain can be both freeing and disorienting. Faith deconstruction therapy offers support to explore your values, identity, and purpose while navigating the shifts in your spiritual beliefs.
Spiritual Abuse Therapy
Spiritual abuse happens when authority, doctrine, or community pressure is used to control, manipulate, or shame you. Therapy provides space to process these experiences, reclaim your voice, and rebuild safety in yourself and your relationships.
LGBTQ+ Affirming Therapy
As a queer-identifying therapist, I provide a safe, affirming space for LGBTQ+ clients, especially those recovering from religious harm. Therapy helps you navigate identity, relationships, and self-acceptance while healing from past spiritual or societal pressures.