Ditch Harmful Religion. Find Yourself.
Hi! I’m Christine.
I specialize in helping religious trauma survivors, people in faith transition or deconstruction, and LGBTQIA folx who have been harmed by conservative religion and/ or purity culture. I offer online therapy for clients in California, Florida, and Missouri.
My clients struggle as you do. Despite being intelligent, persevering, and resourceful, life is hard.
When they first come in, they are exhausted from trying to outrun the doubts about their faith in order to hold everything together. That stopped working, and they feel like the entire framework upon which they had built their lives has collapsed. Mental and emotional energy is constantly spent pushing away the crisis of faith and identity just to get through the day and function. They can no longer ignore the pain of being hurt by the church.
They feel stuck because the system that used to bring them a sense of purpose, meaning, and direction no longer aligns with who they are, their values, or their beliefs. They worry that they will never find that sense of purpose or meaning again, and feel directionless. They also blame themselves for not leaving sooner.
They are grieving the loss of the relationships in their faith community, ones that felt like a second family. The people they used to turn to for help or support just don’t get it, are judgmental and shaming about their decision to step away from religion, or were the cause of the hurt themselves. They feel angry that church leaders over-stepped their authority and abused their power, using statements like “God told me to tell you ” when giving advice and guidance.
The pain from their religious trauma gets in the way of the life they want in so many ways. They aren’t the kind of person they want to be. They feel depressed and anxious. They feel like they are failing as a friend, sibling, or partner, and their confidence at work is tanking.
Before they came to see me, they feared that they would never find a sense of purpose or meaning again. They worried that no matter how they described their experiences of religious harm or trauma, no one would truly understand. And they were pretty certain that if they started admitting to themselves (let alone someone else) that they were not okay and that they were really struggling, that the last pieces they were trying to hold together would fall apart. Guilt and self-judgement were suffocating them.
Like my clients, you deserve to heal from your religious trauma and have the life you want: free from internal or external messages of fear and shame; empowered with your sense of worth; connected in relationships that honor your personhood; being able to trust and advocate for yourself; being the authority on you. Feeling alive and whole is not out of your reach.
If you want to heal from the harm you’ve experienced in religion, I’d love to help you.
Therapy For Religious Trauma
Maybe you have experienced religious trauma or spiritual abuse and are wanting to find a therapist who can support you on your healing journey. You’ve come to realize that certain theological messages about yourself, your body, or your human thoughts and emotions were really harmful and have been internalized. Even though you no longer ascribe to those conservative religious beliefs anymore, you still find yourself experiencing feelings of guilt, shame, and fear. Your faith deconstruction has triggered an identity crisis. You’ve thought about finding a religious trauma therapist, and have hoped that it might help you experience peace and freedom about who you are, how you feel, who you love, and what you want.
Therapy For LGBTQIA+ Individuals
Perhaps you are a queer person who is looking for a queer therapist. There are certain things as an LGBTQIA+ individual that you have had to navigate that are unique to the lived experience of a queer person, and you want someone who gets it – not fitting into cultural norms, being a minority related to sexual orientation or gender identity, being excluded because of your identity, questioning every word or action before you speak or act to protect against potential threats, knowing you need to come out to family or friends in order to be able to live fully as yourself but feeling terrified they will reject you. You’ve wondered what it would be like to find an LGBTQIA+ therapist and have wondered if their support might be what you need to grow.
Therapy For Artists and Creatives
Perhaps you are an artist or a creative who is seeking therapy because you are blocked creatively. You need help starting or finishing that creative project. You want to feel satisfied with your creative work and output. You want to feel proud of who you are and the art you create. You don’t want to feel like your perfectionism blocks you from even getting started, much less from putting your art out into the world for others to experience. You have felt the creative spark before, but it feels like stress and pain have extinguished it. You’ve wondered if therapy for artists and creatives exists and could help unlock your creative energy. You’ve also wondered what it would be like to reconnect with your spontaneity, curiosity, and sense of play again.