What is Religious Trauma Syndrome?

Religious Trauma Syndrome (RTS) is experienced by those who are struggling with leaving an authoritarian religion such as cults, fundamentalism, and abuse.

These people might be considering leaving their religious community or have already left and coping with the remnants of the chronic trauma and abuse.

There are physical, emotional, and psychological damages after leaving an authoritarian indoctrination.

RTS is still a relatively new term and is gaining traction among researchers and clinicians.

Religious Trauma Symptoms & Effects

• Somatization or bodily impacts

  • Headaches and migraines

  • Tensions and pains

  • Stomach aches

• Behaviors

  • Addictive behaviors and tendencies to numb feelings and pain

    • Restricting food

    • Over eating

    • Overly exercising

    • Perfectionism

    • Porn addiction

    • Self-harm

  • Substance use

  • Mistrust of others

  • Pushing others away when things get intimate

• Cognitive

  • Intrusive memories like nightmares and flashbacks

  • Confusion

  • Negative beliefs about self-ability and self-worth

  • Perfectionism

  • Difficulty with decision-making

• Emotional

  • Shame (“I am bad”)

  • Guilt (“I did something bad”)

  • Emotional dysregulation (feeling too much, overwhelmed with emotions)

  • Emotional inhibition (restricting, avoiding, or denying emotions)

  • Depression

  • Anxiety

    • Worry about the past

    • Worry about the future

  • Anger

    • Rage against what has happened

    • Indignation over things not being fair

  • Grief and loss

    • Loss of self

    • Loss of belonging

    • Loss of community

    • Loss of childhood

    • Loss of what could be

    • Loss of secure attachment

    • Loss of trust

    • Loss of identity

  • Loneliness

  • Difficulty with pleasure

  • Loss of meaning

• Social

  • Loss of social network and support

  • Withdrawing and isolating self

  • Family conflicts

  • Sexual difficulty

• Cultural

  • Unfamiliarity with the secular world

  • Difficulty feeling like they belong

  • Feeling out of touch with mainstream media and culture

What Causes Religious Trauma & Abuse?

• A literal interpretation of the sacred text (whether Bible, Quran, or Torah)

  • Expectations and pressures (e.g. gender roles, sexuality, desire, family roles)

  • Binary ways of thinking vs. flexibility and complexity

  • Conformity: There is only one way to be under and within a religion

    • “Divorce is bad”

    • “Going to hell if you are gay”

    • “Difference is bad”

    • “Women must get married”

    • “You need to have children”

• Emotional abuse

  • Toxic teachings like eternal damnation or original sin

  • Religious practices or mindset, such as punishment, black and white thinking, or sexual guilt

  • Neglect that prevents a person from having the information or opportunities to develop normally

• A higher level of fundamentalism and authoritarianism

  • Social isolation

  • Prejudice against other religions or other communities outside of your religion and faith

  • Fear and anxiety

• Extrinsic religious orientation

  • “Using” religion, rather than “living” religion

  • Greater negativity toward those who are different than your religion and faith

These risks present in different ways in different populations and religions/faiths.

Who Is At Risk Of Religious Trauma & Abuse?

• Children

  • Disciplining children

  • Adults using their power and control over children due to their age, size, and young development

• Women

  • Religious abuse in conjunction with intimate partner violence/domestic violence and/or gender based violence

  • Gender norms and roles

• People of Color

  • Exclusion due to histories and present day colonization, racism, oppression, violence, discrimination

• People Who Identify as LGBTQIA+

  • Exclusion due to sexuality, desire, gender, and attraction differences

  • Sexual minorities

  • Gender minorities

What Happens To Gay & Queer People Living Under Religious Trauma?

• Feeling like they are bad, wrong, or flawed

• Not belonging and lack of community

• Fear, anxiety, and worry of coming out

• Internalized homophobia (or learning to hate themselves for existing as gay)

• Shifts their way of thinking from balanced into more extreme thinking (bad/good, yes/no, love/hate)

Intersectionality: When Religion, Race, Ethnicity Meets Sexual Identity, Desire, and Attraction

Religious trauma and abuse is further complicated and complex when issues of migration, race, ethnicity, and culture comes into the picture.

All these parts of your identity impact your symptoms, experiences, and how you make sense of the world. I approach all parts of you and your stories with dignity, compassion, and kindness.

I specialize in working with the following populations:

• Immigrants

• Children of immigrants

• Refugees

• Children of refugees

What I Will Not Do In Session

• Invalidate you

• Blame you for you what has happened to you

• Try to change you in any way

• Force you to answer questions

• Let you set the pace of therapy (“we go at the pace of trust”)

What I Will Do In Session

• Provide psychoeducation on what therapy is and what you can expect

• Empowering you and giving you back a sense of control and certainty

• Creating a physically and emotionally safe environment for you as much as possible

• Asking you what role you would like religion to play in your life (if any)

• Acknowledges the damage done by your religious communities

• Show up as authentically me rather than the “professional” stereotype of what a therapist should be

• Respect your culture, religion, and other parts of your identities

• Practice openness, curiosity, and non-judgment

• Provide you a space to process and explore your stories

• Check in with you regularly to see how you feel things are going and if you are getting what you need

• See you as a whole and complex human being

• Value your inherent strengths and sources of resilience

• Guide you toward self-love, affirmation, and an authentic life based on what it is that you ultimately want

My Experience Working With Gay & Queer Muslims

There is rich diversity in how Islam is practiced by individual Muslims due to migration status, culture, race, and ethnicity.

People interpret the religion differently and try to practice this interpretation within the American context. 

There is also a lack of research in the United States on working therapeutically with Muslim clients.

The most important things I’ve learned are this:

• Maintaining confidentiality and fear of information being shared within the community

• To understand the impact of religion in your life

• To learn what Islam is and is not

• Differentiating between religious and cultural beliefs

• To learn about your spiritual and cultural resilience and strengths

• To learn about the systemic oppression and violence Muslims face in this country and internationally

• To work on my own implicit perceptions, stereotypes, and beliefs around Islam

• To be okay not providing answers and advice, but rather providing support, validation, and space

My Experience Working With Gay & Queer Catholics

There is rich diversity in how Catholicism is practiced by individual Catholics due to migration status, culture, race, and ethnicity.

People interpret the religion differently and try to practice this interpretation within the American context. 

The most important things I’ve learned are this:

• To learn about the spiritual and cultural resilience and strengths of my clients

• To work on my own implicit biases and stereotypes around Catholicism

• To be okay not providing answers and advice, but rather providing support, validation, and space

• To continue doing my own work around my past experiences as someone who grew up in a strict, traditional Roman Catholic faith

Finding An Affirming Mental Health Therapist For Religious Trauma

• Someone who has experience, knowledge, and skills with trauma and trauma informed care

• Someone who is committed to doing their own lifelong “work” around religion, bias, and trauma

• Someone who is open, curious, and nonjudgmental

• Someone who understands the complexities of identities including: race, ethnicity, religion, migration, gender, sexuality, class, and more

Trauma Resources

• Looking for more trauma resources? Click here for a list of evidenced based trauma therapies, books, and workbooks.