Religious & Complex Trauma

  • Healing Through Somatic Therapy

    Religious trauma refers to the psychological and emotional harm caused by experiences within religious or spiritual contexts. This may include fear-based teachings, spiritual abuse, authoritarian control, punishment for questioning beliefs, or being ostracized for not conforming to religious norms. These experiences can severely damage a person’s sense of identity, safety, and trust in themselves and others.

    Complex trauma, also known as complex PTSD (C-PTSD), results from prolonged or repeated exposure to traumatic events, often beginning in childhood. This might include chronic neglect, emotional abuse, or living in a persistently unsafe environment. Unlike single-event trauma (like a car accident), complex trauma accumulates over time and deeply affects a person's nervous system, attachment style, and sense of self.

    Religious trauma often overlaps with complex trauma when harmful spiritual environments are sustained over years—especially in rigid, authoritarian, or abusive religious systems.




Religious Trauma Healing for the LGBTQ+ Community

For queer and trans individuals, religious trauma can be especially devastating. Many traditional or conservative religious institutions promote rejection of LGBTQ+ identities through teachings that label them as sinful, unnatural, or deviant. This rejection often extends beyond doctrine to include:

  • Family rejection

  • Forced conversion therapy

  • Public shaming or excommunication

  • Internalized homophobia or transphobia

  • Loss of community or spiritual identity

Growing up in environments where one’s core identity is invalidated or demonized can lead to intense shame, chronic anxiety, dissociation, depression, and a fractured sense of self. Many LGBTQ+ individuals also experience spiritual grief, mourning the loss of a spiritual home that was once central to their lives.

Bottom-Up Approaches to Trauma Recovery

Most traditional talk therapies focus on cognitive processing ("top-down" approaches). While this can be helpful, trauma is stored in the body—not just in the mind. That’s why bottom-up therapies are often more effective for religious and complex trauma. These methods help clients regulate their nervous system, reconnect with their bodies, and rebuild a sense of safety and self-trust.

What Is a Bottom-Up Approach?

Bottom-up therapy focuses on healing from the body upward, rather than from the brain down. It recognizes that trauma is stored in the body, and that emotional regulation and safety must begin with sensory awareness and somatic (bodily) experiences. The goal is to reset the nervous system, reduce hypervigilance, and restore a felt sense of safety.