Religion & Spirituality

One's religious and spiritual identity is a significant dimension of being human. When this is important to someone, working with it intentionally in the therapeutic space can enhance one's wellbeing and health. I will listen carefully to your spiritual and religious beliefs, and help you integrate practices from within your framework to improve your personal flourishing.

At the same time, when religion or spirituality has been used to cause harm, it can negatively impact one's mental health in multifaceted ways. I do not make the decision about whether or not this is brought into the therapy space; I will always follow your lead.

If this is an important area of your life, whether you hold it as a sacred part of your identity that you want to integrate further, or whether you want to process traumatic material from these experiences, I am trained to provide precise support so that you can deeply clarify the role you want this dimension of the human experience to play in your life.

Religious Deconstruction

Deconstruction is a process where someone begins asking questions of the faith system they inherited. These questions might be sparked by a loss or change, or they could be brought on by curiosity. When someone is embedded in a faith community and they begin having questions and doubts, it can be lonely to keep all of these thoughts inside. I encourage you to ask these questions and I will support you as you risk naming something tender out loud for the first time.

Religious Trauma

Religious trauma occurs when someone is significantly harmed by their religious leader, community, or belief system. This form of trauma can lead to chronic self-doubt, anxiety or fear about punishment, and difficulty making choices for oneself. Working through this form of trauma can be a slow process as religious and spiritual beliefs touch all areas of a person’s life, and involve recovering from embodied experiences of shame and fear.

Faith Reconstruction

After deconstructing faith, many (but not all) people become interested in reclaiming some beliefs, but doing so in a very intentional and careful way. Rebuilding a belief system can be exhausting and isolating work, especially when one’s community still holds beliefs you no longer embrace. I support you in thinking through and reclaiming or reconstructing beliefs you find life-affirming. I work with you to clarify your values, purpose, and identify what brings meaning to your life.