Rating
Book Blurb
Religious trauma is something that happens far more often than most people realize. But religious trauma is trauma.
In When Religion Hurts You , Dr. Laura Anderson takes an honest look at a side of religion that few like to talk about. Drawing from her own life and therapy practice, she helps readers understand what religious trauma is and isn’t, and how high-control churches can be harmful and abusive, often resulting in trauma. She shows how elements of fundamentalist church life–such as fear of hell, purity culture, corporal punishment, and authoritarian leaders–can cause psychological, relational, physical, and spiritual damage.
As she explores the growing phenomenon of religious trauma, Dr. Anderson helps readers embark on a journey of living as healing individuals and finding a new foundation to stand on. Recognising that healing is a lifelong rather than a linear process, she offers markers of healing for those coming out of painful religious experiences and hope for finding wholeness after religious trauma.
My Thoughts
I this book quicker than I have with anything else so far. Not only is it in a league of its own, but it is SO validating and encouraging! I am going to call it now, I think it will remain as one of the best books I will read this year.
Dr Laura talks about the reality of religious trauma not just from a therapeutic stance but also a personal one. She speaks from the heart, from her own experiences and from her pain.
It is knowledgable and relatable on the areas of High Control Religion (HCR) and the impact this has on our nervous system and body. The important part for me, is that she does this without bashing religion, church, God or those who are a part of faith communities.
Dr. Laura presents an abundance of helpful information throughout the book, as well as strategies the reader can implement to aid their own healing process and find safety within their own body again. Some of the things she covers in the book include:
- what spiritual abuse and religious trauma is and how it presents
- how trauma shows up in the body and impacts people long after they have left the harmful environment
- how the nervous system works and the connection between dysregulation and fundamentalism
- purity culture and hierarchical systems play into abusive environments
- how patriarchy is so frequently “the foundation of oppression,”
- rebuilding identity after leaving such environments and / or deconstructing
My Favourite Bits
“When my focus was on eternity in heaven and the specific ways that I needed to live to get there, I missed life on earth”
“When dynamics of power and control are at play in a relationship or system, over time the person in the position of power strips the victim(s) of autonomy, voice, and choice. In the case of HCRs, it is easier for leaders to gain power and control because they appear to be backed by God, and they can wield the threat of eternal consequences. Add to this how many HCRs teach that humans are inherently sinful, that they cannot trust themselves, and that they will never choose good on their own. Individuals in these systems are primed to discard their minds, bodies, and sense of self in favor of the Bible, religious leadership, and God.”
“Our bodies hold the stories of what has happened to us, but they also hold the map to healing. Our bodies are brilliant and can lead us home, to ourselves, if we will let them.”
Overall
I have always found Dr Laura to be a wise and compassionate educator on religious trauma. I’m grateful for her voice and this book from a personal perspective; as someone who is navigating her own religious trauma.
I am also grateful for this book as a therapeutic resource for many of my clients. Whilst it is not an exhaustive look at religious trauma; it is a defining moment to have a book like this validate and discuss so much of what we are experiencing.
I hope that many people get their hands on this book; those who navigate religious trauma themselves and those who have relationships (professional and personal) with them. I hope it is one of many more books that we get from Dr Laura.
Where Can I Get It?
You can find it at most bookstores; here it is on Booktopia.
To find out more about Dr Laura; head to her website.
Want to know more about my story of religious trauma? You can download my Ebook “A Shattered Sanctuary: From Fellowship to Freedom”.