Religious Trauma & Cults

Acknowledgement of Country

The team at Religious Trauma & Cults acknowledge the traditional owners of the land we work on, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples whose Elders and forebears have been custodians of lands, waters and seas. We are grateful for their stewardship of culture and country and pay our respects to all Indigenous people who engage with our work across the land now called Australia.

Statement of Inclusion & Diversity

The team at Religious Trauma & Cults is all about embracing diversity!

That means celebrating and affirming every LGBTQIA+ identity and showing love and respect for everyone's abilities, cultures, faiths, and bodies. Everyone's unique journey is valued and welcomed with open arms.

In high-control religious environments, doubt was rarely treated as a normal part of faith. It was reframed as weakness, spiritual immaturity, or evidence of a heart that wasn't fully surrendered.

So people learned to perform certainty and over time

High-control religious environments often have emotional rules even if they are never spoken out loud. Some emotions are welcomed and reinforced:

✨ Joy.
✨ Gratitude.
✨ Devotion.
✨ Repentance.
✨ Humility.

Other emotions are discouraged or reframed:

My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Yes, this book is written from and for the United States. And yes, if you're reading this from Australia or Aotearoa; lands that

Many survivors of high-control religious environments remember moments that felt deeply emotional and spiritually powerful.

✨ Music would build slowly.
✨ Lights might dim.
✨ Voices would soften.
✨ Stories of transformation would be shared.
✨ Invitat

We have some news to share with all of you.

After being a founding member and a core part of The Religious Trauma Collective from the very beginning, Jane Kennedy will be stepping back from her role on the team.

This has been a thoughtful decision;

“I feel a peace about it”. We often heard this said in high-control faith spaces, perhaps you’ve said it too. Sometimes it was true and sometimes it's what avoidance sounds like when it's learned to use spiritual language.

In a lot

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