THERAPY IN COLORADO & ONLINE COACHING NATIONWIDE
Therapy Specialty Areas
There is no way to encompass every possibility for what could be addressed or discussed in therapy together, but we hope the descriptions below can provide an overview of some of the topics that might be prevalent, and can provide validation if you are struggling in one of these areas.
If what you would like to process through falls outside this list, or you are wondering if we would be a good fit for working together, you can fill out our contact form with any questions, or ask to schedule a free consultation.
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Faith Shifts, Deconstruction, and Church Hurt
If you’re experiencing doubt, are wanting to explore different ways of understanding your faith, or are considering leaving it all behind, we would love to explore your questions and uncertainty with you. We will never tell you what you should or shouldn’t believe, but will instead help you go deeper into your personal exploration. An often overlooked aspect of beliefs shifting is the potential loss of relationships, community, or even career. So whether it’s the actual beliefs, or the fear and struggle with potential fallout, there can be a lot to work through related to deconstruction. Church hurt or abuse is another often overlooked area that can cause you to question things, or to need a safe space to explore that hurt with someone who understands the context of the church without any pressure for you to return to a certain setting or belief that has harmed you.
Religious Trauma
Many people who grew up in fundamentalist or Evangelical churches experience trauma symptoms related to their experience. Some examples of this include deep, chronic shame; having triggers that lead you to panic, shut down, or experience anxiety; intense fears of death or hell; feeling like you can’t trust yourself or your body; believing or feeling that you are impure for sexual thoughts or feelings; or generally experiencing other forms of anxiety or avoidance related to your experiences of religion. Religious trauma is often overlooked in therapeutic settings where it is not understood or recognized as trauma.
Sex, Purity Culture, & LGBTQ+ Issues
From over-prioritizing sexual purity, to the oppression of the LGBTQ+ community, to silencing victims of sexual abuse, the Church has often been a source of pain and trauma when it comes to sex and sexuality. For some, it may be seemingly small things that piled up, while for others their sexual orientation has led being exiled from their community, but regardless of the circumstances, sexual issues are often shrouded in secrecy, confusion, and shame. Our hope when working with these issues is to always come at them gently and with compassion, and to bring light and understanding to what you are feeling emotionally as well as within your body to move towards health and healing.
Relationship Struggles
Navigating relationships during or after a faith deconstruction comes with its own set of complexities. Whether you are figuring out family relationships, marriage, dating, or friendships, we know that when your beliefs change, your relationships often change too. Some relationship areas we work with include:
Healing from childhood trauma and unhealthy family dynamics
Setting boundaries and/or figuring out what kind of relationship you want with family members
Struggles in dating or marriage, creating new relationship patterns, discernment around whether to stay in a relationship, healing from divorce
Friendships and finding community
Depression, Anxiety, OCD, PTSD, Neurodivergence
If you are not sure what the impact of your faith background has had on you, but you are currently struggling with something like Depression, Anxiety, OCD, PTSD, or impacts from being neurodivergent, then it can still be incredibly helpful to work with a therapist who understands the ins and outs of Christianity and how certain aspects of your experience may have impacted or interacted with your mental health. Working in community and private practice settings, these are the most common presenting concerns for the clients we worked with, and we would love to be able to work through these issues with you.
Rebuilding
For many who have gone through a period of deconstructing their faith, there eventually comes a time when they would like to rebuild a foundation for what they do believe and find new ways of connecting to their spirituality, community, etc. — even if that looks differently than it did before. The question here becomes, “What does moving forward look like?” and allows for you to explore how to connect with yourself in new ways, including exploring your personal identity, values, and what you want relationships to look like. We also love exploring how you can reconnect to joy, pleasure, and creativity after going through deconstruction.
LET’S TALK ABOUT IT