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Moving Past Religious Traumas

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A six-week evening online therapy group

Heal from religious trauma with a 6-week telehealth group therapy in Washington StateHave you experienced religious trauma or spiritual abuse?
Are you struggling to untangle harmful beliefs, navigate relationships, or reclaim your identity after leaving a high-demand religious environment? You’re not alone.

Join us for a 6-week guided group therapy process designed for individuals who want to unpack their religious background and to rebuild. Whether you have left your faith entirely or are redefining your beliefs, this group offers a safe, affirming space to process, connect, and heal.

TO REGISTER:
Email Nick Senzee
(206) 814-1919 – text or call

Mondays 7-9pm starting March 24, 2025, by Zoom
$25/session or $120 for all – reduced cost slots available

GROUP LEADER: NICHOLAS SENZEE, M.A.
Nick is a clinical intern therapist specializing in religious trauma, identity,
and life transitions. His background growing up gay in a high-demand religion informs his work with faith deconstruction and, where desired, reconstruction.

 

 

Week 1: Understanding Religious Trauma & Ecclesiastical Abuse

  • Defining religious trauma and how it manifests psychologically, emotionally, and physically
  • Understanding high-demand religious environments and coercive control
  • Identifying personal experiences of harm without minimizing or gaslighting oneself
  • Group norms: Creating a safe space for deconstruction and healing

Week 2: The Impact of Fear, Shame, and Guilt

  • Exploring how religious environments use fear, shame, and guilt for control
  • How these emotions shape identity, decision-making, and self-worth
  • Recognizing internalized beliefs and how they persist post-deconstruction
  • Mindfulness and self-compassion exercises to counteract guilt-driven thoughts

Week 3: Deconstructing Harmful Beliefs & Cognitive Dissonance

  • Identifying core beliefs formed in religious settings (e.g., purity culture, submission, obedience)
  • Recognizing cognitive dissonance and its emotional toll
  • The grief of losing faith or restructuring beliefs
  • Tools for reframing harmful doctrines into more self-affirming perspectives

Week 4: Rebuilding Identity & Personal Autonomy

  • Navigating the loss of religious identity and social belonging
  • Reclaiming autonomy in values, morals, and ethics outside of religious doctrine
  • Addressing fears around purpose, meaning, and existential uncertainty
  • Exercises for self-exploration: “Who am I without my faith?”

Week 5: Healing from Spiritual Abuse & Community Rejection

  • Recognizing spiritual gaslighting and manipulation (e.g., “You just need to pray more”)
  • Processing rejection by faith communities, family, and friends
  • Navigating relationships with those still in religious environments
  • Setting healthy boundaries with religious influences

Week 6: Moving Forward – Integration & Post-Traumatic Growth

  • Exploring post-traumatic growth and resilience after religious harm
  • Discussing different paths: secularism, progressive faith, spirituality without dogma
  • Finding or creating affirming communities
  • Rituals of closure: Letter writing, symbolic acts of release, or creating new personal values
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