Healing from Harmful Faith: Exploring Religious Trauma

Self-hatred, perfectionism, fear, punishment, shame, and trauma – these aren’t words we typically associate with a healthy, loving faith community. And yet, for some individuals, the place they go to have a deeper connection with their higher power and with fellow believers is the place that feels, well, triggering.

Interventions for Trauma Therapy

“Triggering” is a word frequently used with combat veterans, survivors of natural disasters, and victims of abuse. A racing heart, the sensation of walking on eggshells, or losing track of time and bodily awareness – these are reactions we might expect from someone in a violent, tumultuous relationship, but not while sitting in a church pew or conversing with a fellow congregant. 

We’ve likely heard or read stories of a soldier hitting the ground at the sound of a car backfiring after returning from a tour abroad. But a believer having a similar reaction to specific words or topics in a sermon? Unlikely. What's more, imagine having those reactions – feeling frozen and disconnected from others – while still holding a deep desire for a devout relationship with God. It’s confusing and isolating, to say the least.

Living in the Bible Belt, the idea of religion being harmful to one’s physical and mental health may seem unusual. Religious harm or trauma may even be something that’s dismissed in some circles or seen as a sign of weak faith or a lack of devotion. However, what if there’s merit to this idea of faith causing harm? What if the symptoms some believers have, that appear so similar to those with PTSD or C-PTSD (complex post traumatic stress disorder), are legitimate? “The body keeps the score,” after all, and that’s true even for those of us who show up for regular church services, synagogue, mass, or temple (Van Der Kolk, 2014).   

So what am I really talking about? Religious Trauma Syndrome or RTS*. It’s a concept that was coined in 2011 by Dr. Marlene Winell, a social worker and psychologist who sat with numerous individuals from high-control religious backgrounds. These individuals experienced symptoms identical to trauma survivors (think back to the war veteran or abused partner mentioned earlier) with the added complexity of being deeply involved in their faith communities. 

For some, every aspect of life –  work, family, romantic relationships, finances, education, and friendships – was intertwined with the same people and places that caused anxiety and shame (Winell, 2011). Others experienced abuse within those relationships: religious abuse, sexual misconduct and abuse, emotional abuse, shaming, racism, sexism, homophobia, and dismissals of any number of harmful actions. 

If Dr. Winell’s clients stayed quiet, they endured the internal torment of living in a constant state of fight, flight, or freeze, their minds full of questions of right and wrong (Winell, 2011). In other cases, when individuals voiced concerns about their symptoms or experiences, they were often met with accusations of wavering in their faith or told to recommit more deeply to the very group, ideas, and belief systems that triggered their pain (Winell, 2011). 

Others were told to simply “bear with it.” Turn the other cheek. Take the high road. Don't rock the boat because we’re all in this together. But this advice often led to increased RTS symptoms and growing feelings of isolation – not just from the client’s community, but from their sense of God and even the outside world (Nygaard, 2025, Winell, 2011). 

Many felt the bind of desiring faith and community, yet the pain and fear caused by remaining in environments meant to offer love and belonging. If your whole world is your faith community, but both it and the “outside world” are potentially unsafe… where do you go? 

Faith should not be traumatizing. I’m pretty sure that’s a statement we can all get on board with regardless of our personal religious beliefs. When a religious institution dismisses, minimizes, or causes harm, its congregants may experience RTS. RTS can manifest itself as depression, anxiety, eating disorders, suicidal ideation, relationship issues, sexual dysfunction, and more (Nygaard, 2025). 

Therapy for RTS provides a confidential and supportive space to begin healing. Please hear me, though: seeking professional mental health help does not mean leaving behind one’s faith. A good counselor will not ask you to turn your back on what you believe. Rather, a therapist is there to unbiasedly listen, provide trauma-informed, research-backed interventions, and help you process the unseen but very real damage that trauma can inflict on the nervous system so you can move forward and make the best choices for your future. 

While therapy for any issue or concern may cause discomfort on some level, a qualified counselor will always strive to move at the client’s pace and to ensure the client has coping skills to ease distress and build resilience.  

Asking questions of one’s community, seeking help when hurt and alone, and desiring a future where you don’t feel shame is not wrong. It’s hope. If this article resonated with you and you’d like to learn more about how therapy for RTS – or any other issue mentioned in this post – could benefit you, please reach out to Brentwood Counseling Associates by calling 615.377.1153 or by emailing marianne@brentwoodcounseling.com.

*It is worth noting that RTS is not currently included in the DSM-5-TR, the diagnostic manual published by the American Psychiatric Association and widely used to classify mental health conditions. However, terms like religious trauma, religious abuse, and RTS are concepts frequently used by mental health professionals due to their prevalence in society and strong anecdotal evidence. 

By Marianne Tan, MMFT and Brainspotting Clinician 

(under supervision of Miller Folk, LMFT, license #1381) 

References:

Nygaard, A. (2025, February 5). Religious trauma: 9+ signs of spiritual abuse & how to heal. Sandstone Care. https://www.sandstonecare.com/blog/religious-trauma/

Van der Kolk, B. A. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Penguin Books.

Winell, M. (2011). Religious trauma syndrome (Series of 3 articles). Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Today, 39(2), May; 39(3), September; 39(4), November. British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies. Reprinted at Journey Free. https://www.journeyfree.org/rts/rts-its-time-to-recognize-it/