Religious Trauma Therapy
In Pensacola and online throughout Florida and Alabama
Helping adults heal from religious trauma, spiritual abuse, and church-related harm through EMDR intensives.
Looking for a safe space to unpack Some painful religious experiences?
I’m here to help.
Whether your trauma stems from fundamentalist teachings, spiritual abuse, or being ostracized for questioning your beliefs, religious trauma can impact every part of your life. At Hello Calm Therapy in Pensacola, FL, I offer compassionate and nonjudgmental support for individuals ready to process and release these experiences through EMDR therapy intensives.
Disconnection: from the community that gave you meaning and belonging previously.
Confused: Trying to figure out how to make sense of having both positive and painful experiences from the same people or place.
Unsure: Without your previous religion or level of belief, what is your purpose or place in the world?
Shamed: Embarrassed or ashamed of your experiences, feeling like the “black sheep” or that you just didn’t belong or have a place and maybe you “did something wrong”.
Maybe you’re experiencing…
Regretful: About your involvement, or that you showed up and believed at all.
Disillusioned: The people who were supposed to be safe and provide care were actually dangerous and caused you harm.
Panicked: Maybe the thought of setting foot in a church again or discussing religion/beliefs with others instantly evokes fear and panic.
Conflicted: wondering if what you experienced is “normal”.
You don’t have to hold on to these negative beliefs any longer.
“I didn’t realize how deeply my past church experiences were still affecting me—until I finally started unpacking it in therapy. For the first time, I feel like I’m allowed to question, to feel, and to finally heal.”
Healing from religious trauma is essential for reclaiming your sense of self and finding inner peace. It’s not only possible to heal from religious trauma, it’s transformative. Many people carry the burdens of past experiences that can impact their well-being and relationships. By addressing these traumas, you can break free from the constraints they impose and create a life aligned with your true values. EMDR intensives provide a powerful tool for processing these memories and emotions, helping you to transform pain into resilience.
As a Pensacola-based EMDR therapist, I specialize in helping adults across Florida and Alabama work through harmful religious conditioning. EMDR intensives offer a safer, more contained space to process the deep emotional wounds that often stem from rigid belief systems, shame-based teachings, or fear-driven spiritual environments. In our work together, I help you reconnect with your identity outside of religion so that you can move forward with clarity, confidence and peace.
Remember, healing is not just about overcoming the past; it’s about embracing a brighter future. You deserve this journey toward freedom and fulfillment.
What you’ll gain from working on religious trauma:
Understanding Trauma Triggers: Identifying and managing triggers related to past religious experiences.
Processing Painful Memories: Using EMDR to process and reframe distressing memories.
Building Self-Compassion: Cultivating a kinder relationship with yourself and your beliefs.
Exploring Faith and Identity: Navigating your spiritual identity and beliefs in a safe environment.
Developing Coping Strategies: Learning effective techniques to cope with anxiety and stress.
Reconnecting with Values: Rediscovering and aligning with your personal values and beliefs.
Enhancing Emotional Regulation: Developing skills to manage emotions related to trauma.
Improving Relationships: Addressing how trauma impacts your connections with others.
Finding Meaning and Purpose: Exploring how to create a fulfilling life post-trauma.
Why I Love EMDR Intensives for Religious Trauma
Religious trauma often runs deep—it can shape your identity, your relationships, and the way you see the world. When those experiences involve fear, shame, control, or spiritual abuse, traditional weekly therapy may not feel like enough or may not dive deep enough to really heal those wounds.
That’s where EMDR intensives come in.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a powerful trauma treatment that helps the brain reprocess painful memories in a safe and structured way. Intensives take this a step further. Instead of spreading therapy out over months of 50-minute sessions, EMDR intensives allow you to work deeply in extended sessions (90+ minutes or more) over a shorter period of time. Think “heal now, not later”.
This format is especially helpful for religious trauma, because it:
Offers a more contained and immersive experience, allowing you to stay with the work without getting “cut off” mid-process. Ugh, the worst.
Helps you move through trauma responses like guilt, fear, and shame more efficiently, without dragging it out week after week. Who wants to come in and unpack their trauma knowing that just as soon as they get it unpacked, they’ll run out of session time and have to “repack it” just do to it all over again next week? No, thanks!
Creates a focused healing space, where you don’t have to explain the same story over and over again.
Allows for dedicated time to explore what you believe, want, and need—outside of what was once dictated to you.
Clients who choose EMDR intensives often tell me they’ve made more progress in a few days than they did in months of traditional therapy. Don’t get me wrong, traditional therapy has its place too, but when we’re talking trauma, nothing hits the same as actually reprocessing the trauma with something like EMDR.
Whether you're unpacking spiritual abuse, recovering from purity culture, healing from church trauma, or working through religious rejection as a queer or neurodivergent person—you deserve a space where your healing is the priority.
offer EMDR intensives in person at my Pensacola office and virtually for clients throughout Florida and Alabama. If you’ve been carrying the weight of religious trauma and are ready for something different, let’s talk about whether an intensive is right for you.
If you aren’t in Florida or Alabama but want to come visit, lets talk! Plenty of clients love traveling down for a few days to do focused intensive sessions. Who wouldn’t love the chance to come visit the prettiest beaches while you also get to unburden yourself from traumas you’ve carried for years?
FAQs about religious trauma
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Religious trauma refers to the emotional and psychological pain resulting from negative experiences within a religious context, such as abuse, shaming, or harmful teachings.
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Signs may include feelings of guilt, shame, anxiety, depression, difficulty trusting others, or conflict about your beliefs. If these feelings are impacting your daily life, it might be helpful to explore them further.
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Any experience of a religious belief, practice, or structure that undermines an individual’s sense of safety or autonomy, and/or negatively impacts their physical, social, emotional, relational, or psychological well-being. (Reclamation Collective, Religious Trauma Institute)
Certain communities are at a higher risk of Adverse Religious Experiences including: women and children (Men holding power/patriarchy/ageism); LGBTQIA community (Condemning messages about LGBTQ persons/homophobia), BIPOC (white supremacy), anyone living with chronic health conditions, mental health, or neurodiverse individuals (ableism). -
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a therapy that helps individuals process distressing memories. It can be particularly effective for trauma, allowing you to reframe and integrate painful experiences.
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It's common to feel conflicted. Therapy can help you navigate your feelings about your community and develop strategies to protect your well-being.
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The conscious or unconscious use of power to direct, control, or manipulate another’s body, thoughts, emotions, actions, or capacity for choice, freedom, or autonomy within a spiritual of religious context (Reclamation Collective & Religious Trauma Institute).
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Yes! I offer secure, HIPAA-compliant virtual EMDR intensives to clients across Florida and Alabama. Many clients prefer virtual therapy when discussing sensitive spiritual or religious experiences, and we can create a supportive space no matter where you're located.
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Absolutely. Many clients who come to me for religious trauma therapy are still sorting through what they believe—or whether they believe in anything at all. You don’t need to have it all figured out to begin healing. This is a space where you can safely question, process, and explore your experience without pressure, judgment, or an agenda. Often times, this process helps clients gain clarity so that they feel more confident in their beliefs, whatever that may be. Whether you’re deconstructing your faith, recovering from spiritual abuse, or simply feeling lost after leaving a religious community, therapy can help you find your footing again.
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That’s more common than you might think—especially for those dealing with religious trauma. Traditional weekly therapy can feel slow or disconnected when the pain runs deep. EMDR intensives are different and powerful. They allow us to stay in the work longer, process more in each session, and build momentum in your healing. No more broken up sessions where you have to continuously unpack and then re-pack the same traumas each week because you don’t have enough time to really work through them fully. Many clients who didn’t feel progress in previous therapy find that intensives help them finally move forward!
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Only if and when you're ready! While we may explore how your experiences shaped you or any negative beliefs you carry, you’re always in control of what you share. This isn’t about reliving trauma—it’s about gently unpacking what’s still impacting you, and using EMDR to release the emotional charge. Whether your story is full of fear, shame, confusion, or grief, I’ll meet you with compassion and care. You share whatever you are comfortable with, always!