Deconstructing Deconstruction - Part 5 - Religious Trauma

Every person who has made the personal choice to leave their family religion has probably experienced a tipping point when they decided that they had had enough. Perhaps it was something they personally experienced like the betrayal of a fellow community member. Perhaps it was a loss of faith in the religious dogma of their faith-based community. Perhaps it was the revelation of personal hypocrisy on the part of one of the church leaders. There are countless other reasons why someone would leave the religion that they were raised in. They reached a point where they couldn’t go on the way things were.

According to trauma expert Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score, trauma is much more common than most people think. Many people believe that trauma occurs when something happens that overwhelms an individual. It could be an automobile accident, a health crisis, or being a victim of a crime such as rape. It is also associated with soldiers who are returning from war. This type of trauma is often diagnosed as post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. When this happens repeatedly as is sometimes the case with victims of sexual assault, it can develop into complex PTSD.

Van de Kolk explains that there is another situation that often leads to PTSD type symptoms and that is when an individual finds themselves living in an environment where nobody sees them and nobody helps them to cope with the reality of life. It is very difficult for them to feel safe. This often happens to younger children. Individuals who were raised in high control religions often recall living under such conditions. This type of trauma is sometimes referred to as religious trauma.

There are of course other sources of traumatic events with a faith-based community. Most high control religions are based in fear. Fear that you will be punished for not following the rules. Fear that you will suffer eternally if you do not prove yourself worthy enough. How can an individual ever feel safe in such an environment? Even the act of leaving your faith-based community could be considered as traumatic by some individuals.

Religious trauma is a fairly new concept. Certain psychologists, in particular Marlene Winell, PhD, have been working for literally decades to have religious trauma recognized as a separate form of trauma. Her book, Leaving the Fold, is one of the very first books written about deconstruction and is an excellent reference guide for anyone who is deconstructing.

Trauma is such a complex topic and as I mentioned earlier seems to be much more common than most people think. The point is that many individuals who have left high control religions may have suffered some form of trauma and can be helped by mental health professionals who have been trained in assisting individuals with trauma symptoms. Finding a therapist who is also trained in working with individuals who have suffered religious trauma may be a little challenging but well worth the effort.

Anyone who is in the process of deconstructing from their old religion should evaluate whether they think that they may have experienced trauma as a result of participating in their former faith-based community. If you believe you might have been traumatized then I highly suggest allowing yourself to be evaluated by a trained mental health professional. Trauma doesn’t go away by itself. Individuals who have suffered trauma are often stuck in a trauma loop of reliving the past. They find it difficult to be in the present. This is why it is so important to break the trauma loop. It is very difficult to move forward with your deconstruction until the trauma has been properly processed.

The good news is that there is growing awareness of this type of trauma in the mental help community, and more and more therapists are being trained to work with individuals who have suffered this type of trauma.