Religious Trauma Treatment Training: Clinical Interventions for Survivors of High-Control Religion and Spiritual Abuse

Credit

Program Information

All members of the PESI, Inc. planning committee have provided disclosures of financial relationships with ineligible organizations and any relevant non-financial relationships prior to planning content for this activity. None of the committee members had relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies or other potentially biasing relationships to disclose to learners.  For speaker disclosures, please see the faculty biography.

Speaker

Natasha Helfer, LCMFT, CST-S Related seminars and products

---

Natasha Helfer, LCMFT, CST-S, is an experienced Marriage and Family Therapist, certified sex therapist, and supervisor with over 29 years of clinical expertise. Natasha is also a speaker, writer, and podcaster whose experience is primarily working with a Mormon, Catholic and Evangelical clientele around issues of relational health, faith transitions and journeys, and sexuality.

As the founder of Symmetry Counseling, Natasha leads a group practice that offers comprehensive therapy services addressing issues such as religious trauma, healing sexual shame and trauma, navigating mixed-faith relationships, and supporting individuals in their journeys of sexual authenticity.

Natasha also has the lived experience of being excommunicated from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon church) in 2021.

She is also the author of two books: Check Your Baggage and One Family, Two Views and the director of the Program in Religion and Mental Health Treatment at the Buehler Institute. You can learn more about Natasha’s work through her website at natashahelfer.com and Symmetry Counseling.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Natasha Helfer is the owner of Symmetry Solutions/Helfer Family Counseling and has an employment relationship with The Buehler Institute. She receives royalties as a published author. Natasha Helfer receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Natasha Helfer is a member of the American Association for Marriage & Family Therapy and the American Association of Sex Counselors, Educators, and Therapists.

Additional Info

Program Information

Visit our FAQ page at https://www.pesicanada.ca/faq or contact us at https://www.pesicanada.ca/contact-us.

Objectives

1. Differentiate between religious abuse/trauma and religious distress.
2. Determine the importance of addressing clients’ spiritual struggles within clinical practice.
3. Identify common symptoms in clients who’ve experienced adverse religious experiences. 
4. Examine the impact of religious trauma on interpersonal relationships, particularly focusing on disruption of communication, trust, and emotional intimacy.
5. Identify coercive tactics associated with high control environments that can lead to mental health disorders.
6. Use tools to screen for spiritual abuse in clinical settings by assessing a client’s exposure to key factors including controlling leadership, harmful God-image, gender discrimination, and internal distress.
7. Integrate mindfulness techniques to PTSD treatment plans to reduce hyperarousal and intrusive thoughts.
8. Use targeted CBT interventions to challenge and reframe distorted thinking patterns that contribute to shame-based feelings.
9. Choose interventions that focus on improving communication, emotional awareness, and regulation for families affected by religion-related emotional abuse.
10. Use solution focused brief therapy interventions to help clients increase resilience by focusing on strengths and solution-oriented techniques.
11. Utilize informed, empathetic, and culturally competent care to a diverse range of clients including LBGTQ+.
12. Identify treatment risks and research limitations with respect to clinical work with religious trauma.

Outline

Introduction to Religious Trauma

• Definitions and scope
• Distinction between religious trauma and religious distress
• Cultural and social contexts in shaping adverse religious experiences

Origins and Contributing Factors

• Characteristics of high-control religious systems
• Authoritarian leadership, isolation, and manipulation
• Fear, guilt, and shame as tools for maintaining control
• How doctrines can be twisted or misused to manipulate believers
• Other control tactics and the suppression of critical thinking
• The effects of fear-based theology, eternal damnation and more

Psychological and Physiological Impacts of Religious Trauma

• Anxiety, depression, and PTSD in religious trauma survivors
• The impact of guilt, shame, rejection and unworthiness
• How identify confusion develops
• Physiological responses and somatic symptoms
• Dysregulation in the body’s fight-or-flight responses

Assessment and Screening for Religious Trauma

• Nuanced symptoms of religious trauma
• Assessment and screening tools
  • Religious Trauma Inventory
  • Spiritual abuse and Harm Screener
• Reviewing real-world examples of religious trauma cases

Trauma-Informed Care in Religious Trauma  Recovery:

Therapeutic Approaches and Best Practices

• Mindfulness and grounding exercises to regulate trauma responses
• Cognitive-behavioral therapy
  • Targeted cognitive restructuring for guilt, shame, and fear of define retribution
  • Identify new, healthier frameworks for spirituality
  • Gradual exposure techniques to safely process religious triggers
• Family systems therapy for families with religious-based emotional abuse
• Solution-focused therapy to focus on strength and resilience
• Guided reflection on the intersection of faith, belief, and mental health
• Research, risks, and limitations

Tools for Rebuilding Identify, Autonomy, Support Systems, and More

• Deconstruct beliefs and reconstruct a healthy worldview
• Navigate family and social relationships post-trauma
• Find safe communities and professional support
• Self-care strategies

Working with Specific Populations Recovering from Religious Trauma

• Address the unique experiences of women
• BIPOC: the intersection of religious trauma and racial identity
• LGBTQ+: Navigating the complexities
• Ethical Considerations for Clinicians

Target Audience

• Counselors
• Social Workers
• Marriage and Family Therapists
• Psychologists
• Ecclesiastical Leaders and Pastoral Counselors
• Others in caring professions