What Is Trauma-Informed Therapy?

…And Why It Matters for Women Healing from Spiritual Abuse

If you’ve been hurt in a religious or spiritual setting, the idea of going to therapy might feel…complicated. Maybe you’re afraid of being dismissed. Maybe you’ve already had a therapist who didn’t understand the depth of what you’ve been through. Or maybe you just don’t know what kind of therapy you actually need.

That’s where trauma-informed therapy comes in.

If you’re navigating the impact of spiritual abuse, deconstructing your faith, or still untangling your self-worth from religious expectations, working with a trauma-informed therapist can make all the difference.

What Is Trauma-Informed Therapy?

Trauma-informed therapy is an approach that recognizes the widespread impact of trauma and actively works to create a safe, supportive, and empowering healing relationship. It doesn’t treat trauma like a “special issue.” It understands that trauma is often at the root of what brings people into therapy, even if they don’t realize it at first.

A trauma-informed therapist (like me!) is trained to:

• Understand how trauma impacts the brain and nervous system

• Recognize that trauma can come from relationships, systems, or spiritual experiences, not just one-time events

• Prioritize safety, choice, and collaboration

• Avoid re-traumatization or power dynamics that mirror past harm

• Help clients move at their own pace without pressure or judgment

In short, trauma-informed therapy isn’t just about what a therapist does. It’s about how they show up.

What Is Spiritual Abuse?

Spiritual abuse can be subtle or overt, but at its core, it’s about the misuse of power in a religious or spiritual context. It often includes:

• Manipulation through fear, shame, or guilt

• Conditional love or acceptance

• Suppression of questions, autonomy, or individuality

• Spiritual bypassing or invalidation of emotional pain

• Pressure to stay silent or “submit” to authority

• Teachings that disconnect you from your body, boundaries, or instincts

For many women, spiritual abuse is tangled up with gender roles, purity culture, and the belief that your job is to stay small, quiet, and sacrificial. You may leave the church or group, but the internalized messages stick around.

Why Trauma-Informed Therapy Matters in Healing from Spiritual Abuse

Spiritual abuse is relational trauma. It doesn’t just harm your beliefs – it impacts your sense of safety, identity, and self-worth. That’s why you need more than a generic therapist who’s never heard of purity culture or high-control religion.

A trauma-informed therapist can help you:

1. Rebuild Safety in Relationships

If you’ve been hurt in a community that claimed to love you, it can feel unsafe to trust anyone, including a therapist. Trauma-informed therapy allows you to move at your own pace and honors your need for boundaries, space, and control.

2. Understand Your Trauma Responses

You may still feel guilt, fear, or shame even if you know your spiritual community was harmful. That’s not weakness. That’s your nervous system doing what it learned to do. Trauma-informed therapy helps you understand those responses, not judge them.

3. Reclaim Your Voice and Autonomy

Spiritual abuse often silences people. In therapy, you get to take up space, speak your truth, and reconnect with your own values and desires, without fear of punishment or being labeled “rebellious.”

4. Process Grief Without Being Rushed

Grieving the loss of faith, community, or a former identity is not a quick process. A trauma-informed therapist will hold space for your grief without trying to fix it, reframe it, or talk you out of it.

5. Move Toward Integration, Not Just Survival

You’re not just trying to “get over it.” You’re trying to find wholeness. Trauma-informed therapy supports you in integrating what happened into a fuller, more authentic version of yourself, not one defined by fear or suppression.

You Deserve to Be Fully Seen

Spiritual abuse is real. The pain it causes is real. And your healing deserves to happen in a space that understands both.

As a trauma-informed therapist working with women and non-binary individuals across Washington State, I specialize in walking alongside people who are healing from religious harm. Whether you’re deconstructing your faith, rebuilding your sense of self, or simply trying to feel less afraid in your own body, I’m here.

Want to see if we’re a good fit?
Book a free consult and let’s talk about how therapy can support you through the healing you deserve.