About Healing From Religion

Healing From Religion exists to support people who have been impacted by religious harm, including high-control faith environments, harmful teachings, religious abuse, and the difficult process of changing or leaving beliefs.

We provide therapy-informed resources, multimedia education, support groups, and curated connections to additional services. Our approach is grounded in trauma-informed care, and respect for personal autonomy. We do not promote any belief system or endpoint. Our goal is to offer tools, language, and connection so individuals can reclaim safety, meaning, and agency on their own terms.

A Message from the Founder

After three and a half decades fully immersed in a high control religious group, I felt shame and secrecy when my faith collapsed. My entire identity, self esteem, emotional resources, community supports, and connection to myself was tied to my faith- all were lost. I spent many isolating years trying to sort it out. One day, author Sarah Bessey described “leaving the light on” for all those wandering in a spiritual wilderness. It occurred to me that there were others going through similar journeys. That realization- that I wasn’t alone after all- was a first step towards my own healing.

Recovery continued when I became a therapist. I reclaimed self compassion, community, my own emotions, and learned to listen to my body’s cues instead of staying numb. Later, I began supporting clients who were also healing from religious harm and found many of the therapeutic tools I had learned were helpful for them as well.

I dreamed of a way to keep increasing awareness of religious harm and help more people get connected with resources. Then in 2024, when this website was still only a blank page, I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma- a form of blood cancer. The majority of my therapy practice was paused for a year of treatment. Developing this website emerged from that season—I worked on it in hospital waiting rooms, and in between the brief breaks of recovery. Through an optimistic yet daunting prognosis, I’ve know I have been given the gift of time and want to intentionally create plans for my career endeavors with my return to work. This project feels like a professional legacy. I am grateful to contribute alongside many others who are also working in this space of helping others heal from religion.

Even though I do have professional experience and training, at my core, I consider myself to be just a human trying to navigate this mysterious and complex life. If you are walking a path of recovering from religious harm, I feel connected to you as someone who has shared in this unique kind of experience. I’m glad you are here and I’m wishing you the very best on your journey.

Jennifer Bartley