Religious Trauma
The damaging impact of religious harm on a person’s
mental, emotional, relational, & physical well being.
Trauma Research
Research on trauma has expanded significantly in recent decades. Early work focused on the mental health of war veterans and survivors of natural disasters, revealing a common set of symptoms that often follow major disruptive events. A cause and effect was established- highlighting the mental health implications of harmful events. Later, Judith Herman’s work deepened this understanding by identifying the trauma that develops through chronic, repeated exposure rather than a single incident, known as complex trauma.
Trauma results from an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or life threatening and that has lasting adverse effects on the individual’s functioning and mental, physical, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being
-Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Trauma involves exposure to a stressful event or situation of an exceptionally threatening or catastrophic nature, which is likely to cause pervasive distress.
-World Health Organization
The concept of religious trauma was developed through the lens of these earlier discoveries.
Defining Trauma
Defining Religious Trauma
In the past, religion was often seen as a positive force — a way for people to build community and find shared meaning. But over time, psychologists began to recognize that religious experiences aren’t always helpful or healthy.
In 2011, Dr. Marlene Winell introduced the term Religious Trauma Syndrome to describe the symptoms people may experience after leaving or questioning authoritarian, dogmatic, or high-control religious groups. Since then, more mental health professionals have been researching and speaking out about the impact of religious harm.
Official research for defining religious trauma is ongoing, but there are some common symptoms that can be observed.
