Suzanne E. Goodwin

You are trying to escape the control of a fundamentalist faith community/lifestyle, that holds great personal meaning to you; but you’re conflicted about leaving the dogmatic, authoritarian belief system in which you find yourself. You want to make sense of the damage that has been done by indoctrination. Or perhaps you experienced chronic abuse in a harmful religion and are trying to sever your connection to the faith, but you have no idea how to go about it? Have you experienced confusion, inability to think critically and have negative beliefs about yourself? You may be experiencing Religious Trauma Syndrome. Religious Trauma Syndrome (RTS) can look like other disorders – PTSD, clinical depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders (i.e. hoarding or social anxiety), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), borderline personality disorder, an unhealthy relationship with food, sexual or relationship dysfunctions, suicidal ideation, alcohol or drug addiction. Those diagnoses don’t