Jul 7, Spiritual Abuse , Trauma. Spiritual abuse and trauma is a growing area of study as we begin to take a critical look at the ways in which our relationship to organized religion and doctrinal faith impact our mental health. At Dallas Therapy Collective, we specialize in identifying and treating trauma, and we actively seek practitioners that already have a specialty in spiritual trauma or have a desire to learn.
Bethany came to DTC for her postdoc fellowship in what a year, right , and has been a valuable asset to the collective as she studies and works under Dr. I knew Kathryn from our graduate program and had a chance to work more closely with her at the UT Dallas student counseling center where we both trained. It blew me away how similar facets of spiritual trauma were to dynamics of interpersonal violence e.
When it was time for me to find a postdoc position, I wanted to land somewhere with colleagues who also approached their work from a trauma-informed lens, so I immediately thought of Kathryn and Dallas Therapy Collective. Working with survivors of spiritual abuse sounded appealing in that I could bring my background in trauma to the forefront of my clinical work, while also deepening my understanding of elements specific to spiritual trauma through consultation with Kathryn.
Were religious abuse survivors a population you were already interested in working with? If so, what attracted you to that work? Some shared about how spirituality enriched their lives and provided a source of community or coping, while others identified various pressures or values clashes that arose as they navigated their personal and spiritual lives. Some of my clients would come to therapy wanting to work on anxiety concerns, leading to shared surprise when we uncovered how deeply entrenched their anxiety was in spiritual trauma.
Clients who were taught to prioritize others above themselves through their faith shared how difficult it was to seek out therapy, let alone spend an hour focusing on their needs!
