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When it comes to healing the mind, it’s important to know what you’re getting into. If you’re seeking treatment for religious trauma specifically, you should ask a few questions before committing to therapy.
1) Is the therapist a faith-based counselor and do you want that in your healing journey?
Can you believe that for a couple of months several years ago, I was doing phone appointments with a hospital counselor and the subject of suicide came up. This immediately prompted the counselor, who was apparently a devout Catholic, to focus exclusively on the possibility of a "bad experience" in the afterlife if I were to commit suicide. And I mean, he focused on it hard! Even though I was not acutely suicidal, the counselor kept trying to convince me that people who have attempted suicide in the past (but failed) have reported visions of a "really bad afterlife."
*That's just complete nonsense, by the way. Needless to say, these comments were not appropriate, and I stopped seeing him. But that's not the only type of issue to consider when choosing a clinician. In the early years of my own personal therapy, I adamantly insisted on receiving help only from a Christian counselor. While I learned a lot from those sessions, I found that my mental and emotional health did not improve as much as I wanted. In fact, I later learned that the type of religious counseling I had received may have actually worsened my C-PTSD and religious trauma.
This time, when I went back to therapy for EMDR, I insisted on having a nonreligiously-based treatment program, instead, and it made all the world of difference. The same might prove true for you, as well.
2) Will the therapist be honest with me about the limitations and benefits of treatment?
Just like with anything, don't get caught up in hyperbole and exaggerated promises. Therapy is hard and does not always bring immediate results. So be cautious about seeing any "healer" who makes it sound like their therapy sessions will be a magic cure-all for your troubles . . . 'cause it won't be.
The trauma will likely always stay with you. It's just that with the right kind of treatment, your nervous system's window of tolerance will greatly expand to better handle any triggers and complications that come up.
3) Is the therapist qualified to help someone with religious trauma?
Just because someone is trained in things like psychotherapy, CBT, or DBT does not mean they have the knowledge and skillset to treat religious trauma sufferers. Because of this fact, many therapists actually misdiagnose people's religious trauma as something else because they are not familiar with the warning signs and subtle symptoms of the problem.
This is one of the main reasons why GCRR started hosting annual academic conferences on religious trauma and why we now offer a certification course to help better inform clinicians about the causes, manifestations, and treatment options for those suffering with religious trauma.
If you're thinking about going into therapy, don't be afraid to ask more questions about the clinician and the healing process. And if you or your therapist are not familiar enough with religious trauma, we want to encourage you to check out our conference videos and certification programs below.
