Cult Recovery Therapy
& Spiritual Community Recovery
Have you recently left or are you considering leaving your spiritual community?
- Have you suffered from abuse by members or leaders of your spiritual or religious community? Do you struggle with trust issues, depression, anxiety, or feelings of betrayal arising from your experience? Do you feel remorse for your participation or role in the community?
- Perhaps you didn’t choose to be part of a spiritual or religious group and were born into the community, and you need help navigating re-entry into mainstream society.
- Maybe you are a leader, elder, or teacher within your community who is grappling with conflict, public reputation, or discussions about unethical behavior.
What is a cult?
The word “cult” is often used incorrectly. A cult is defined as having five main characteristics:
- Cults isolate members from society at large.
- The community penalizes members for exiting.
- Teachers/leaders seek absolute loyalty.
- They purposely undermine family units.
- Critical thinking and inquiry are forbidden.
Why do people join cults?
- People who get involved are often searching for a deep sense of community and spiritual connection. Others join because the spiritual leader/teacher mirrors the qualities of that person’s parent(s), such as qualities of charisma, leadership, authority, and purposefulness.
- Some individuals are looking for answers or enlightenment and seek to commune with someone they feel is a divine and gifted teacher while others just feel lost, alone, and see a solution in being a part of something purposeful that they can believe in. Many get involved because they don’t feel they fit into mainstream culture or society.
Why is it difficult to leave a cult?
- Most people don’t realize that their spiritual community is a cult when they join. Typically, it’s only after they’ve been indoctrinated and experienced/witnessed abuse that they start to question the teacher and teachings. By that time, they have already been subjected to groupthink and manipulated into staying with the organization because of threats made to them if they were to leave.
- Indoctrination leaves people lacking clarity, autonomy, and the capacity to process their experiences objectively. There can be a fear of losing their only support system or community that often replaces biological family support. The prospect of having to re-integrate themselves into a world that seems foreign can trigger fear and anxiety.
- The depression, substance use, distrust of authority figures, and feelings of abandonment that typically arise can make it all but impossible for cult recovery to happen without the support of therapy or mediation. That’s why counseling and mediation for spiritual and religious trauma is so important. The path that leads away from a cult is difficult to take alone.
Working with me as your spiritual community recovery or cult recovery therapist to address religious and spiritual trauma offers a therapeutic relationship where you can rebuild your sense of trust, safety, and autonomy. It gives you a chance to free yourself from feelings of guilt, shame, and betrayal while empowering you to create a life that truly aligns with your values.
Questions? Contact me
Coming to terms with spiritual and religious trauma can be challenging
Loyalty is valued and expected within many spiritual and religious communities where abuse takes place. Loyalty within an abusive environment will likely cause you to feel and experience:
- Betrayal, guilt, shame, loneliness, and isolation.
- Confusion, anger, and rage.
- Grief, fear, and uncertainty.
- Abandonment, rejection, loss, and hopelessness.
If you’ve left your community, you may lack a sense of self-determination, purpose, and identity now that you’re on your own. Or maybe you are unable to make that transition and need help deciding what’s best for yourself—and perhaps your children?
Spiritual community/cult recovery therapy and mediation can benefit:
- Leaders/teachers/elders of spiritual communities
- Their students/members, and individuals who have left.
- Individuals who are considering leaving the community.
I specialize in supporting people who want to or have already left cults. My skill set and experience include working with the leadership of such organizations who want to do better and examine what might have contributed to abusive patterns within the community.
What I offer:
- Individual sessions for those who are either considering leaving or have left their spiritual community.
- Dyad sessions that include higher-ranking figures in the community and a current member or ex-member.
- An 8-week online support group for ex-members of spiritual organizations who want to process their feelings, let go of shame and self-blame, and have a feeling of closure with clarity around their next steps. (See Groups and Workshops Page.)
- Group coaching for the leader and/or teachers/elders in the community who want to explore what went wrong and help themselves and, subsequently, their followers/students to heal, repair, and help the organization become more ethical and either recover or reinvent itself.
- Group mediation for students/ex-students and the leader/teachers. This is for helping the students and ex-students feel heard as they share about their trauma or perceived abuse caused by the leader or elders. The purpose is for healing and closure to occur between the two parties.
Whether you are a follower or a former student of a spiritual or religious community, recovery from trauma caused by a religious/spiritual community or cult can be difficult without quality therapy or mediation—and that’s what I offer. Together, we can work on rebuilding your sense of trust, identity, and agency, so you can finally heal, move forward, and define new goals for your life.
What’s involved in spiritual community or cult recovery therapy?
We’ll start by looking at the underlying reasons you were initially attracted to the cult leader and group. I’ll help you process everything that took place and explore why you decided the cult leader/group is no longer a fit for you.
Spiritual community and cult recovery therapy sessions are designed to help you:
- Rebuild a sense of safety and trust in figures of authority—and yourself.
- Manage feelings of rejection, abandonment, grief, anger, fear, guilt, shame, betrayal, or confusion.
- Rediscover your core values and cultivate a greater sense of purpose.
- Identify ways to meet needs unfulfilled by the cult or the leader(s) of the cult or spiritual community.
- Explore spiritual beliefs that might be a better fit.
Working with me as your cult recovery therapist to address religious and spiritual trauma offers a therapeutic relationship where you can rebuild your sense of trust, safety, and autonomy. It gives you a chance to free yourself from feelings of guilt, shame, and betrayal while empowering you to create a life that truly aligns with your values.
Let me help you reclaim your life and start anew
No matter where you are in your journey of healing, I want to be your guide toward building a new life of meaning, purpose, and value. Using a combination of holistic and evidence-based strategies, I am certain I can help you heal and recover from spiritual and religious trauma. If you’re interested in learning more, please call (707) 301-0252 or Contact Me to schedule your free, 15 to 20-minute consultation.
What happens in private one-on-one sessions?
For participants who are considering leaving, we’ll explore questions like:
- Have you been abused, betrayed, or disrespected by members of your spiritual community?
- Do you feel confused, afraid, or unclear about leaving or staying and need some help deciding what is best for you?
- Has your spiritual community been polarized by conflicts?
- Do you feel shame for believing and trusting in a teacher or leader after a sexual experience with them?
For individuals who are actively leaving or have left the organization, I use a combination of:
- Grounding practices and mindfulness for managing anxiety.
- Somatic experiencing, and possibly meditation and hypnotherapy—all to help you access and heal your deeper painful emotions and negative self-talk.
- Internal Family Systems (IFS Therapy for trauma).
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR for trauma).
What happens in dyad sessions?
During these sessions, I work conjointly with individuals who feel they experienced abuses from community members or leaders and with the leaders who were accused of being abusive.
The objectives of these sessions are to:
- Provide a safe space for the community member/ex-member to share how and why they feel they were abused or are currently being abused.
- To allow for the accused community member or leader to respond to the complaints, ideally without being defensive or verbally attacking. (I first coach the accused person on how to appropriately respond in a separate individual session.)
- Provide a safe space for dialogue to occur, with each participant able to feel heard and understood to the greatest possible extent.
- For reconciliation and healing to occur – when possible.
What happens in group mediation sessions?
We work together to create a safe space for more than one member/ex-member to air their complaints with the community’s leaders/teachers. For the leaders/teachers, there is an opportunity to hear and better understand the members’/ex-members’ complaints when they feel safe enough to share their stories of abuse. The leaders/teachers work with the members/ex-members to find healing and resolution together where possible.
For those participating in dyad and group mediation sessions, I often draw from my extensive training in:
- Non-Violent Communication (N.V.C.)
- The Gottman Method
- Somatic Experiencing (listening to the wisdom of the body)
- Brene Brown’s BRAVING process
There is a way to move forward and start again
I can help empower you to reclaim your life and give you a renewed sense of meaning and purpose. At Soul Wisdom Therapy, I will help you let go of difficult emotions, rebuild your trust and faith, and heal the wounds left behind by spiritual or religious trauma.
At the same time, you can gain a better understanding of what happened and why it happened, while finding closure that allows you to move forward and start a new life with confidence and peace. Ultimately, you’ll discover how to meet your intrinsic needs, desires, and hopes in a way that aligns with your values and nourishes your soul.
Do you have questions about cult recovery counseling and mediation?
How much experience do you have with this topic?
In addition to my own personal experience with this issue, I have spent over ten years supporting people who were followers of cults, as well as working with cult and spiritual community leaders, offering individual, dyad, and group therapy and mediation. I received nine months of specialized training to address this issue, plus over 30 years of professional experience facilitating therapy, support groups, and dyad mediation sessions with people all over the world. I’ve also presented at international conferences on family violence and abuse and presented workshops for faith leaders about preventing abuse of their members.
I worry about the effectiveness of cult recovery therapy, especially via telehealth.
If you lack trust or feel betrayed by your experiences with a cult or spiritual organization, that skepticism is natural and healthy. However, I’ve helped countless others who have left cults heal and move on to full, meaningful lives.
I know that it is possible to reclaim your life and restore trust in yourself and in your intimate relationships. Although it may be difficult to believe now, you can come back from this and find new meaning, purpose, and spiritual direction in your life.
It’s worth noting that many of my clients find online sessions to be equally effective as in-person sessions. Online sessions can allow for even more healing and growth than in-person sessions since you can engage in therapy and mediation from the safety of your own home (or wherever you feel most comfortable).
I worry that others will judge me for seeing a therapist.
Cult leaders and members often look down on therapy because it gives people the clarity to see things for the way they really are. The truth is that this may well be the best means for gaining a deep understanding of what happened and for healing from that experience.
This recovery process is possibly essential for helping you connect with your inner soul compass and identifying what you want and need in your future so you can take steps to move forward and create lasting change.
As the founder of Soul Wisdom Therapy, I want to help you reclaim your life from spiritual and religious trauma
If religious or spiritual trauma has left you feeling lost and alone, cult recovery therapy and mediation can help you heal, find new purpose, and thrive in your new life. Please text or call (707) 301-0252 or use my contact page to schedule your free, 15 to 20-minute consultation to see how you can reclaim your life from trauma and abuse—and start living again.
Deborah Cohen, founder of Soul Wisdom Therapy, offers online therapy for cult recovery in California and Pennsylvania as well as mediation services for clients throughout the USA.
Start Your Journey to Soul Wisdom Today—
Recent Posts
Think for Yourself So Someone Else Doesn’t Do Your Thinking for You
When we are children, we are in the care of people whom we are supposed to trust to keep us safe and teach us how to make our way in the world. A young woman I know shared a bit of hard-earned wisdom about what an awesome responsibility that is. She said that when someone…
Leaving a Cult or Spiritual Community: Learning how to Trust Again
A cult or a spiritual community are two very different types of groups, but they share certain similarities and can overlap.
Relating to a Relative or Close Friend with Extreme Beliefs
The news is filled with stories of people who have embraced potentially harmful conspiracy theories and other extreme beliefs.