Abstract

Religious communities and belief systems can offer individuals profound meaning, structure, and social support. However, for some, religious environments contribute to trauma, resulting in deep psychological distress, identity fragmentation, and dissociative responses. Particularly when experienced in high-control, fear-based religious settings, religious trauma can significantly impact an individual's cognitive and emotional development, leading to complex trauma responses and, in some cases, dissociative disorders. This presentation aims to provide therapists with an in-depth understanding of the intersection between religious trauma and dissociative processes, along with strategies for effective therapeutic intervention.

Religious trauma often arises from exposure to authoritarian structures, spiritual abuse, rigid doctrine, or experiences of exclusion and shaming. Survivors may internalize chronic fear, guilt, and self-doubt, resulting in PTSD-like symptoms, anxiety, depression, and identity confusion. When individuals experience prolonged exposure to traumatic religious environments - especially in childhood — dissociation may become a primary coping mechanism.  Dissociation in religious trauma survivors often serves to manage overwhelming cognitive dissonance, emotional pain, or spiritual crises, particularly when leaving or questioning one's faith is met with existential terror or social ostracization.

This presentation will explore how religious trauma contributes to dissociative coping, addressing the neurobiological and psychological mechanisms involved. We will examine case studies that illustrate how religiously induced dissociation can appear in clinical practice, including individuals who experience amnesic barriers around religiously traumatic memories, those with fragmented identities shaped by religious dogma, and those whose dissociative symptoms are triggered by religious stimuli. Special attention will be given to marginalized populations, including LGBTQ+ individuals, former members of high-control religious groups, and survivors of religiously motivated coercion or abuse.

Given the deep-rooted nature of religious conditioning, therapists will learn how to support clients in deconstructing harmful belief systems while fostering self-trust, autonomy, and a sense of safety in their own worldview.  Many survivors of religious trauma have been deeply conditioned through repetitive teachings, fear-based doctrines, and authoritarian control, leading to automatic trauma responses, cognitive distortions, and, in some cases, dissociative coping mechanisms that persist even after leaving the religious environment.  Finally, the presentation will address the unique ethical and countertransference considerations involved in working with religious trauma survivors, particularly those with dissociative disorders. By cultivating a compassionate, informed, and nonjudgmental therapeutic approach, clinicians can provide the necessary support for survivors to integrate fragmented aspects of self, reclaim agency, and rebuild a fulfilling life beyond trauma.
 

Potential to Distress: No