How Religious Abuse Harmed My Mental Health and How I Healed Photo: Image by Pexels from Pixabay By Lydia Joy Kaplan “I have mental illness” is a phrase that was very, very hard for me to say out loud to another living soul. Even acknowledging and accepting …

"The reality is that I was a depressed child. I was an anxious child. I was a traumatized child." - Lydia Joy Launderville

vashtiinitiative.org/2023/05/05/h...

#spiritualabuse #IndependentFundamentalBaptist #religioustrauma #cults #IFB #mentalhealth #support #VashtiCares #mentalhealthmatters

Poem: Holy Hell By Megan Benninger FreedFrom the creedI believed I’m relieved!Once devoutNow kicked outFull of doubtI’m calling outThe ploysOf your good old boysI’m making noiseWith my big fat voiceRejoiceWhe…

"Freed
From the creed
I believed
I’m relieved!
Once devout
Now kicked out
Full of doubt
I’m calling out
The ploys
Of your good old boys
I’m making noise
With my big fat voice"

#ChurchToo #poetry #spiritualabuse #IndependentFundamentalBaptist #IFB #religioustrauma #cults #cultsurvivor #VashtiCares

You Can Move On Photo: Image by Couleur from Pixabay. By Melissa Neeb In response to those who tell you that you should stay at your church even when church people hurt you because “You are there for God, no…

"You do not need to stay at a church that's harmed you. God does not use guilt, shame, manipulation, or control to keep you in any situation, much less a harmful one."

#ChurchToo #spiritualabuse #religioustrauma #VashtiCares #VashtiInitiative #deconstruction #healingjourney

An ‘Unrivaled’ Education: Educational Neglect in Adverse Spiritual Environments Creative Commons Image by Nino Carè from Pixabay. By Evan Jones I remember staring at the young man in front of me as he chuckled while reviewing my college transcript and then quickly caught himse…

“I’m sorry,” he said. “But we can’t accept any of these credits because the college itself is not accredited.”

vashtiinitiative.org/2022/06/29/a...

#spiritualabuse #educationalneglect #ChristianColleges #unaccredited #cults #highcontrolreligion #religiousabuse #VashtiCares #educationmatters

Finding purpose in PTSD Creative Commons image courtesy of Pixabay, geralt. By Megan Benninger I’ve experienced so much spiritual abuse in my lifetime! Seriously, I’m a spiritual abuse poster child. I was raised in a very…

Megan Benninger with BaptistAccountability.Org shared her story about recovering from PTSD after leaving high-control religion on our blog.

#VashtiCares #survivorstories #spiritualabuse #religioustrauma #ptsd #ptsdawareness #recovery #healing #churchtoo

vashtiinitiative.org/2021/08/27/f...