According to a recent research report, one in three Americans suffer from some form of religious trauma. With many traditionalist religious people also adopting strong homophobic and transphobic views, religious trauma naturally affects the LGBTQ+ community at a much higher rate.
To combat this, Center on Halsted hosts a religious trauma processing group for folks affected by religious upbringings or experiences. Although many people in the program are dealing with the way Christianity has been negatively imposed on them, it’s an interfaith group that welcomes all religions.
Kathryn Brown, a behavioral health advocate clinician at the center, initially pitched the idea to her peers about a year and a half ago. Since its inception, the group has run on a 10 week timeline, with its next iteration scheduled to start at the end of May.
“This is something I [had] never seen actual resources for,” she said. “I come from a religious trauma background myself, so I definitely started to notice it especially in the clients I was working with.”
The processing group is an open and flexible meeting, guided mostly by people’s own experiences they’d like to share, and a workbook Brown herself created; she said the book specifically goes over topics such as interactions between religious trauma experiences and mental health, along with how gender and sexuality play into that. During meetings, group members set guidelines and dynamics themselves for how they’d like the group to run.
Brown said it’s important the group remains flexible about discussion, because although everyone may be there to process a form of religious trauma, people’s own experiences are unique. While some may be grappling with how they fit into a faith they practice, others may have practicing no religion whatsoever.
Some of the specific points often talked about in the sessions revolve around feelings of shame and guilt, as well as the imposition of rigid binary gender roles. Other common topics include familial relationships and how people grieve those, or are trying to navigate them, and building back self-confidence and self-trust.
Aside from setting time to talk about experiences, Brown said she also tries to work in different skills such as mindfulness practices.
Currently, Brown is also looking into expanding the demographic of the group — one way includes reaching out to religious institutions in the area advertising themselves as “queer-friendly” and inviting folks grappling with their identity and religion from there.
So far, the main takeaway Brown has seen from those who participate in the group is the camaraderie they find with each other.
“Simply being in a space with other people who get it and who have similar shared experiences—although it may be different—[there’s] a validation that comes from that,” she said.
The upcoming group is in need of a few more participants in order to begin. This cycle’s in-person group is scheduled to meet 5:30-7 p.m. on Wednesdays, with sliding scale pricing and payment plans available. For more information, contact behavioralhealth@centeronhalsted.org.