#religious guilt and trauma

[cissyenthusiast010155]

Omg, your response was so amazing and helpful 😭❤ Thank you for taking the time to really get into all that. 💞 It also seems to have kinda sparked a conversation arround it, which is awesome! 😁

And ohhhhh ya, the religious trauma and gilt are real 😳🙄

You mentioned you have more to say if we want to hear it? I, for one, would LOVE to hear anything else you have to say on the topic! ❤

-🫖

Hi hi hi 🫖 anon!!

{Let’s Talk Religious Guilt and Trauma}

I am so glad that my response—Let’s Talk Healthy Solo Sex— was helpful and informative for you!! Of course!!! I want to give every ask and every anon the time and respect that they deserve ♥️♥️ And yes, I love that it sparked more of a conversation!! I’m so proud of you for reaching out and starting these discussions, anon!!! 🥰

I most definitely have more to say on the topic. For one, you can check out Let’s Talk Penetrative Sex and Let’s Talk Trauma in Relationships, which both stemmed from our conversation! And then there’s this response, fyi it will be another longer one 😊

*sigh* Yes, religious guilt and trauma are most definitely real. And those of experiences and feelings are so valid. Trauma of any kind is no joke. If you have any religious trauma or trauma of any other kind, I highly recommend that you seek a professional’s help.

So… What is Religious Trauma and Guilt?

A general definition for Religious Trauma is… “Religious trauma can happen when an individual’s religious experience has been damaging, abusive, degrading, stressful, or traumatic. When a religious experience is traumatic, it can damage your emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual health”. Check out Cohesive Therapy NYC’s article on Religious Trauma for more detailed information! For an article that goes more into Religious Guilt, check out Considering Counseling’s article on Religious Trauma and Guilt…! ♥️

Religious trauma and guilt are especially tricky beasts… Many twisted religious teachings and persuasion is very cult like. (That’s not to say that all are, there are definitely less twisted, healthier religions and practices) But the ones that are rotten and manipulative, they dig deep into your core beliefs, especially if you’re a child, and they replace your identity with the identity of the religion/church/cult.

So, how do you deal with religious trauma and guilt?

Firstly, as I said above, seek professional help (I recommend an EMDR specialist for trauma—EMDR is a type of therapy that works to restructure traumatic memories in your brain)

On your own accord, Processing, Accepting, and then Healing is the overall goal. Talking it out and processing your experience and feelings with a trusted person can be helpful for some. I find that talking to someone who has also had religious trauma or guilt to be even more helpful, because of how they can relate. Sometimes journaling/writing about it can be another helpful tool. The key is to find some way to express those emotions, to get them out of you.

Personally, my own story is that I have both religious trauma and guilt, but I definitely struggle more with my religious trauma. I was raised in a Catholic school and an Interfaith-Christian household. We moved around a lot, and so I went to many Christian churches like Non-Denominational, Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic, and Southern Christian/Baptist. After the Catholic primary school, I moved to a Christian Charter school for six years. At that age, all my activities were based around my church and religious school; safe to say, religion was a very big part of my childhood. When Covid hit, I had had enough and I used the social distancing and the lockdown as a way to disconnect from the church. I effectively stopped going to church in 2020. I then took that time to explore my religious trauma and guilt, and this was where my healing journey began.

Everyone’s journey is different, and everyone’s journey is valid. ♥️

I began my work with my CBT therapist (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy— most therapy is CBT or Freudian). I found that most of my religious guilt was tied to my sexuality, and that I really struggled with being gay and being religious. So I explored that. I talked about it with lots of people, including my therapist, trusted family members, and other trusted religious people. I found that finding others who struggled with sexuality and religion was extremely helpful, it made me feel validated and not alone in the struggle. Today, I am way further along with my religious guilt than I was 3 years ago, but I definitely still have more to process, accept, and heal from.

Next there was my religious trauma. For this, I started with my CBT therapy as well. It was helpful, but after 3 years, I have run into a wall… It depends on the intensity of your trauma, because “little t” trauma is more easily resolved through CBT, whereas “capital T” trauma requires the neural network in your brain. My trauma is more “capital T”, and so I found that CBT therapy only helped me so much. This is why I recommend EMDR therapy for trauma. EMDR therapy targets restricting your neural network, working out the traumatic memories.

Everyone’s experience is different, so what worked for me and what didn’t work might be different for you, and that’s okay. This is only my experience. But I hope that it was a little helpful, and that you at least feel less alone in your feelings. Because they are so valid. ♥️♥️

So yea, those are my key points for religious trauma and guilt…! Hope this was somewhat relatable, helpful, and informative 🥰 Don’t hesitate to reach out and chat with me, ask or dm! Hope you have a lovely day/night!! 💞💞

Talk with Me ❤️‍🔥

[metatheatre]

"But, well...I would always know the stain was there. Underneath, I mean."

[intheholler]

[seraphimfall]

i’ve read so much tradcath bullshit the last two years. i can confidently say tradcath men fit into one of two categories:

“protestant-raised and converted to catholicism because of his crippling porn addiction and racist tendencies. reposts crusader and conquistador memes. is hated in his local parish.” tradcath

“catholic-raised band kid who ate his lunches with the religion teacher. smells like mildew. cut off all his friends that came out as gay after high school. now larps as an aquinian scholar and cries after jerking off.” tradcath

[azuremist]

I made a uQuiz to figure out how you would fall if you were an angel. My credentials are that I am gay and my mom was a pastor.

[dvllbaby]

Psalm 58:6

[mad-girlslove-song]

ethel cain literally suffered more than jesus christ

[exclusivelyhomosexual]

[angelspearlheart]

Jesus can always reject his father But he cannot escape his mother's blood He'll scream and try to wash it off of his fingers But he'll never escape what he's made up of

[afloweronthemoon]

[tenderbittersweet]

Catholic guilt is a thing people joke about, but it’s so real and can be so painful to cope with, whether or not you’re still practicing. Combine that with America’s Protestant work ethic, and you’ve got quite a mess on your hands. So, for anyone who needs to hear this today:

It’s okay to rest.

It’s okay to nap.

It’s okay to go to bed early and wake up late.

It’s okay if you didn’t do chores today.

It’s okay if you half-assed your (home)work.

It’s okay if you were a little late sending our birthday, holiday, or thank-you cards.

It’s okay if you’re a little cringe.

It’s okay if you’re weird.

It’s okay if you mentally ill.

It’s okay if you’re disabled.

It’s okay if you’re queer.

It’s okay if you’re poor.

It’s okay if you’re struggling.

It’s okay if you don’t have a side hustle.

It’s okay if you maintain your hobbies as hobbies.

It’s okay if you don’t like your job or if you don’t like working at all.

It’s okay if you don’t want to conform to fit a mold that doesn’t fit you.

It’s okay if your goals and values don’t align with your parents’.

It’s okay if you don’t want kids.

It’s okay to be a pet or plant parent.

It’s okay if you have a found/chosen family.

It’s okay if you don’t speak to your relative(s).

It’s okay if you don’t speak to former friends.

It’s okay if you don’t believe in god(s).

It’s okay if you don’t believe in an afterlife.

It’s okay if you don’t want to celebrate the holiday(s).

It’s okay if you need to ask for help.

It's okay to not be okay.

It’s okay to want to be okay.

You deserve to be okay. ♥︎

[pray-harder]

growing up being taught and believing:

A) that god loves you more than anything, unconditionally, and

B) that you are a dirty sinner who is unworthy of his love,

creates a nasty cycle of “sin”and “forgiveness,” where we internalize our own unworthiness until we become worthless to even ourselves, which catholicism praises as humility.

sometimes this self-hatred is so ingrained into brainwashed catholics’ minds that they begin to view acts of self-love as acts of selfishness.

[puppybot]

you can take the boy out of the church but you cannot take the guilt out of his heart

[seraphimfall]

ex-christians with religious trauma picking their music taste be like:

[vampyre-kin]

Thinking about the fact that 200 people have liked my horny religious trauma playlist.

The Internet brainwash got to me for a second where I was like "that's not that many people." But that's 200 people listening to the same songs as me, 200 people who found my playlist and saved it so they could come back to it, 200 people whose lives I have impacted just the tiniest bit.

[canisalbus]

If Machete and Vasco were roommates before they became a couple, there had to have been moments of innocent touching/body contact, followed by deep gay panic.

.