Abusive Religious Cults
Hi! I am looking for resources specifically aimed at helping people who, like me, grew up in sexually and physically abusive religious cults, who are looking for healing. I haven't seen anything here that exactly fits that discription, but perhaps someone here could point me in the right direction. Thanks!
@resourcefulPond1641
I was able to find some resources related to post-cult/spiritual abuse recovery and some related to childhood sexual/physical abuse, but not the two together.
https://www.spiritualabuseresources.com/articles/post-cult-problems-an-exit-counselors-perspective
https://www.spiritualabuseresources.com/get-help/recovery-from-spiritual-abuse
https://www.icsahome.com/articles/the-unique-characteristics-of-postcult-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-and-suggested-therapeutic-approaches-docx
https://www.healthyplace.com/abuse/child-sexual-abuse/treatment-of-child-sexual-abuse-sexual-abuse-recovery
https://psychcentral.com/pro/recovery-expert/2016/01/healing-from-childhood-sexual-abuse
https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/publications/effects-child-abuse-and-neglect-adult-survivors
@QuietMagic
Thank you! I will check the links out tomorrow. I appreciate the effort you made.
I feel like people who went through trauma via religious cults are a very vulnerable population who are often overlooked, partly because of the lack of awareness around cults. But they are actually quite common, they are just very secretive, and often sexual abuse is involved in them. And survivors often don't speak out due to the shame, although that is slowly changing.
@QuietMagic
Thank you so much! The first 3 links in particular were very helpful and exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. <3
@resourcefulPond1641
I'm glad it was helpful. Google searching for "post-cult recovery" and "spiritual abuse recovery" returned quite a few results and I just grabbed a few that jumped out, in case if you're interested in looking around for other resources.
There is an amazing charity that provides help and support to those who are leaving, or have already left a cult. They are called Safe Passage Foundation.
I am providing a link here, in case it is helpful for anyone: https://safepassagefoundation.org/
@resourcefulPond1641
Hi, I just saw your post. I am looking for the same thing. I was hoping to find a chat of women (raised specifically in fundamentalist purity culture) who have lost everything getting out but I have not found it yet. I just wanted you to know you are not alone. I wanted it (Christianity, God, my family, my friends) to be real and good so bad that my husband and I were even on staff at a mega church for years. It’s so hard to get out - I’m proud of you.
@resourcefulPond1641
I have made a few post about this topic, if you want to check them out. also if you are looking for a listener with knowledge on this, please feel free to reach out to me.
in the tread showed above is also a link to another post i made with a better explanation on religious abuse.