🌿 Feeling like yourself again

Mental health

Grief, anxiety, scrupulosity, religious trauma, and how to find a therapist who understands.

A faith crisis is a mental-health event, whatever else it is. It arrives with the symptoms of grief and often of anxiety and depression, it can wake up old religious OCD, and for some people it exposes trauma that the Church’s structure had been holding in place. All of that is treatable. None of it means you are broken. These guides describe what people commonly experience, what helps, and when to get professional help.

1 Grief A faith crisis is a bereavement, and it behaves like one. What you are grieving, what the waves feel like, and what to do with the anger. 3 min read 2 Anxiety and depression When the crisis stops being grief and becomes something that needs treatment, how to tell, and what works. 2 min read 3 Scrupulosity, or religious OCD Intrusive fears of sin, endless confession, guilt out of all proportion. Common in high-demand religion, often unmasked by a faith crisis, and treatable. 2 min read 4 Religious trauma When what you are recovering from is not just lost belief but harm done in its name. What the term means, whether it applies to you, and what helps. 2 min read 5 Finding a therapist who understands What to look for, what to ask on the phone, where to search, and the difference between a therapist and a coach. 3 min read

Stories on this

Mormon Stories · Aug 8, 2016 Mormon Missionary Faith Crises and Early Return Pt. 2: Depression, Faith Crisis, and Suicidality | Ep. 644

Mormon Stories · May 16, 2022 Mormon Faith Crisis Journey TEDx w/ Anthony Miller | Ep. 1593

Mormon Stories · May 24, 2022 Overcoming Religious Shame and Scrupulosity – Marc Oslund | Ep. 1598

Mormon Stories · Aug 20, 2022 Mormon Church Discouraging Sex Abuse Victims from Reporting – Survivor Stories | Ep. 1644

Mormon Stories · Mar 23, 2022 Improving Mental Health After Mormonism – Jake Bellenfant’s THRIVE Story | Ep. 1566

Mormon Stories · Mar 23, 2017 707-708: Death, Loss, and Grief

Resources for this path

The whole directory →

⭐ pick book neutral

Leaving the Fold: A Guide for Former Fundamentalists and Others Leaving Their Religion

Marlene Winell

The book that named religious trauma syndrome. Not Mormon-specific and does not need to be.

Religious trauma Psychology of belief Leaving and resigning

⭐ pick organisation neutral

Mormon Mental Health Association

MMHA

Clinicians who work with Latter-day Saints across the whole spectrum of belief, with a provider list. Not affiliated with the Church.

Therapy and coaching

⭐ pick organisation neutral free

Secular Therapy Project

Recovering from Religion

A vetted directory of licensed therapists who use evidence-based, non-religious approaches. Good when you need someone who will not pray with you.

Therapy and coaching

⭐ pick organisation neutral free

Recovering from Religion

A helpline you can call or chat with any time (84-I-DOUBT-IT), peer support groups around the world, and the Secular Therapy Project. Not Mormon-specific, and that is sometimes exactly what you want.

Crisis support Community Therapy and coaching