Episode 10: Is It Religious Trauma If You Loved Church? With Cheyenne Garstad, LCSW

What if the place that hurt you is also where your best childhood memories live? Dr. Gabe Lowe sits down with Cheyenne Garstad, LCSW, a licensed clinical social worker who works with LGBTQ+ and BIPOC clients in New Jersey and New Hampshire and serves on the board of Reclamation Collective. She grew up in evangelical Christianity, came out as queer as a teenager, and was asked to leave her church. They talk about why religious trauma is almost never the reason people start therapy, how youth group, summer camp and worship music keep the harm hidden, what leaving costs queer and BIPOC clients, why the fear stays in the body, purity culture, and what it takes to feel like a good person again. Content note: this conversation touches on religious abuse, informal conversion therapy and sexual violence. Nothing is described in detail. Please take care while listening. Show notes: https://coastaltherapygroup.com/podca... Resources mentioned: Reclamation Collective: https://www.reclamationcollective.com/ Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033kEbN... Where Did Your Mind Just Go? is an open invitation to wonder out loud, sit with the uncomfortable, and find beauty in uncertainty. New episodes every 1st and 3rd Wednesday. Hosted by Dr. Gabriel Lowe and produced by Coastal Therapy Group, a relational psychodynamic therapy practice in Carlsbad, Encinitas and Vista, California. https://coastaltherapygroup.com/ #ReligiousTrauma #SpiritualAbuse #Deconstruction #PurityCulture #LGBTQ #MentalHealthPodcast #Psychology #Therapy