Any case of abuse, physical, emotional, or sexual, can deeply affect a person’s sense of trust, identity, and safety. When it happens within a faith community, additional factors can make it feel especially confusing, especially when the perpetrator is seen as a moral authority, spiritual guide, or an important part of the community. The guilt, shame, anger, fear, and isolation survivors feel can worsen over time, especially if they’re not given the support and the avenues for healing they need. Here, we’re going to look at some of the ways to reclaim control, find support, and rebuild life.
Working With A Trauma-Informed Therapist
While therapy is not a magic bullet, it can definitely help people process what happened and the emotions following, especially when it feels like you’re losing control. Trauma-informed therapists, in particular, are trained to keep judgment, pressure, and blame out of the picture, providing practical help to deal with feelings of anxiety, depression, and shame, as well as long-term issues like trust issues and maintaining boundaries. Finding a therapist who understands religion’s role in life but does not excuse abuse can help greatly.
Considering Legal Action
For some survivors, legal action can be an important step towards accountability, closure, and seeking justice. This can include reporting to law enforcement or making a civil claim, but in some cases, like with this Leonard Huske church abuse information, survivors may also look to see if others have made similar allegations and contribute their testimony to a larger case. Often, legal action isn’t just about punishing abusers (though that can be important), but also about preventing future harm. However, the legal process can be very stressful, so survivors should be given time and space ot make their own decisions about how they’re going to go forward.
Finding Support Groups
The isolation that often results from abuse can make healing from it a lot harder. Many isolate because they are shunned or more quietly disconnected from friends, family, and faith communities after speaking, may choose to step away, or even fear raising their voice. If you’re able to find those who are willing to support and validate you within your community, leaning on them can help a great deal, but it can also be very helpful to look for survivor groups, be they in your area or online, and advocacy organizations, so that you can feel heard and understood.
The Question of Faith
Believers who experience abuse from those within religious institutions often have to go through an evolution of their relationship with their spirituality. This is a wholly personal journey, and whether you decide to return to your faith, to adapt it based on your experiences with the institutions that often tied into it, or to step away completely is entirely up to you. Each path deserves respect, and taking the time to journal your thoughts, talk it out in therapy, or educate yourself on that faith and how others in your position have adapted can help you find the path that works best for you.
There is no one single correct way for survivors of religious abuse to find their way to heal. Compassion, protection, and the freedom to choose their own means of pressing forward are vital in every case, however.
