Reclaiming Your Inner Authority After Religious Trauma with Dr. Tanya Johnson

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Tanya Johnson (she/her), licensed mental health counselor, clinical supervisor, and counseling professor, for a deep dive into the psychology of religious trauma and high-control groups.Dr. Johnson breaks down exactly how high-control religions use behavioral, emotional, thought, and information control to keep members compliant and disconnected from their own instincts. In this episode we cover:Why religious trauma is so hard to recognize and why we minimize itThe BITE model and how cults control every aspect of your inner worldHow high-control groups train you to interpret your emotions through their lensWhy anger is repressed in religious spaces and what that costs youThe connection between the fawn response and religious conditioningWhy neurodivergent people can have a unique relationship with high-control groupsHow to talk to loved ones who are still inside a high-control religionWhy leaving religion can feel like losing your identity and map for realityReclaiming your inner authority and learning to trust yourself againThe martyrdom complex and how it follows you out of the churchWhy doing it scared is the only way through conditioned guilt and fearDr. Johnson also shares resources for finding religious trauma informed therapists and her own courses for both clients and therapists in training.