Jesus in the Psych Ward—Religious trauma and mental health recovery (Kristi Williams)

Send Jeromy a Message or VoicemailWhat happens when religious trauma collides with mental health crisis—and your old faith doesn’t survive the fall?In this raw and deeply honest conversation, Kristi Williams shares her journey from high-control Christianity to psych ward hospitalization—and into real mental health recovery.Together, they unpack religious trauma, psych ward hospitalization, nervous system dysregulation, and the long road of mental health recovery after high-control Christianity.Raised inside Seventh-day Adventism, Kristi shares how years of fear-based theology, end-times anxiety, perfectionism, and spiritual pressure shaped her nervous system long before she realized it. After postpartum stress, insomnia, pandemic fear, and accumulated trauma pushed her into psychiatric crisis, she found herself in a psych ward—terrified, unraveling, and unexpectedly encountering radical, judgment-free love.What followed wasn’t a tidy testimony. Her faith collapsed. Theology stopped making sense. Attempts to “CPR” her old belief system failed. But something deeper began to emerge.We explore:Religious trauma and its impact on the nervous systemWhy changing theology alone doesn’t heal traumaBody-based trauma healing and daily regulation practicesCognitive belief shifts vs. subconscious integrationInsomnia, fight-or-flight, and nervous system burnoutDeconstruction after mental health crisisRebuilding faith after psychiatric hospitalizationKristi explains why trauma isn’t just a belief problem—it’s stored in the body. And why real recovery requires working with the subconscious, grief, and nervous system patterns shaped by high-control religion.If you’ve experienced church hurt, deconstruction, spiritual abuse, anxiety around hell or the end times, or mental health struggles connected to faith, this conversation offers language, tools, and hope.This is not theology from a distance.This is trauma work in the aftermath.This is grace that meets you at rock bottom. Support the show_______________________________________________________Grace doesn’t hold back. She breaks the rules, softens hearts, and loves without apology. The open, universal, unapologetic love of God. Together we’re building a braver, more honest space. Thanks for your support and for listening. Got a story, question, guest suggestions, or topic idea? Email me.  Please share if you believe this show and its message of grace is important in our time—keep it spreading!Be sure to follow on whichever podcast platform you use.  Slutty Grace Facebook GroupEpisode written, hosted, edited and produced by Jeromy Johnson.  Once grace is tamed, it ceases to be grace. Grace doesn’t hold back. She breaks the rules, softens hearts, and loves without apology. The open, universal, unapologetic love of God. Together we’re building a braver, more honest space. Thanks for your support and for listening. Got a story, question, guest suggestions, or topic idea? Email me.Please share if you believe this show and its message of grace is important in our time—keep it spreading!Be sure to follow on whichever podcast platform you use.Untamed Grace Facebook GroupEpisode partnered with QuoirCast, and written, hosted, edited and produced by Jeromy Johnson.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.