Leaving the Faith, Finding Yourself: Life After Mormonism with Audra Phelps

Leaving the Faith, Finding Yourself: Life After Mormonism with Audra PhelpsWhat happens when leaving a religion means risking the loss of your community, your identity, and even your closest relationships?In this powerful conversation, Bernadine Fox speaks with Audra Phelps about her experience leaving the Mormon Church and the complex emotional landscape that follows. Together they explore the grief of losing a community that once shaped every aspect of life, the anger that can emerge when long-held beliefs are questioned, and the difficult realization that some relationships may have been built on conditions rather than authenticity. Audra shares how fear, guilt, and self-doubt can linger long after someone leaves a high-control religious environment, and why healing requires learning to trust yourself again.The conversation also examines the role of grief in recovery—not simply grieving a belief system, but grieving family connections, friendships, and a sense of belonging that may suddenly feel uncertain. Audra discusses the importance of allowing emotions such as anger, hurt, and frustration to be felt rather than suppressed, and how moving through those emotions can become a path toward healing, self-discovery, and personal freedom. This is a thoughtful exploration of religious trauma, identity, and what it means to build a life rooted in authenticity after walking away from a system that once defined who you were.Audra founded Mama Audra to help moms unravel the web of old beliefs after leaving the LDS church to discover their own identity as a woman and mom. With over 15 years of experience in international education and coaching, she discovered her passion in supporting moms grappling with grief, mom guilt, and identity loss after a faith crisis. Audra began her career as a high school biology teacher, was raised in the church, and then moved overseas with her family to work in international schools. When she finally made the life-altering decision to leave the church, she found herself sinking in uncertainty, lonelier than she'd ever been before, and constantly feeling like she was failing her children. Through years of self-discovery and coaching, she has walked the path to uncovering beliefs that resonate, building relationships with her children based on love and trust, and navigating the loneliness that comes from starting all over again. She is now focusing her work on the unique challenges that ex-Mormon moms are navigating. Audra is reaching back to help them feel confident in who they are and blaze their own path , on their own terms.Music by Shari UlrichBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rethreading-madness--5675300/support.www.rethreadingmadness.ca