Religious Trauma and Cults: Sam Sellers & Elise Heerde on Healing After High Control Churches (Part 1)

Sam Sellers and Elise Heerde of Religious Trauma and Cults bring the receipts on growing up in high-control faith worlds, with Sam from the Brethren Christian Church, also known as the Exclusive Brethren, and Elise from the Pentecostal Church & New Apostolic Reformation. They talk about how those systems can start out feeling like belonging with a side of certainty, then slowly turn into “wait, this is weird” when obedience, fear, and authority start doing the heavy lifting.Sam shares how a strict, male-led church, predestination, and a not-so-subtle pressure to comply eventually collided with her own growing sense that the whole thing was, frankly, spiritually and emotionally bonkers. Elise gets into hell trauma, hearing-from-God hierarchy, and the painful realization that being told not to trust yourself is a pretty solid recipe for losing the plot.It’s a funny, sharp, and deeply honest conversation about religious trauma, queer identity, control, and the long road back to your own brain. Stay tuned for Part 2 of our conversation on Thursday.Follow Religious Trauma and Cults at religioustraumaandcults.com, Sam’s website and podcast at anchoredcounsellingservices.com.au and Elise’s website and books at eliseheerde.com.And to follow the Victorian Parliamentary inquiry into the recruitment and impact of cults and other fringe groups submission: https://religioustraumaandcults.com/victorian-cult-inquiry-submissionTrigger warning: This episode contains frank discussion of coercive control, religious trauma, sexual assault, homophobia, emotional and spiritual abuse, and family/community rejection.Also…let it be known that:The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.Buy the A Little Bit Culty book on Amazon or order a signed copy.Check out our amazing sponsorsJoin A Little Bit Culty on PatreonGet poppin’ fresh ALBC SwagSupport the pod and smash this linkCheck out our cult awareness and recovery resourcesWatch Sarah's TED Talk and buy her memoir, ScarredCREDITS:Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony AmesProduction Partner: Citizens of SoundCo-Creator: Jess TardyAudio production: Will RetherfordProduction Coordinator: Lesli DinsmoreWriter: Sandra NomotoSocial media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke KeaneTheme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel AsselinSUPPORT OUR SPONSORS:Don’t let stigma stand in the way of support. Start therapy with BetterHelp. Sign up and get 10 percent off at BetterHelp.com/culty.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.