The Religious Trauma Collective Online Event
A space for connection, understanding and stories, from Australia & New Zealand.
A Space for Connection, Understanding & Healing
This event is for you, if you have:
- Experienced harm in faith spaces
- Tried to reimagine healthy faith expressions
- Have felt confused and disillusioned by toxic theology
- Experienced purity culture
- Are questioning your identity apart from faith
- Been part of a cult
- You’re a practitioner working with this cohort
- You’re supporting family and friends going through this experience
- You just want to learn more about religious and spiritual trauma.
Our guests are storytellers, people who have lived experience of religious and spiritual trauma and practitioners who support survivors. There’s podcasters, those still in church trying to make it safer, researchers, cult experts and more.
The content of this event is internationally relevant, but we’re intentionally platforming voices from Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.
You’ll learn about this big topic, connect with those working for change and importantly, become part of an emerging network in our part of the world.
We hold on to the belief that we heal in community.
What To Expect
- Powerful, pre-recorded sessions from a broad range of Australian and New Zealand voices. Conversations about faith deconstruction, religious trauma, cult recovery, purity culture and working with people who have lived experience.
- A final session inviting us to reflect and gather in a contemplative way.
- Purchase an all-access pass which gives you ongoing access until December 31st 2025 and includes loads of bonus extras.
- Resources and practical tools for healing, growth and understanding.
Check out the All Access Pass below.
Get the All Access Pass
It includes some fabulous bonus extras.
- Unlimited access to all session recordings until December 31st, 2025.
- A completion certificate for your association OPD hours if you’re a practitioner.
- Ebooks, resources and three bonus sessions.
- Discounts on speaker online courses.
Three bonus sessions:
- “Deconstructing A Fear Based Faith” with Elise Heerde and Mel Winterbine.
- “When You Just Have To Laugh: Cringeworthy Reflections” Jane, Sam and Elise laugh and wince over journals and Facebook posts.
- “Self-Soothing Using Havening Techniques” Jane leads a short session on experiencing calm through Havening.
eBooks and Resources
- “A Shattered Sanctuary: From Fellowship to Freedom” Sam Sellers (valued at $19)
- “The Sentimental Non-Believer. On Loving and Leaving God” Jane Kennedy (valued at $19)
- "Unlearning Obedience: Losing Religion and Finding Myself" Elise Heerde (valued at $19)
- "Integrating Spirituality & Identity: Reflective Exercises For Clients" This workbook is a supportive resource for therapists working with LGBTQIA+ clients navigating the complex journey of integrating their identity and spirituality. Created by Sam Sellers (valued at $49)
- “Religious Trauma Questionnaire” - Questions for individuals and therapists to support finding language for peoples’ experience of harm in faith spaces. Created by Jane Kennedy.
- "Empowering Your NO After Religious Trauma" A trauma-informed resource for anyone reclaiming their voice after high-control religion. Offering practical scripts and gentle encouragement to help you set boundaries without guilt and heal on your own terms. Created by Elise Heerde (valued at $29).
Discounts on speaker resources.
With an all-access pass you automatically qualify for a 20% discount on select online courses by Meg Cowan, Sam Sellers and Jane Kennedy.
All Access Pass Giveaway (Early Bird Only)
We’re bundling up resources from our speakers to give away. There’s two packages up for grabs.
You’re automatically in the draw when you purchase the all-access pass (Early Bird Only).
Package 1
- Gutsy Girls by Josie McSkimming
- Cult Trip. Inside the world of coercion and control. by Anke Richter
- A Place at His Table: A Biblical Exploration of Faith, Sexuality, and the Kingdom of God by Joel Hollier
Package 2
- Excommunicated by Craig Hoyle
- Poems for When the World is Ending by Will Small
- Do as I say. How cults control, why we join them and what they teach us about coercion and control. By Sarah Steel.
Giveaway will be drawn and announced during the event.
Secure Your Place Now
Just a heads up!
To complete your registration, you’ll need to add at least one session to your schedule. Don’t worry, you can always come back later and make changes, but we do need at least one session selected to process your rego.
Say Hello To Our Speakers
We couldn't be more excited about our lineup of Australian and New Zealand voices
Schedule
Take a look at the exciting agenda we have planned for you.
Day 1
Reconstructing Identity After Leaving Faith.
Dr Josie McSkimming
Psychotherapist & Supervisor, Dr Josie McSkimming Counselling
Purity Culture’s Impact on Relationships, Sex & Pleasure
Meg Cowan
Sexologist & Relationship Coach, Meg Cowan
Day 2
Excommunicated. Craig Hoyle's Moving Story of Leaving the Exclusive Brethren
Craig Hoyle
Author & Journalist
Speaking Out: Podcasting, Visibility & the Impact of Telling Our Stories
Sarah Steel, Brian McDowell & Troy Waller
Day 3
Holding Space for Religious Trauma: Lived Experience & Clinical Practice
Sam Sellers, Elise Heerde & Jane Kennedy
Understanding Cult Leaving: A Gendered, Generational, and Therapeutic Lens
Charlotte Cummings
Counsellor, Charlotte Cummings NZ
The Hidden Harm of Conversion Practices: Ideology, Legislation, and Recovery
Dr Timothy Jones, Nathan Despott & Chris Csabs
Bonuses
Bonus Session - When You Just Have To Laugh: Cringeworthy Reflections
Sam Sellers, Elise Heerde & Jane Kennedy
We acknowledge the Indigenous people of the lands we have recorded on. Our speakers and hosts are located on Aboriginal Country all across the lands now called Australia and Maori lands across Aoteoroa. We pay our respect to Indigenous elders who are custodians of these lands and extend that respect to any Indigenous people attending our event.
Frequently Asked Questions