The Body is Good: Unpacking and Healing From Christian Religious Trauma” presented by Teresa Thompson, LCSW

As the Purity Culture movement wanes, more patients than ever are entering mental health treatment presenting with complex trauma originating from conservative or fundamentalist Christian religious contexts. Exposure to harmful ideas about sexuality, gender, race, and the continuum between health and illness can lead to profound experiences of anxiety, depression, PTSD, and low self-esteem. It is important for clinicians to be able to recognize the origin of these clinical presentations in order to intervene effectively. This presentation will include common examples of Christian religious trauma (eg: pervasive feelings of powerlessness, intense/inappropriate feelings of shame and guilt, disorganized attachment especially with authority figures), their impact, and considerations for treatment – including how to create a safe therapeutic environment, how to assist patients in constructing coherent narratives of the past and of self, and practices for supporting patients in moving forward. Illustrative case examples will be shared where appropriate.

Learning Objectives:

After attending this presentation, participants will be able to:

About the Presenter:

Teresa Thompson, LCSW is the founder and senior therapist at Salt River Therapy and an adjunct professor in the Department of Psychology at Brooklyn College. She primarily works with patients with chronic depression and/or complex trauma, including patients with religious trauma and patients who are adult children of parents with serious mental illness. Prior to starting her private practice, Teresa worked as a psychiatric social worker in the community mental health setting for seven years. She is a graduate of the Silberman School of Social Work and Trinity College Dublin, and completed additional clinical training at the Embody Lab and the Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Study Center. Teresa is also currently a graduate student in Pastoral Studies at Catholic Theological Union.