What is Religious Trauma? with Ann Russo

Deeply Well with Devi Brown

The Black Effect and iHeartPodcasts

Health & Fitness

5 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 24 April 2025

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this powerful episode, Devi is joined by mental health advocate and thought leader Anne Russo for a conversation that speaks directly to the hearts of those healing from religious trauma. Anne brings deep wisdom and compassion as we explore what it means to reclaim your agency after experiencing harm in spiritual or religious spaces.

Together, they dive into the often-unspoken complexities of religious trauma — how it impacts identity, self-worth, and the connection to something greater. Anne shares her groundbreaking Religious Trauma Treatment Model, offering a path toward healing that honors both faith and authenticity, especially for those in the queer community who have felt excluded or erased.

“What is the definition of religious trauma?

If you think of PTSD, know where depression, anxiety, difficult functioning, challenges in relationships, you're just, overall, something has impacted you that is making life harder to live in a sense. And in this situation, we're talking about religion, and sometimes with PTSD, we can think of it as like a one-time event. I was in a car accident. I'm afraid to be in a car.

But with religious trauma, especially if you're raised in the church, you're going through these events over and over and over. So it becomes very, very complex. It impacts how you view yourself in relation to creation, deity, faith systems, scriptures, and how you navigate the world in these communities.”

This conversation is a reminder that true healing requires safe spaces, cultural competence, and deep humility from those who hold space for others. Whether you’ve personally experienced spiritual harm or are simply seeking to understand and support others on their journey, this episode invites you into a space of empathy, restoration, and radical self-reclamation.

Connect @DeviBrown @DeeplyWellPod

Learn More AnnRusso.org

“Living in Wisdom” Now Available: DeviBrown.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	The big guests continue on Las Culturistas. This week, it's the very funny Amy Polar.
0:06.2	Don't overthink it. They talk water. We did not drink water growing up. Water was not a thing.
0:11.1	Parenting. You got teen boys. This is like the black diamond of parenting. And of course. I don't think so, honey, horror movies. Okay. Okay.
0:19.7	Amy Polar is on Las Culture.
0:23.3	The latest episode is out now.
0:25.7	Listen to Las Culturistas on the IHeart Radio app or wherever you listen to podcasts.
0:31.2	If money is a taboo topic and nobody wants to talk about it, how can we be educated on something we're unwilling to talk about?
0:36.9	April is Financial Literacy Month, and Black Tech Green Money is where a culture meets capital.
0:41.6	Each week, I sit down with black entrepreneurs and leaders to share their blueprint for building
0:45.4	generational wealth through tech, innovation, and ownership.
0:48.9	Once we know more, we can have more. One thing is that we tell our clients is, the more that
0:53.2	you learn, the more that you earn, but you have to be willing to learn. To hear this and more game-changing insight,
0:58.7	listen to Black Tech Green Money on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your
1:03.2	podcast. 70% of Americans are living from paycheck to paycheck. Not black people, not brown people,
1:09.1	everybody. And whether you're white, black, red, brown,
1:11.9	a yellow, you want to see some more green. Can I get an amen?
1:15.3	Hey, this is Financial Literacy Awareness Month. Tune in the Money and Wealth with John
1:20.0	O'Brien, a podcast that breaks down financial freedom in a way that's real, relatable, and rooted
1:25.1	in empowerment. From rebuilding your credit to starting your wealth
1:29.0	journey, I give you all the tools to rise. I'm going to break down how the modern economy
1:35.0	works. This is what they never taught you in school. You're not dumb and you're not stupid. It's what you
1:39.9	don't know that you don't know is killing you, but you think you know. To hear this and more
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 23 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Black Effect and iHeartPodcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Black Effect and iHeartPodcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.