Religious Trauma Therapy, WA & ID | Janice LaFountaine, LMFT

Written by Janice LaFountaine, MS, LMFT on November 03, 2026.

Religious trauma therapy helps people heal from harm in high-control religious settings, such as fear-based teaching, shunning, spiritual abuse, or losing family and identity after leaving. Janice LaFountaine, MS, LMFT, offers this work across Washington and Idaho, by telehealth and in person in Chattaroy, near Spokane.

If you've left a church, a group, or a way of life that once held your whole world, you may be carrying grief that's hard to name. You might miss people who no longer speak to you. You might still feel the old fear when you question something. None of this means you're doing recovery wrong. It's how a nervous system responds when belonging was made conditional.

What Is Religious Trauma?

Religious trauma describes the lasting effects of experiences in a religious system that used fear, shame, or control to shape belief and behavior. Dr. Marlene Winell gave the pattern a name, Religious Trauma Syndrome, and many survivors recognize themselves in it.

Faith itself isn't the wound. The harm comes from control presented as faith: when questions are treated as sin, when leaving costs you your family, when love is offered only in exchange for conformity. Love doesn't require conformity as the price of connection.

Who Is Religious Trauma Therapy For?

This work may fit you if you:

Left a high-control church, group, or religious community, whether recently or years ago
Were shunned, disfellowshipped, or cut off from family for leaving or asking questions
Grew up with fear-based teaching about hell, the end times, or punishment
Carry shame from purity culture about your body, sexuality, or relationships
Are in a faith deconstruction or faith transition and want support without being pushed toward or away from belief
Still belong to a faith community and are healing from harm that happened within it

What Survivors Often Experience

Grief for relationships with people who are still alive, sometimes called ambiguous loss
Anxiety, hypervigilance, or panic, especially around old teachings or reminders of the group
Questions about identity: who am I, apart from what I was told to be?
Missing the community, or the God you once knew, even while feeling relief to be out
Difficulty trusting your own judgment, feelings, and body signals

You can read more about how organized cutoffs affect survivors in The Reality of Shunning.

How I Work With Religious Trauma

I combine evidence-based trauma therapy with steady respect for your own judgment. You are the expert on your life.

Safety and pacing first. You set the speed and the depth. You never have to share more than feels right.
Naming the pattern. Dr. Steven Hassan's BITE Model maps how groups control behavior, information, thought, and emotion. Seeing the pattern often lets shame loosen its grip.
EMDR therapy. EMDR helps your nervous system process painful memories so the past stops running the present. It doesn't require you to retell every detail, and we build stability before any processing begins.
Attachment work. Loyalty to a group or leader can feel like love. We approach that bond as something that helped you survive, not as a character flaw.
Soul Unity Therapy. My integrative framework, Soul Unity Therapy, pairs EMDR-based trauma processing with inner-guidance work, helping you rebuild trust in your own inner compass. It works with or without spiritual beliefs and never prescribes them.
Your beliefs stay yours. I don't give religious advice. Choices about faith, relationships, and direction remain your own.

What Sessions Look Like

Sessions are 60 minutes, usually weekly or every other week.
The fee is $140 per 60-minute session. Most major insurance plans are accepted; please verify your coverage with your plan.
You can meet by secure, HIPAA-compliant telehealth from anywhere in Washington or Idaho, or in person at my home office in Chattaroy.
Intake forms are completed online, at your own pace, before the first session.
The first session focuses on your current needs and goals. You don't need to share trauma details before you're ready.

You can read more in What to Expect.

Common Questions About Religious Trauma Therapy

Do I have to give up my faith to do this work?

No. I don't give religious advice, and I won't steer you toward or away from belief. Some people keep their faith, some reshape it, and some leave it behind. What you believe stays yours to decide.

Is EMDR safe for religious trauma?

Yes, when preparation comes first and participation stays voluntary. We build stability and inner resources before any processing begins, and EMDR doesn't require you to describe every detail out loud.

Do we have to talk about everything that happened?

No. You decide what to share and when. We work with what you bring, at a pace that feels manageable to you.

Why do I still miss my church or the people who hurt me?

Missing them makes sense. Communities that alternate warmth with withdrawal create strong bonds through intermittent reinforcement. Missing them doesn't mean leaving was a mistake. Grief and relief can live side by side.

Can I do religious trauma therapy online?

Yes. I offer secure, HIPAA-compliant telehealth to clients anywhere in Washington and Idaho, and in-person sessions at my home office in Chattaroy, Washington.

How long does religious trauma recovery take?

Everyone's path is different. How long therapy takes depends on things like how much trauma you've been through, how complex it is, how long it went on, and how much stability you had growing up. We'll talk about pacing together and adjust as we go.

Religious Trauma Therapy: What It Is and How It Helps