Disclaimer: I only choose to review books that I have found value in either personally or professionally. All opinions regarding this book are solely my own and were not solicited by the author or publisher.

I couldn’t wait to read to read this book, which was just released this month (October, 2023).

In fact, I had it on pre-order, so it would show up on my doorstep the day it was released.

Dr. Laura Anderson has become quite well-known among the religious trauma community by both professionals who work in the field as well as people recovering from religious harm.

If you’re not already following her on social media, I would definitely recommend you do so!

Her Instagram handle is @drlauraanderson.

With that said, let’s get into the review!

Initial Impressions

When my copy of the book arrived, I felt pretty confident I would blow through it in just a couple days because it’s not a super-long book — just 212 pages of actual reading material.

However, I quickly realized this is not a book you simply gobble up all in one setting.

It’s dealing with some heavy stuff!

So I reset my expectations and read one chapter each morning, giving me time to digest the contents of one topic before moving on to the next.

{For those of you who’ve been following me for a while, you know I have my own complex history of religious trauma, so reading this book was just as much about personal growth as professional development}.

If you’re someone who evaluates the depth of a book by its length, don’t let the size of this one fool you — there’s a lot a meat packed into just a couple hundred pages!

“Healing is not about circumventing pain or even being pain-free but about walking through the pain and trauma so that they don’t define us, thereby allowing for depth, compassion, kindness, and empathy toward ourselves and others.”

When Religion Hurts You by Dr. Laura Anderson, Pg 6

Key Points Worth Mentioning

• Dr. Anderson does an excellent job of explaining what exactly trauma is, and the various aspects of our lives it may impact.

• She shares personal anecdotes from her own story of growing up in a high control religion and her experiences of spiritual abuse which led to complex PTSD, which makes the content very relatable to those of us with a similar background.

• Her experiences were with a sect of Evangelical Christianity, so some of her personal anecdotes may seem unfamiliar to people deconstructing from other religious groups. However, the information regarding the overall impact of spiritual abuse and religious trauma will still be highly relevant.

• The book provides several chapters of psychoeducation about trauma and the nervous system, and then the remaining chapters focus on aspects of the recovery process, which I think will be really valuable to a lot of folks.

“Trauma is not the event or thing that happens to us; rather, it is the way our bodies and nervous systems respond to what happened to us.”

When Religion Hurts You by Dr. Laura Anderson, pg 22

Overall Review

Overall, my impression is that this book would be an excellent resource for both individuals healing from religious trauma as well as for professionals who work with clients who have religious trauma.

There’s an excellent balance between relatable story-telling and clinical expertise.

It’s probably best for people who don’t really know much about trauma and the nervous system, as she spends a good bit of time outlining the fundamentals, or for people who are just starting to explore the topic of religious trauma and spiritual abuse.

So if you’re a professional who has a good grasp on the topic of complex PTSD already and the role high control religion often plays in creating experiences that result in trauma, you might not find a lot of new information here.

However, I still recommend you read it because it will probably become a highly recommended resource for your clients or other professionals in your network who need to learn more about the topic of religious trauma and spiritual abuse.

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