About Us
Welcome to RecoveryFromReligion.org.
This site is our effort to create a collection of resources and services that may be helpful to people who are in the process of recovering from harmful religious indoctrination.
If you are in the middle of this difficult process, please know that you are not alone. Many others have successfully left authoritarian religion, and help is available.
This site focuses on processes of recovery from religion rather than theological debates or articles about the problems of religion. For a listing of some excellent websites that focus more on the intellectual work needed to get free of old beliefs, with numerous testimonials and debates, please see our links page.
Team Members:
Carol Welch
Winston-Salem, NC, USA
From the ages of 18 until 46 I was involved with a bible-based fundamentalist group, The Way International. I exited in latter 2005; my husband and children exited within 8 months of that time. Our family had wonderful, rich times in The Way as well as the unpleasant experiences (abuses) that go along with totalistic groups. My husband and I volunteered with The Way in local leadership capacities throughout our decades of involvement. I also participated in The Way's leadership and (then) outreach programs known as The Way Corps and Word Over the World Ambassadors, respectively. Prior to The Way I was involved with various schools of thought including Transcendatal Meditation, fundamental Protestantism, and the Charismatic movement. I am interested in the Recovery From Religion project to help myself and others continue to discover hope and restoration, honoring the many events and emotions of one's journey. An activity that helps me continue to discover myself is writing, mainly journaling and poetry. I believe fully that there are no non-persons; there are no non-events.
Cheri
Lake George, NY USA
I'm a former UPCI member. Total approximate time, while being fully engaged as a seasoned saint, in the UPCI was 14 plus years. I broke away for the final time after two previous attempts in the spring of 1999. I have never returned as a member.
I am a humanist and an active member of ExPentecostal Forums, supporting others to express what they lived through and how they are progressing or struggling post involvement with various Pentecostal and Pentecostal like organizations.
Howard Pepper
Escondido, CA, USA
Evangelical Christian background. Studied theology and counseling and ministered in churches and Christian organizations primarily until about 1994. Around 1995 was the culmination of my long, studied transition to an understanding of religion as a human creation and to a spirituality of universal, inclusive nature, not based on the Bible. I desire to help people who are searching, confused, or wounded by rigid, dogmatic or authoritarian religions and groups for both their sake, and to help the reformation of society's understanding of religion and creation of healthier forms of it.
James Guay, MFT
San Francisco, CA, USA
I'm passionate about helping others embrace a place of self-acceptance and appreciation for all of who we are.
I provide caring individual and relationship counseling for those interested in mindful exploration of how to live their lives more fully. I enjoy guiding clients to live their lives from a place of integrity, wholeness, and compassion for themselves and others.
John M. Knapp, LMSW
Malone, NY USA
I am a former, 23-year veteran of Transcendental Meditation. Since 1995 I have worked with over 2,000 former members in recovery from toxic groups, abusive churches, and cults. A licensed counselor in New York, I work as a secular counselor, with no spiritual or religious agenda. I base my work on psychoeducation, cognitive therapy, and task-centered approaches. I am very excited about this project. It's my hope that it will be a vehicle for spreading a message of hope in the recovery community.
Julia Baumann
Reseda, CA, United States
I attended a fundamentalist evangelical Christian church and was told that I was an instrument of Satan, of the Evil One, and that they saw no evidence of salvation in me. I want to help others through their struggle to free themselves from this oppresive belief system.
Marlene Winell Ph.D.
Berkeley, CA, USA
Dr. Marlene Winell is a psychological consultant, educator, and writer in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is available for speaking engagements, counseling sessions in Oakland or Berkeley, and telephone counseling. Her background includes 28 years of experience in human services, in both community and academic settings. She holds a doctorate in Human Development and Family Studies from Pennsylvania State University. She is the author of Leaving the Fold: A Guide for Former Fundamentalists and Others Leaving their Religion.
Ryan Wadsworth
Oakland, CA
I was raised without any organized religion by Dr. Marlene Winell (see her profile, also on this site). In addition to my motivation to support my mother, I've also been moved over the years by the many stories I've heard from people who are in the process of recovering from authoritarian indoctrination. I value social justice deeply, and believe that critical humanist thought is crucial to our work to confront systems of oppression.
I am the primary web admin for this site, which runs using some open-source software called drupal. I've designed the site to facilitate collaboration by this brilliant team. Please contact me with any tech problems you find.
Tyler Woods
Tucson Az
I believe that people who come from extreme religious backgrounds need to recover and live in a solution rather than focus on the problems. I have worked with people deal with recovering from extreme religions and know people can achieve their own personal definition of their spiritual sense of self. I believe we need to look at spiritual recovery through a holistic lens and examine how it affects the mind the body and the spirit.
I am a recovering Mormon and left the church decades ago. I was able to define my own spirituality and spiritual self; however, it took years of recovery and a great deal of hope, inspiration and the willingness to explore myself outside of any religion that ties me. I was given the opportunity to sit with spiritual advisors including the Dalai Lama. Today I believe in a little bit of everything and left the confines of religion to walk a spiritual path.
My Ph.D. is in holistic health and my masters in psychology. I am a retired psychotherapist who retired three years ago to focus on holistic mental health. I believe a person cannot fully heal unless we use the mind- body-spirit approach to healing. I am a holistic mental health practitioner and have a private practice in Tucson Az and serve client not only in the USA but have a few international clients as well who are looking for a holisitc way of healing. I also have an accredited school that teaches holistic mental health. I run a non-profit for those who lost someone to suicide, and I am very involved in working with grief and loss. In addition, I work with addictions and recovery and have been proudly sober for nineteen years.
Well if that isn't enough, I have a production company and we do music and video's. The great thing is everything I do today I do with love and passion because I feel I have a freedom that I can call all mine. That freedom came from breaking free from a people and a church and discovering myself.
