Religious Trauma Therapy in Nashville
Therapist Christina Lafferty-Neal
I’m a queer woman who was raised as a pastor’s kid in the South.
I know firsthand how complicated faith, family, and identity can become when the very systems that shaped you also caused harm.
Religious Trauma is Trauma
Faith can be meaningful and life-giving, but it can also leave lasting wounds.
Clients come to me for:
Constant anxiety or shame
Family conflict, especially around holidays
Political or identity tension
Shame affecting relationships
Feeling lost outside of old beliefs
Trouble trusting their instincts and goodness
Help coming out
This isn’t just “doubt” or “guilt.” It’s trauma. And healing is possible.
WONDERING IF I CAN HELP?
How Religious Trauma Therapy With Me Works
WE’LL PULL FROM:
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Learn to notice how shame and anxiety live in your body, and how to create calm, grounding, and safety within yourself.
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Process painful memories, spiritual harm, and old belief systems so they lose their grip on your present life.
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Care for the parts of you that still feel tied to fear, shame, or duty. Reconnect to your core self. The part of you that is steady, good, and whole.
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Religious trauma often includes loss: of community, of belonging, of faith that once felt like home. Together we’ll honor that grief while creating space for what’s next.
After Therapy, Life Feels Different
Clients often describe changes like:
Trusting their own intuition more
Feeling grounded in a sense of worth and goodness
Building healthier, safer relationships
Creating an evolved faith life that feels good and true
Living a life that feels authentically theirs
Healing doesn’t mean forgetting where you came from. It means moving forward with freedom, self-trust, and peace in your body.
Hey, I’m Christina.
People come to me when they’re carrying the weight of religious trauma: anxiety, shame, and the struggle of trying to stay connected to family while staying true to themselves. I work with adults who want to heal from the messages that shaped them, trust their own instincts, and feel grounded in who they are outside of old beliefs.
Therapy with me is practical, deep, and nervous-system informed. We’ll move at your pace, never rushing your process. Clients often tell me they feel truly seen and supported in our work together, and that the changes they notice show up both emotionally and physically.
I believe therapy should not only help you recover from the past but also give you the tools to live with more self-trust, freedom, and authenticity.
Before private practice, I spent over a decade working with people navigating trauma in complex and high-pressure environments. That time taught me how to meet people in their hardest moments with steadiness, care, and deep respect for what it takes to heal.
GETTING STARTED WITH
Religious Trauma Therapy
Starting therapy can feel like a big step, especially if other approaches haven’t helped. But different doesn’t mean wrong. It might just mean it’s finally time for something that actually fits.
If a part of you is curious about this work, consultations are always free.
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Fill out the contact form. I’ll respond no matter what. If I’m not the right fit, I’ll always offer a thoughtful referral to someone who might be.
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We’ll schedule a brief phone consultation to see if we’re a good match. If it feels aligned, we’ll move forward with booking your first session.
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In our first few sessions, we’ll get to know each other and begin building safety and trust. I’ll learn more about your history, your nervous system, and how I can best support you. This is our time to see how this work can serve you.