This bundle of 16 worksheets provides a wide-ranging toolkit for religious trauma recovery, covering themes including trauma symptoms, high-control group dynamics, cycles of abuse, purity culture, and more. Each worksheet includes an inventory or exercise and reflection prompts designed to help survivors identify how adverse religious experiences have impacted them and how they can establish a sense of autonomy and self-compassion. These worksheets can be used as a supplement to therapy or as a self-led introduction to recovery.
 
Contents
Religious Trauma Inventory
Highlights the common experiences of religious trauma survivors and how high-control groups can undermine a person's fundamental sense of safety and autonomy. 40-item inventory evaluates symptoms of Fear & Anxiety, Shame, Rigid Thinking, Suppression, and Social Dysfunction. Includes reflection prompts to explore the current day impacts of adverse religious experiences.
High Control Groups
Provides a framework to identify whether a current or former group is/was high-control. The 40-item High Control Group Inventory offers examples of dysfunctional group dynamics that create a culture of enforced conformity, submission, and absolute loyalty. Includes reflection prompts regarding personal experiences of control and recognizing red flags. 
Childhood Religious Messages
Focuses on the developmental trauma of adverse religious experiences in childhood. The Childhood Religious Messages Inventory unpacks the potentially harmful teachings a child might internalize during their crucial developmental years, leading to symptoms of complex trauma. Includes reflection prompts on how these things impact adult survivors.
Religious Patriarchy & Purity Culture
Explores the shame-inducing psychological and physical impacts of patriarchal ideology when it becomes entwined with religious doctrine. Explores gender-based expectations and sexual purity frameworks through a 21-item checklist of religious teachings that can lead to suppression, relationship problems, and sexual dysfunction. Includes reflection prompts to explore personal experiences.
Cycle of Religious Abuse
This model, an adaptation of Lenore Walker's Cycle of Abuse, explains the predictable, repeating patterns of manipulation and control within high-control religious groups. Includes a step-by-step checklist for each of the 4 phases: Tensions Building, Incident, Reconciliation, and Calm (Love Bombing). Reflection prompts accompany each phase to identify past survival responses and address internalized shame.
Group Power + Control Wheel
This adaptation of the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project's Power & Control Wheel maps out how abusive groups can manipulate and exploit their members. Examines the 8 distinct spokes: Coercion & Threats, Authority & Intimidation, Shame, Isolation & Insulation, Justification of Abuse, Loss of Autonomy, Sex & Gender Control, and Economic Control. Reflection prompts are included for exploring ones' experiences in high-control groups.
Group Psychological Safety
A detailed breakdown of how to identify groups that are demonstrating the opposite of high-control dynamics. Includes six "green flags" that indicate a group is prioritizing safety and empowerment over power and control. Includes reflection prompts on current and past experiences in groups.
Understanding Trauma
Defines trauma as any experience of terror and helplessness and provides language and validation of what it feels like when an overwhelmed nervous system gets stuck in survival mode even after a threat has passed. Symptom checklist identifies the prominent signs of PTSD including hypervigilance/anxiety, reliving/avoidance, disconnection/dissociation, and depression/isolation. Includes reflection prompts to promote survivor awareness and self-compassion.
Threat Responses: Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fawn
Walks through the basic survival responses that happen when there's a pierced physical or psychological danger. Offers a comprehensive breakdown of the four instinctual nervous system responses (fight, flight, freeze, and fawn) and explores how they might appear in religious trauma survivors. Reflection prompts help identify go-to threat responses and options for creating safety.
Trauma Narratives
Focuses on identifying and reframing negative trauma narratives—the internalized, self-sabotaging stories we tell ourselves after experiencing trauma, especially in religious contexts. Includes a 20-item inventory to help individuals recognize harmful beliefs regarding blame, worthlessness, and helplessness that hinder healing. Reflection prompts challenge old interpretations and encourage compassionate, reality-based perspectives.
Learned Helplessness
Introduces the extensively researched phenomenon of Learned Helplessness and loss of self-trust that emerges from long-term abuse or trauma. Includes 20 statements assessing the signs of learned helplessness and raises awareness to new avenues of empowerment. Reflection prompts are aimed at reclaiming agency.
Shame vs. Self-Compassion
Exercise designed to help survivors counter internalized shame with empowering, self-compassionate alternatives. Introduces self-compassion as the functional antidote to shame-based group messaging, offering side-by-side comparison between shaming self-talk and empowered, self-compassionate alternatives. Reflection prompts focus on developing realistic self-affirmations.
Consent + Autonomy
Introduces the concept of consent as the "language of autonomy". It explores the importance of consent in all settings, not just intimate ones. An 18-Item checklist offers practical examples of consent regarding verbal boundaries, physical touch, privacy, and more. Includes reflection prompts on internal judgments about consent and autonomy.
Emotions: Information + Motivation
Provides a framework for understanding emotions as neutral rather than "good" or "bad". Outlines the specific information and motivation provided by twelve primary emotions to help individuals recognize what their feelings are signaling. Reflection prompts focus on how one's emotions may have been suppressed in the past and how to cultivate healthy emotional awareness.
Therapeutic Deconstruction
Aimed at helping individuals safely unpack complex faith concepts and use curiosity to evaluate how their beliefs align with their authentic selves. Frames deconstruction as a therapeutic tool for curiosity rather than a decision about whether or not to leave one's faith. Includes an inventory of 28 common high-control doctrinal statements that trigger internal friction (incongruence) and reflection prompts for prompting cognitive flexibility.
Personal vs. Group Values
Helps individuals from high-control systems differentiate between authentic personal values and external values imposed by their group, family, or culture. Includes 50+ value checkboxes that can be marked as "Personal" or "Group" values. Reflection prompts are included to turn the focus toward building an authentic identity and setting personal goals.