Samantha Sorensen is the author of "Nonconsentual Morality: A Silenced Woman's Voice From The Dark." In this episode she tells us her story of growing up within the LDS faith and facing abuse and sexual assault along with not getting the help she needed. She then discusses her breaking point and how she came to discover the perfect title for her book. We are grateful we chose to share her story with us!
Chris Davis, author of Worthy: The Memoir of an Ex-Mormon Lesbian, shares her experiences of abuse and continued trauma as a member of the Mormon church. She was a lifelong devout Mormon, who checked all the expected boxes: wife, mother, teacher, leader, follower, and believer until 2020 when she left her family and her church to fulfill her personal destiny as a gay woman and independent thinker. She remains close with her two adult children, one of whom is a believing member of the church, and the other who is a transgender man who has also left the church. She now lives quite happily in her home state of Maine and looks forward to a long and joyful life as her authentic self.
She can be found online at www.chrisdavisproud.com (http://www.chrisdavisproud.com/), on most social media at @ChrisDavisProud, and on Facebook at @ChrisDavisPr0ud.
The blog post titled "The Day I Stopped Believing" can be found at this link. (https://chrisdavisproud.com/blog/f/the-day-i-stopped-believing)
Celestine joined the LDS religion as a young adult after she was introduced to it by her first husband. After facing years of narcissistic, physical, and sexual abuse from him, she finally worked up the courage to leave. However, her ex-husband used her history of depression against her and was able to obtain full custody of their children. In this episode, Celestine tells her story of heartbreak, resilience, and hope.
https://www.latterdaysurvivors.org/podcast1/episode/d4881398/deep-thoughts-on-compulsory-heterosexuality-with-sarah-and-kindraIn this episode Sara and Kindra discuss our experiences with compulsory heterosexuality as former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Re-release After sharing his story intially, Kenny needed space and time to work on healing and therapy. The initial recording of his story was taken down at his request, and he opted to rerecord it when it would be healing for him. Kenny is a documentary film maker and activist for social change. His most recent film, Healing US, is set to release this week.
Kenny shares his story about how he came to consciously identify what happened to him as a child, was rape. While listening to the Latter Day Survivors podcast, he recognized the significance of what happened to him, how it informed many of his life choices, and is learning how to manage the PTSD symptoms that followed when acknowledging and processing the trauma.
Stacey Brown is an intuitive healer, certified reiki practitioner, podcast host, author, and spiritual mentor & coach. Her recently published book is titled, "Journey to Soul: Discovering the Gift of Surrender." Her story includes an upbringing in Mormonism and how an incredibly traumatic event caused her to reevaluate everything she knew and which set her on a path of self-discovery and spiritual awakening. You can follow Stacey on Instagram at @staceybrown555 and on her website at stacey-brown.com.
After Taylor Sundberg (30) was sexually assaulted as a teen, she turned to her bishop for help. Instead of finding help or resources, she faced church discipline and was blackmailed into silence. She shares her journey from the assault, the aftermath, and the realization she’d been blackmailed, to the unraveling of a toxic and dangerous belief system. This is far too common. Join us for this important discussion.
Ashley discovered clairaudient abilities when an ancestor came through with a message. The message he shared led her out of the church and helped her reclaim her life, her soul, and her health. The healing she has experienced has been so profound that she felt called to write a book. Ashley is an author, life coach, and budding medium. She feels passionately about the worth of souls. Her book is titled, "Always Worthy: Healing Generational Trauma in Mind, Body and Spirit."
You-Tuber Payton Haws shares her harrowing story of repeated sexual abuse as well as her recent faith crisis journey. She is raw and honest in her story in hopes that it will help other survivors know that they are not alone.
One thing that isn’t talked about enough is the fact that in many cases when someone is victimized, they are more likely to be victimized again. We need to put a voice to this. It’s time to speak up and speak out to assist and empower survivors through their healing journey.
Deep thoughts - This is a departure from our normal format. Get a glimpse into the deep thought conversations hosts Kindra and Christina routinely engage in. They start out discussing ritual abuse, spiral down rabbit holes about many other topics and ultimately bring it back around. Don’t miss this conversation filled with squirrels, twists, and turns!
Saige is an exmormon up-and-coming queer writer and director. Her current project is a short film called Girls Camp in which a young girl must make a choice between going against her community and identity she's always known or being her authentic self. Saige's goal is to connect to the nuances of the human experience through a mixture of comedy and drama in which she highlights her worldview and observations of the people around her.
Sarah shares her emotional story of stepping away from high demand religion through poetry and prose which she has compiled into her book "STRAY, A Journey In, Through, And Out Of Faith." She used poetry to process through grief, loss, doubt, self-healing, self-worth, inspiration and motivation through the lense of spirituality. Her journey, much like many of us leaving Mormonism, is riddled with the remorse of knowing her loved ones would likely blame themselves and also the liberation of spirituality on her own terms. She emphasizes that walking away and honoring her own healing journey should never be considered the "easy way out."
Ginny Sparks grew up on the Navajo reservation in northern Arizona. She shares her difficult story of being placed in the Mormon Church’s Indian Placement Program as a child and the abuse she suffered as a result. Her story also includes religious trauma, sexual abuse, and domestic violence. Ginny is a retired nurse and author.
Andrew Pledger is a religious trauma survivor raised in a fundamentalist Christian cult. He is LGBTQ+ and brings awareness to spiritual and religious abuse. He was expelled from Bob Jones University after a controversial interview with author Josh Harris. His experiences have inspired him to pursue psychology to help survivors. He is now a content creator, activist, writer, and religion recovery coach using social media to share his story and inspire others.
Singer-songwriter Sister Teeth shares her story of growing up in a heavily Mormon populated community, how she and her family were ostracized by that community and how leaving it in her early adult years sparked her faith transition. She shares how she uses her music to process her traumas and connect with others around her.
Denise C. shares her story of multiple traumatic experiences, including the loss of loved ones and a difficult faith transition. Denise is also a survivor of child sexual abuse.
Maria McNeeley shares her story about the struggles of being a black woman in the Mormon church. She was adopted through lds family services to her white parents.
You can find and follow Maria at:
https://westsidestorymariamaria.blogspot.com/
https://instagram.com/westsidestory_mariamaria?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Becky is a survivor of narcissistic abuse in romantic relationships as well as religious trauma stemming from her membership in the Mormon church. As a single mother who has an educational background in psychology, much of her healing journey has centered around the changes that take place in the brain and what it means to heal as a woman post-Mormonism.
