This workshop for mental health clinicians will explore religious trauma and adverse religious experiences, and specific ways in which queer, trans, and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (QTBIPOC) clients may be impacted by colonialism and systemic oppression within religious environments.
We will explore considerations for how to address these client experiences in therapy in a way that minimizes shame. We will also delve into ways of working with clients who may be in the process of religious deconstruction, with considerations for both clients who wish to leave their faith traditions or community, and clients who wish to remain connected with their spirituality..
Additionally, we will explore ways in which QTBIPOC clients may interact with internalized oppression and colonialism as a part of their deconstruction process, and how clinicians may integrate a liberatory lens in working with QTBIPOC clients.
This workshop will include small group and large group discussions to consolidate information learned, and explore ways clinicians may apply this information to therapy sessions.
The workshop’s content will be focused primarily on religious trauma within a Christian context. However, some content may also be applied more broadly to religious trauma in other religious settings.
Following this workshop, participants will have the ability to:
- Define religious trauma, adverse religious experiences, and religious deconstruction
- Define religious deconstruction
- Describe how QTBIPOC clients experiencing religious trauma may be specifically impacted by colonialism and systemic oppression
- Describe how shame may manifest for QTBIPOC clients experiencing religious trauma
- Describe how to apply a liberatory approach in working with QTBIPOC therapy clients around religious trauma
Dr. Valerie Yeo (she/they) earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Denver, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. She has worked in many settings, including universities, community mental health centers, and residential facilities. She currently works in independent practice providing individual therapy and immigration-based assessments to adults, and with psychology and counseling trainees in supervision and teaching roles. Dr. Yeo believes strongly in fostering connection between all parts of ourselves. Her work is centered around navigating the ways in which our sociopolitical environments impact our internal experiences.
