This book is for anyone who has suffered trauma at the hands of religious authorities by either being born into that environment and/or having suffered the consequences of a religious indoctrination. This includes being branded a sinner, then guilted and shamed for whatever thoughts and behaviours their religion has chosen to condemn. All of these traumatic experiences would typically lead to low self-esteem, depression, and negative self-worth as examples of negative consequences, outcomes many have endured for a lifetime in some cases, until help and recovery processes would be sought out and applied along the way.

This material represents a lifetime of personal experience working through my own religious trauma, which was then followed by decades of professional training and experience helping survivors of religious abuse overcome their accumulated pain. From there it has taken more than a dozen years of writing and rewriting to put together this comprehensive program of religious abuse understanding and trauma recovery.

In this book, I take into account some of the historical perspectives that have underlined the Catholic Religion to begin with. Like many of today’s Christian religions, Catholicism sets it roots squarely in the person of Jesus and his contributions to the times he lived in. But what you shall see is how most of his pronouncements were co-opted and adapted to the motives of those who were intending to establish a new form of religion. You will see how Jesus’ beautiful message, filled with love and positive inferences, was transmuted into a system of control. This process, in turn, was based on sin and other powerful measures, for the simple purpose of bending individuals to this religion’s will. In this book, we look at the pain and suffering individuals have experienced leading to problems like low self-esteem, depression, and self-doubt as we chart a healing path forward and ultimate self-acceptance.