Elise Heerde - cult recovery religious trauma therapist

Faith After Control Support Group

A 6-week online support group for people who were harmed in high-control or cultic churches but still want to stay connected to faith without ending up in the same kind of space again.

This group is for you if:

  • Something felt wrong in your church but you can't quite name what it was

  • You still value faith but you don't trust church spaces anymore

  • You want to understand what happened so you can see the red flags next time

  • You're trying to figure out how to stay connected to faith without losing yourself

  • You're looking for community with others who actually get it

What We Will Cover

  • Name the dynamics that made your church high-control

  • Understand how theological abuse and spiritual manipulation work

  • Process your experience with people who've been there too

  • Build your own framework for staying safe in faith spaces going forward

What You Will Receive

  • 6 weekly 90-minute sessions via Zoom

  • PDF session outlines and reflections after each session

  • Recovery tools and resources including:

    • The Spectrum Tool: Understanding healthy to harmful faith communities

    • Scripture Twisting Examples: How Bible verses get weaponised for control

    • The Control Web Diagram: Mapping isolation, surveillance, and dependency tactics

    • "It Wasn't Your Fault" Handout

    • Red Flag / Green Flag Coercive Control Checklist

    • Questions to Ask a New Church

    • Personal Boundary Template for faith spaces

The Details

Format: Small group online

Sessions: 6 × 90 minutes, weekly

Cost: $65 AUD per session ($390 AUD) total

Availability: Worldwide — all sessions scheduled in AEST

Group size: 5-10 participants

*groups will run when minimum numbers have been reached

Elise Heerde - cult recovery religious trauma therapist

"No form of spirituality should require you to shrink, suppress, or surrender your autonomy."

Elise Heerde