Episode 205: Exploring Family Crisis Connected to being a "Covenantal" Faith System

In this part three (of a four-part series) Valerie and her therapist colleague Liz Macdonald delve further into the complexities of navigating faith disaffiliation among young adults in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Their conversation today focuses on the unique challenges faced in families who belong to "covenantal religions", including the anxiety and isolation that both parents and their evolving young adult children can feel when facing the eternal threats of noncompliance with church covenants. Liz and Valerie delve into the double-bind that people might feel in "covenantal" religious systems (such as LDS and Judaism) where some may feel that they must choose between the crucial human task of authentic spiritual self development and requirement to make and keep certain belief-based covenants in order to be allowed connection with God and family for eternity.

Friday's final episode of this series (available via subscription) delves deeply into a highly respected model of human growth and development and explores a possible correlation between the degree of psychological (under) development and one’s inability to tolerate the faith expansion process of loved ones. They also discuss how the healthy development of the young adult children might be impacted by lack of support from their parents in the crucial young adult years.

This series is intended to offer love and empathy for all both the more traditionally believing LDS parents and their disaffiliated young adult children, shining a light on the extreme complexity of this situation and hoping to offer insights that will help families in our community heal. Please share this series with those who might benefit from this enlightening and healing discussion! Info on how to subscribe to listen to Friday’s episode is directly below. See you there!

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SUBSCRIBE: All Friday episodes of Latter Day Struggles can be accessed through ⁠⁠⁠a paid subscription ($9.99/month), available here⁠.

For a step-by-step guide on how to subscribe and support the podcast, click here.

——————————————————————————————————————SUPPORT: Like what you’re hearing at Latter Day Struggles Podcast? You can support Valerie by making a one-time donation to her business Venmo account or by becoming a recurring donor on Patreon.⁠

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SUPPORT GROUPS: As a trauma therapist, Valerie continues to help our LDS faith expansion community become more psychologically and spiritually healthy. All support groups are currently full, however, a new evening group is scheduled to start in September 2024. To learn more click here.

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LATTER DAY NIGHT LIVE! Register for our latest 3-part webinar series “A Couple’s Guide to Faith Crisis & Expansion.” Valerie will host a question/answer session directly after the class. First session April 3rd 8:30 CST. Come ask Val your burning questions and be part of the conversation! Register for a spot here.

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CONSULTING: Interested in doing individual or couples work with Valerie or a member of her trained team? Time-limited packages with Valerie and extended work with her team of coaches and therapists are available ⁠here.