In this episode, host Rachel Bernstein welcomes back author Tia Levings to discuss her new book, 'I Belong to Me: A Survivor’s Guide to Recovery and Hope After Religious Trauma.'

Tia opens up about surviving church-sanctioned domestic abuse and the long, deliberately paced process of rebuilding selfhood after leaving Christian patriarchy. She and Rachel explore how reclaiming body awareness, personal boundaries, and the simple practice of "I statements" can counter indoctrination.

The conversation moves through the disorientation and shock that follow leaving a high-control environment or cult, the heightened vulnerability to further exploitation, and the grief of being exiled from former communities. Tia and Rachel discuss how reframing language can reduce shame, and why relearning consent and the freedom to say "no" is central to recovery.

They also examine "story wounds," the mistranslations used to uphold patriarchal systems, the lasting harms of religious patriarchy, and a nuanced understanding of forgiveness — one framed not as obligation, but as a release that becomes possible only after tending to the injury and refusing self-betrayal.

This episode of IndoctriNation explores religious trauma, coercive control, spiritual abuse, fundamentalism recovery, and the path to reclaiming autonomy and identity after a high-control group.

Tia’s Links

Book: https://static.macmillan.com/static/smp/belong-to-me-9781250374271/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tialevingswriter/

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/TiaLevings

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