Jexit 2020

In this episode, my guest, Rosie Speranza, is a former Jehovah's Witness who disassociated from the "religion" after being disfellowshipped and reinstated three times.

Rosie was born as a Jehovah's Witness but always felt that the lifestyle was too demanding and impossible to live up to.

This is her story.

In this episode, my guest, Rachel Solani, is a former Jehovah's Witness who recently faded from the "religion".

Rachel woke up from her indoctrination after realising that the organisation was negatively affecting her mental, emotional, and physical health as well as stifling her creativity as an artist.

This is her story.

It's Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK (May 10th - 16th 2021) and I thought it would be a great time to speak about the mental health struggles of both current and former Jehovah's Witnesses and I've invited two guests onto the channel to help me do this.

I'm joined by Jared Hall, a former Jehovah's Witness and a counselling and psychotherapy University student.

Jared has recently become involved with the SAPUK organisation, which allows people to talk about their experiences with suicide. Jared is very passionate about good mental health and love for people.

One thing Jared feels is so important is to speak to yourself internally as you would speak to someone you love, that is the start to self-love.

I'm also joined by Debbie Edwards, a former Jehovah's Witness and CP/CAB Certified Counsellor who recently joined the Samaritans to lend counselling support in this peri-post pandemic world.

Debbie has been a guest on the channel before where she told her experience of leaving the JW "religion" and subsequently waking up from her indoctrination.

Debbie is very active in the ExJW community and is keen to help use her own experiences and her professional training to help all those who are struggling to overcome their cult experience.

Mona has experienced many terrible things at the hands of the organisation and from individual Witnesses. Mona has never publicly spoken out against the Witness faith and faces the threat of shunning as a result.

This is her story.

In this live Q&A I'll be joined by Christy Lanterman to talk about Religious Trauma Syndrome, its causes, effects, and how to overcome it.

Christy (she/her/hers) is a licensed professional counsellor in Kansas. She sees couples and adult individuals recovering from religious trauma. Christy focused her graduate studies on learning how religious trauma (RT) occurs, common symptoms of RT, how to identify controlling groups/people, and how folks can recover from RT. She is passionate about supporting her clients in their healing process. Christy does this by helping clients integrate RT trigger memories and interpersonal wounds, identify internal coping skills, cultivating self-compassion and self-worth, and reconnecting with one’s body.

In this episode, my guest, Debbie Edwards, is a former Jehovah's Witness who moved from London to Belgium after marrying a fellow Witness.

Debbie experienced racism, parental alienation, and was also in a loveless marriage, all while waking up to the truth about "The Truth".

This is her story.

In this episode, I discuss "The Offence of Grace" with the author, Jonny Halfhead.

"Grace is cold, lonely and alone. She hides behind a new persona to escape her reality and the violent abuse she suffers under a man trusted in the community.

This is the third short story from writer Jonny Halfhead that delves once again into the bizarre world of the Jehovah’s Witnesses."

WARNING: THIS BOOK CONTAINS GRAPHIC DEPICTIONS OF SEXUAL ABUSE YOU MAY FIND UPSETTING.

In this episode, my guest, Geoff Law is a former Jehovah's Witness who served as a missionary in China, where the JW "religion" is banned.

Throughout his Witness life, Geoff struggled with his identity and yearned to live an authentic life.

This is his story.

In this episode, my guest, Tracy-Ann Ming, is a former Jehovah's Witness who was born and raised in Jamaica but later moved to the UK.

Tracy-Ann has experienced sexual harassment, stalking, accusations of attempted murder, and extreme shunning in a life and death situation.

This is her story.

In this episode, my guests, Jessica Valencia and Alyssa Reilly, are former Jehovah's Witnesses who are childhood friends and grew up in the same congregation.

Both Jessica and Alyssa struggled to keep to the "religion's" archaic principles and ultimately left in their teenage years. As a result, they endure strained relationships with their immediate family members.

This is their story.