In this episode, Derek and Trent sit down with Brittany Hart, writer, poet, and author of Surviving Wonderland: A Journey Beyond Control.

Brittany Hart is an author and poet who writes at the intersection of spiritual trauma and recovery. Her debut collection, Surviving Wonderland: A Journey Beyond Control, transforms her experience in a high-control religious group into art for anyone reclaiming their voice and finding their way back to themselves. She now supports fellow survivors through creative writing, online guides, and spaces of gentle, grounded healing.

Brittany shares her experience inside the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, also known as IHOPKC, and how a high-control religious environment shaped her sense of identity, time, purpose, and faith. What began as a sincere search for God slowly became wrapped in fear, urgency, end-times messaging, intense worship culture, and the belief that rest, normal life, and even questioning could mean spiritual failure.

Through her book, Brittany uses poetry and the imagery of Alice in Wonderland to describe the process of going down the rabbit hole, waking up, and finding language for what happened. This conversation explores spiritual abuse, the power of music and repetition, the grief of lost time, the role of therapy, and what it can look like to rebuild faith in a way that is no longer rooted in fear.

This is a conversation about control, healing, and the courage it takes to come back to yourself.

Brittany’s poetry collection, Surviving Wonderland: A Journey Beyond Control, is now available on Amazon

Untangle from end times anxiety with help from Brittany here

Follow Brittany on Instagram

Support cult.ture pod over on Patreon

Follow us on Instagram and TikTok thanks for rating us 5 stars 🫶

Disclaimer:

Our aim is to foster honest, empathetic conversations about high-control environments, belief systems, and personal journeys including the long road of healing, questioning, and reclaiming identity.

Please be advised that some episodes may contain content that touches on religious trauma, coercive control, emotional or physical abuse, or other potentially triggering topics. We strive to approach these conversations with care, but we acknowledge that certain themes may be difficult to hear.

Listener discretion is advised.

If you or someone you know is experiencing distress related to these topics, we encourage seeking support from qualified mental health professionals, spiritual trauma-informed therapists, or trusted recovery communities.

You are not alone.

Jeron Benton joins cult.ture to share his journey growing up as a Jehovah's Witness, becoming inactive, returning to the organization after a near-death experience, and ultimately waking up after a shocking judicial committee experience.

In this conversation, Jeron opens up about being disfellowshipped after spending two years trying to return to the faith, the moment he realized the system wasn't what he believed it was, and the bold plan that led him to be reinstated after he had already become an apostate.

We also explore the deeper realities of leaving a high-control religion: losing family, rebuilding identity, navigating grief, finding authentic friendships, and learning to trust yourself after years of being taught not to.

Most importantly, this episode is about healing. Jeron shares what freedom looks like today, the struggles that still remain, and the practices that help him move forward.

Topics include:

• Jehovah's Witness upbringing

Follow Jeron:

YouTube: Jeron Benton

Support cult.ture pod over on Patreon

Follow us on Instagram and TikTok thanks for rating us 5 stars 🫶

Disclaimer:

Our aim is to foster honest, empathetic conversations about high-control environments, belief systems, and personal journeys including the long road of healing, questioning, and reclaiming identity.

Please be advised that some episodes may contain content that touches on religious trauma, coercive control, emotional or physical abuse, or other potentially triggering topics. We strive to approach these conversations with care, but we acknowledge that certain themes may be difficult to hear.

Listener discretion is advised.

If you or someone you know is experiencing distress related to these topics, we encourage seeking support from qualified mental health professionals, spiritual trauma-informed therapists, or trusted recovery communities.

You are not alone.

In this episode of cult.ture, Derek sits down with author, speaker, and Stop the Shunning creator Bethany Leger.

Raised as a Jehovah's Witness, Bethany shares her journey from questioning the organization to ultimately leaving alongside her husband. Together, they explore the emotional realities of shunning, the complexities of family estrangement, and what it means to rebuild a life after a high-control environment.

The conversation dives into Bethany's books, Physically and Mentally Out and her newest release, Burning Down the House, which examines toxic family dynamics, boundaries, conditional love, and healing after emotional control.

Topics include:

• Leaving Jehovah's Witnesses

Whether you're navigating religious trauma, family estrangement, or simply learning how to reclaim your voice, Bethany offers insight, honesty, and hope for the journey forward.

Connect with Bethany:

Email

Instagram

Support cult.ture pod over on Patreon

Follow us on Instagram and TikTok thanks for rating us 5 stars 🫶

Disclaimer:

Our aim is to foster honest, empathetic conversations about high-control environments, belief systems, and personal journeys including the long road of healing, questioning, and reclaiming identity.

Please be advised that some episodes may contain content that touches on religious trauma, coercive control, emotional or physical abuse, or other potentially triggering topics. We strive to approach these conversations with care, but we acknowledge that certain themes may be difficult to hear.

Listener discretion is advised.

If you or someone you know is experiencing distress related to these topics, we encourage seeking support from qualified mental health professionals, spiritual trauma-informed therapists, or trusted recovery communities.

You are not alone.

In this episode of cult.ture pod, Derek and Trent sit down with artist, writer, and former Jehovah’s Witness Sean Miller for a raw, grounded, and deeply human conversation about life after high‑control religion.

Sean grew up as a born‑in JW, the son of a respected elder, and followed the expected path of baptism at 16, auxiliary pioneering, regular pioneering, ministerial servant. But beneath the surface, he carried a creative drive that the organization repeatedly framed as selfish, dangerous, or worldly. As he puts it in the episode, “Go try to take a passion project and throw it into the creative industry when you’ve been taught you don’t even deserve kindness.”

Together, we explore:

What it’s like to rediscover your identity after leaving a high‑control group

How creativity becomes both a survival tool and a reclamation of self

The psychological cost of being an artist in a restrictive religious environment

The difference between “what the cult took” and “where we land afterward”

Why Sean finally finished his book Novice Enthusiasm — and how this podcast played a role

The strange, beautiful ways the universe nudges us forward

This conversation is honest, funny, grounded, and refreshingly free of bitterness. It’s about growth, not grievance  and about the creative life that becomes possible once you step outside the boundaries someone else drew for you.

If you’ve ever left a high‑control group, struggled with self‑worth, or tried to reclaim your creative voice, this episode will resonate.

Find Sean Here:

Website: www.seangregorymiller.com

Book: Novice Enthusiasm

Socials: Instagram

Support cult.ture pod over on Patreon

Follow us on Instagram and TikTok thanks for rating us 5 stars 🫶

Disclaimer:

Our aim is to foster honest, empathetic conversations about high-control environments, belief systems, and personal journeys including the long road of healing, questioning, and reclaiming identity.

Please be advised that some episodes may contain content that touches on religious trauma, coercive control, emotional or physical abuse, or other potentially triggering topics. We strive to approach these conversations with care, but we acknowledge that certain themes may be difficult to hear.

Listener discretion is advised.

If you or someone you know is experiencing distress related to these topics, we encourage seeking support from qualified mental health professionals, spiritual trauma-informed therapists, or trusted recovery communities.

You are not alone.

Audrey joins Trent and Derek to share her experience growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness and what ultimately led her to leave in 2025.

In this episode, Audrey opens up about the emotional pressure of trying to live a “perfect” life inside the organization, the fear surrounding blood transfusions, purity culture, elder involvement in marriage and sexuality, conditional relationships, and the difficult process of rebuilding life outside the religion.

We also explore what it’s like waking up while married to a non-Witness, the emotional pull to return, navigating family dynamics, and learning how to trust yourself after years inside a high-control belief system.

Audrey’s story is raw, honest, emotional, and deeply human.

If you’ve ever questioned a system of control or struggled with rebuilding your identity after leaving one, this conversation may resonate with you.

Follow Audrey:

Instagram: @_audrey_la_latinga_

Support cult.ture pod over on Patreon

Follow us on Instagram and TikTok thanks for rating us 5 stars 🫶

Disclaimer:

Our aim is to foster honest, empathetic conversations about high-control environments, belief systems, and personal journeys including the long road of healing, questioning, and reclaiming identity.

Please be advised that some episodes may contain content that touches on religious trauma, coercive control, emotional or physical abuse, or other potentially triggering topics. We strive to approach these conversations with care, but we acknowledge that certain themes may be difficult to hear.

Listener discretion is advised.

If you or someone you know is experiencing distress related to these topics, we encourage seeking support from qualified mental health professionals, spiritual trauma-informed therapists, or trusted recovery communities.

You are not alone.

In this episode, we sit down with Lydia, a former Jehovah’s Witness who grew up in a fourth-generation family deeply rooted in the organization.

From a young age, Lydia was seen as “exemplary”, giving talks at assemblies, pioneering, and doing everything expected of her. But beneath the praise was something else: pressure, anxiety, and a growing disconnect from her own identity.

We explore what it’s like to grow up performing your worth, the subtle ways control shows up through approval, and how even “good” experiences can carry hidden weight.

Lydia shares her journey through waking up, navigating therapy, redefining identity, and processing moments that only later revealed themselves as harmful or inappropriate.

This conversation is about more than leaving a belief system.

If you’ve ever questioned your identity, your worth, or the system you were raised in, this one will resonate.

Griswold Creative House

Disclaimer:

Our aim is to foster honest, empathetic conversations about high-control environments, belief systems, and personal journeys including the long road of healing, questioning, and reclaiming identity.

Please be advised that some episodes may contain content that touches on religious trauma, coercive control, emotional or physical abuse, or other potentially triggering topics. We strive to approach these conversations with care, but we acknowledge that certain themes may be difficult to hear.

Listener discretion is advised.

If you or someone you know is experiencing distress related to these topics, we encourage seeking support from qualified mental health professionals, spiritual trauma-informed therapists, or trusted recovery communities.

You are not alone.

Ryan, host of The Truth That Heals, joins us to share his story of growing up Catholic and eventually being pulled into a high-control religious group that claimed legitimacy within the Church.

What began as a calling rooted in faith turned into over a decade of control, fear, and psychological manipulation.

In this episode, we explore:

This is a conversation about identity, autonomy, and the courage to question what you were taught to never doubt.

Support cult.ture pod over on Patreon

Follow us on Instagram and TikTok thanks for rating us 5 stars 🫶

Disclaimer:

Our aim is to foster honest, empathetic conversations about high-control environments, belief systems, and personal journeys including the long road of healing, questioning, and reclaiming identity.

Please be advised that some episodes may contain content that touches on religious trauma, coercive control, emotional or physical abuse, or other potentially triggering topics. We strive to approach these conversations with care, but we acknowledge that certain themes may be difficult to hear.

Listener discretion is advised.

If you or someone you know is experiencing distress related to these topics, we encourage seeking support from qualified mental health professionals, spiritual trauma-informed therapists, or trusted recovery communities.

You are not alone.

What happens when you choose yourself… and lose everything?

In this episode of cult.ture, Derek is joined by Jordan, a former Jehovah’s Witness who shares his journey of waking up and walking away from a high-control religious system.

Jordan opens up about:

Growing up in the Jehovah’s Witness organization

Struggling with identity and sexuality inside a restrictive belief system

The moment everything started to unravel

Being shunned by family

The emotional reality of “losing” people who are still alive

Finding healing, voice, and purpose through sharing his story

This conversation explores the deep psychological and emotional impact of leaving high-control groups and what it takes to rebuild your identity on your own terms.

If you’ve ever questioned your beliefs, felt the weight of conditional love, or are navigating life after a controlling environment, this episode is for you.

Video LINK discussed on pod

Support cult.ture pod over on Patreon

Follow us on Instagram and TikTok thanks for rating us 5 stars 🫶

Disclaimer:

Our aim is to foster honest, empathetic conversations about high-control environments, belief systems, and personal journeys including the long road of healing, questioning, and reclaiming identity.

Please be advised that some episodes may contain content that touches on religious trauma, coercive control, emotional or physical abuse, or other potentially triggering topics. We strive to approach these conversations with care, but we acknowledge that certain themes may be difficult to hear.

Listener discretion is advised.

If you or someone you know is experiencing distress related to these topics, we encourage seeking support from qualified mental health professionals, spiritual trauma-informed therapists, or trusted recovery communities.

You are not alone.

In this episode of cult.ture, Derek and Trent sit down with Correen Hardin, author of Best Life After, to explore what life can look like after leaving Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Correen shares her personal story of growing up inside the religion, the complex process of leaving, and the emotional and psychological realities that follow when someone steps outside a high-control belief system. The conversation explores identity, autonomy, relationships, and the long process of rebuilding a life after religious deconstruction.

Rather than focusing only on what people leave behind, this episode looks at what comes next, how people begin rediscovering themselves, creating new meaning, and finding their voice again.

This is a thoughtful and honest conversation about belief, identity, and the courage it takes to reclaim your life.

Correen Hardin is the author of Best Life After, a book exploring the journey of rebuilding life after leaving Jehovah’s Witnesses.

📖 Best Life After

🌐 Website

📸 Instagram

🎵 TikTok

Support cult.ture pod over on Patreon

Follow us on Instagram and TikTok thanks for rating us 5 stars 🫶

Disclaimer:

Our aim is to foster honest, empathetic conversations about high-control environments, belief systems, and personal journeys including the long road of healing, questioning, and reclaiming identity.

Please be advised that some episodes may contain content that touches on religious trauma, coercive control, emotional or physical abuse, or other potentially triggering topics. We strive to approach these conversations with care, but we acknowledge that certain themes may be difficult to hear.

Listener discretion is advised.

If you or someone you know is experiencing distress related to these topics, we encourage seeking support from qualified mental health professionals, spiritual trauma-informed therapists, or trusted recovery communities.

You are not alone.

On this episode of cult.ture pod we sit down with Katherine Spearing the author of A Thousand Tiny Paper Cuts, founder of Tears of Eden, trauma recovery coach, and survivor of the Christian patriarchy movement.

Katherine grew up in a world where women were expected to move from the authority of their father to the authority of their husband. College wasn’t encouraged. Autonomy wasn’t modeled. And “God’s will” often ended the conversation before it began.

But abuse in high-control systems isn’t always loud.

Sometimes it’s subtle.

In this episode, we explore:

The “stay-at-home daughter” movement

Patriarchy as a control mechanism

Why you can’t argue with God in high-control religion

DARVO and the BITE model in action

The overlap between evangelicalism and cult dynamics

What healing actually looks like after religious trauma

Why living a thriving life may be the most powerful response

Katherine shares how thousands of small spiritual “paper cuts” can build into something life-threatening and how therapy, community, and autonomy helped her rebuild.

If you’ve ever questioned authority…

This conversation is for you.

Connect with Katherine Spearing:

About the Book & Publisher:

Community Resource:

Support cult.ture pod over on Patreon

Follow us on Instagram and TikTok thanks for rating us 5 stars 🫶

Disclaimer:

Our aim is to foster honest, empathetic conversations about high-control environments, belief systems, and personal journeys including the long road of healing, questioning, and reclaiming identity.

Please be advised that some episodes may contain content that touches on religious trauma, coercive control, emotional or physical abuse, or other potentially triggering topics. We strive to approach these conversations with care, but we acknowledge that certain themes may be difficult to hear.

Listener discretion is advised.

If you or someone you know is experiencing distress related to these topics, we encourage seeking support from qualified mental health professionals, spiritual trauma-informed therapists, or trusted recovery communities.

You are not alone.