In this episode of The Evidence-Based Therapist, we sit down with local therapist and religious trauma specialist Darryl Schafer to explore how belief systems shape identity, belonging, and the development of the self—sometimes in deeply painful ways.

We discuss the relational nature of religious trauma, how clients internalize theological narratives as self-concepts, and why reclaiming the “abjected” parts of self is often central to healing. The conversation spans psychoanalysis, religious studies, developmental theory, grief, and the biology of belief—without collapsing spirituality into pathology or assuming religion is inherently harmful.

Topics we explore:

• When religion becomes a totalizing identity structure
• The “abjected self” and why shame becomes internal theology
• Why religious trauma is relational—not just doctrinal
• Neurodivergence, masking, and leaving high-control systems
• Grief as a gateway to identity reconstruction
• The therapist’s role: not a replacement God, but a new mirror
• How belief systems shape belonging, moral vision, and connection

Whether you're a therapist working with clients of faith, someone navigating deconstruction, or simply curious about the psychology of belief, this conversation offers a grounded, relational, and non-pathologizing way to understand religion’s impact on the self.

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Religious trauma can’t be understood only through symptom checklists—it emerges from deeply internalized relational and symbolic dynamics. In this episode of The Evidence-Based Therapist, we explore religious trauma through a psychoanalytic lens, drawing from thinkers like Freud, Winnicott, Rizzuto, and McWilliams to understand how a person’s “God image” forms, fractures, or heals.

We unpack how spiritual beliefs shape personality development, how community structures can reinforce false-self dynamics, and why disentangling God from the people who claim to represent God is often a core task of healing. We also discuss the role of annihilation anxiety, the function of belief for meaning-making, and why recovery isn't always about rejecting faith, but transforming the relationship with it.

This conversation features Ethan’s research on religious trauma and neurodivergence, and the ways psychoanalytic theory offers pathways beyond symptom relief toward identity, agency, and integration.

Topics include:

• The God image vs. the God representative
• Religious trauma as relational, not just doctrinal
• Why psychoanalysis offers a uniquely useful frame
• False-self development in spiritual environments
• The intersection of religious trauma and neurodivergence
• Healing through integration rather than rejection

Whether you work clinically with religious trauma, share these experiences personally, or are curious about how belief takes shape in the psyche, this episode offers a better language for what happens when the spiritual becomes wounding—and how it can become restorative again.

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In this episode, Bridger, Caleb, and Ethan dive into Rupture and Repair in Psychotherapy: A Critical Process for Change (Moran, Eubanks, & Samstag, 2022). Through the lens of embodied relational science, they explore how disconnection and repair form the heartbeat of therapeutic change.

Together, they unpack the tension between explicit and implicit forms of rupture, the role of mutual accountability, and the difference between being disoriented versus dysregulated in the therapy room. With humor, honesty, and depth, the conversation traces how therapists and clients co-create meaning in the messy, beautiful work of relationship.

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In this episode of The Evidence Based Therapist, we sit down with Ethan to explore his emerging research on the intersection of religious trauma and neurodiversity. Together we talk about the challenges of studying a topic with so little existing scholarship, the independent study that sparked our collaboration, and how our friendship has grown through that work.

This conversation sets the tone for the season ahead: a deep dive into articles, stories, and artifacts that will help us think more deeply about these themes, shaping Ethan’s research toward publication and presentation. Along the way, Bridger also shares about his current research on non-conscious insidious adoptions and Kristeva’s idea of symbolic potential.

A season in the making, and an invitation to join us in the curiosity that drives it.

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After 14 months away, Bridger and Caleb are back at the mics. In this special episode, they reflect on where life, work, and curiosity have taken them this past year—through doctoral defenses, major health challenges, and profound shifts in perspective. Along the way, they share what they’ve been reading, exploring, and creating: from consciousness studies and epistemology to Enneagram pathways and relational EMDR.

This isn’t just a catch-up—it’s a thoughtful, playful, and deeply human conversation about being therapists, being learners, and being alive.

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Listen in to hear Caleb and Bridger dive into a new article entitled Presence Psychotherapy: A Novel Integrative Trauma Treatment Model for Thorough Memory Reconsolidation published in the Journal of Psychotherapy Integration in 2022.

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Listen in to hear Caleb and Bridger finish up their discussion on Therapeutic Presence, an article by Geller & Greenberg in the journal of Person-Centered & Experiential Psychotherapies in 2002.

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Join Caleb and Bridger as they pick back up on their conversation around Presence in Psychotherapy.

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Join Caleb and Bridger as they kick off the new season of the Evidence Based Therapist with a conversation about Geller and Greenberg's (2002) Therapeutic Presence: Therapists' experience of presence in the psychotherapy encounter. To find the article, find it here: Therapeutic Presence with Notes

Did you know? After full completion of Beyond Healing Institute’s Somatic Integration and Processing training, each participant can receive 21 NBCC hours.

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Credits 

Executive Directors: Jennifer and Ryan Savage, Melissa Bentinnedi, Bridger Falkenstein

Hosts: Bridger Falkenstein, Caleb Boston, and Melissa Benintendi

Filmographer: Tyler Wassam

Podcast Editor: Jamie Eggert

Original Music Composers: Bridger Falkenstein and Caleb Boston

Show Notes: Jamie Eggert & Jordan Murray

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Listen in to hear Caleb and Bridger continue their discussion on the development of an original manuscript they are coauthoring.

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