The Place You Can Say It

What does it take to rebuild your sense of self after leaving high-control religious environments? In this episode, Nikki G shares her journey from a fear-based religious background through multiple cult experiences, and the long process of recovery that followed.

The conversation explores why people may move from one harmful group to another, how the need for belonging and purpose can be exploited, and why leaving a group is only one part of healing. Nikki also shares the particular challenges Black survivors can face when resources and recognition for religious trauma are limited.

Together, Scot, Janyne, Rebekah and Nikki examine how religious trauma can affect identity, relationships, and children across generations - and how community and culturally responsive support can help survivors find language for what they have experienced and begin to heal.

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⛰️ Religious Trauma Support and Resources → https://www.religioustraumanetwork.com

🔗 More About This Episode's Guests:
Nikki G → https://www.nikkigspeaks.com/about
Scot Loyd → https://scotloyd.com/
Rebekah Drumsta → https://rebekahdrumsta.com/
Janyne McConnaughey, → https://www.janyne.org/

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🎙️🗣️ Welcome to The Place You Can Say It, a podcast from the Religious Trauma Network.

If you've ever carried questions you weren't allowed to ask, wounds dismissed in the name of faith, or a story you've struggled to tell, you're in the right place.

This is a space for honest conversations about religious trauma, spiritual abuse, deconstruction, recovery, and healing. Whether you're holding onto your faith, rebuilding it, or walking away from it, you're welcome here.

Because healing often begins when someone finally listens.

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Episode 1: Survivors Explain How Systemic Healing Starts With You

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It's not just what happened that shaped your religious trauma - it's the systems that continue allowing it to happen. Scot Loyd, Rebekah Drumsta, Janyne McConnaughey, and Luke Renner unpack why healing is so important and why finding your people can change everything.

This inaugural episode of The Place You Can Say It opens with a powerful conversation about the Religious Trauma Network, how the team came together after meeting through The Religious Trauma Symposium hosted at Harvard Divinity School, and why this podcast exists: to give survivors a place to speak freely, safely, and without shame.

From there, the discussion moves into the lived realities behind religious deconstruction - childhood control, high-demand groups, spiritual abuse, trauma that was mislabeled as discipline, and the long process of learning the language to name what happened.

This is essential listening if you've ever felt alone in your questions, if you're rebuilding after spiritual abuse, or if you want a clearer understanding of how trauma, theology, and power collide. Honest, compassionate, and unflinching - this episode makes one thing clear: healing gets easier when you stop hiding and start saying it out loud.

- ⛰️ Religious Trauma Support and Resources → https://www.religioustraumanetwork.com

🔗 More About This Episode's Guests:
Scot Loyd → https://scotloyd.com/
Rebekah Drumsta → https://rebekahdrumsta.com/
Janyne McConnaughey, → https://www.janyne.org/
Luke Renner → https://www.lukerenner.com/

💌 Subscribe for more honest conversations like this