Faith Archives - Jane Kennedy Counselling

When Rejection Sensitivity Meets Religious Trauma: Understanding the Environment & the Impact

Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD), sometimes described simply as rejection sensitivity, is often misunderstood as “overreacting,” “being too emotional,” or “taking things personally.” But for many trauma survivors, especially those emerging from high-control or spiritually abusive environments, RSD is a trauma-shaped nervous system responding to perceived danger. Religious trauma often forms

16 November 2025

The State of Your Heart

This line, attributed to Persian Sufi poetry, gave me pause. How would you answer it? I love the impermanence of it, in this breath. It’s mindful and present. It suggests we don’t have to know the whole answer, just the thought for this moment.There is so much noise in the world right now. So much urgency and fear. The state of our heart seems like a trite or indulgent thing to attend to when there are “real” problems to be anxious about. For those who have been shaped by faith spaces that centred end times, Armageddon, or apocalyptic pressure, and I see so many in the counselling room, this can feel especially overwhelming.

26 June 2025

A Day With a Memoir

We start to have doubts and questions but want to stay and try and change it as an insider. We feel broken when we realise this isn’t possible. So many of us limp away devastated and feeling very alone, shamed and told we’re the problem. With the right support we recover and rebuild.

I’m so grateful to have had that support in the end after many years of trying to figure it out by myself. Reach out if you need that support. It’s not an easy journey.

21 May 2025

Easter & a New Spirituality

We cycle through phases of grief and healing when we’ve experienced religious and spiritual trauma.Easter brings us face-to-face with where we are in that cycle and if we’re paying attention, our bodies will tell us what we need next

20 April 2025

A Good Friday Note

You are good on this Friday.
You are not broken.
Your heart is good, your body is good. You are loveable.

20 April 2025

Holy Hurt

I joked last week on my Instagram stories that I’ve long had a therapist crush* on Canadian Psychologist, Dr Hillary McBride, whose new book, Holy Hurt is coming out soon. Hillary was my inspiration for becoming a therapist. Back in the days when she co-hosted The Liturgist’s Podcast, I was working in

15 April 2025

What to do with regret?

Reconnecting with and rebuilding our identity helps us move through regret.

It’s a corrective experience to become who we needed then, and settle into ourselves more fully.

And, reconditioning our thinking around identity is a huge part of recovery from religious trauma.

I love working with people in counselling as they unearth and rebuild.

14 February 2025

On Magical Thinking

Once upon a time in a warehouse-turned-church-auditorium not that far away, I was a teenage girl who believed in magic. The magic of a God who loved me, who was always there to give me victory over emotions or head colds and reveal his perfect will for my life. The

29 January 2025

2024 Wrapped

This has been a huge year for the world and for many of us personally. As life on our planet becomes increasingly complex, I’m more convinced than ever that our most important skills are self-soothing and grounding. There is a lot of distress and limited capacity to ease it. I’ve continued

13 December 2024

Blog